14 DAY TRIAL // On the heels of the Opera 10.10 general availability, Opera Software has moved onward to the next chapter in the evolution of its browser. Just one day after the Opera 10.10 with Opera Unite was released to the public, the Norway-based browser maker has introduced the first development milestone for Opera 10.20. Early adopters interested in having a taste of what Opera will bring to the table beyond versions 10.0 and 10.10 can now grab Opera 10.20 Alpha and start test driving the release.
Users that are not familiar with running software that is still in development need to know that the Alpha tag is generally associated with products that are in the very early stages of the development process. In this regard, an Alpha release comes with inherent stability, reliability, and performance issues.
“After having released our final version of Opera Unite, we are proud to present you with the next level of Web applications for your desktop. Just a short while ago, we have released a Labs version, previewing our new approach to widgets: Opera Widgets are now first-class citizens in your computer, being accessible from the same place as other applications and providing the chance to develop desktop applications only once, running in any operating system,” revealed Bazyli Zygan, from the Opera Desktop team.
Opera Software has been harvesting feedback from testers running an older Labs build of Opera and produced Opera 10.20 Alpha as a direct result of user input. According to the company, existing testers should expect to see modifications to Opera Widgets, but not much more beyond that.
“We have listened to your feedback after the first Labs release. Improvements are already in the pipeline to enhance the experience of Opera Widgets within the browser, but please share all your comments and suggestions to help us make an even better product for you,” Zygan stated. “Please note that this release includes only changes related to Opera Widgets. There are no other changes in the browser functionality.”
Opera 10.20 Alpha is available for download here.