14 DAY TRIAL // Opera Software has outdone itself with the release of Opera 10.60 Beta. Just ask any Mac user trying out the new version for the first time. They’ll tell you that tab management finally works right, that the entire web browsing session is faster and smoother, that it handles HTML5 video just as well as Apple’s Safari, and that the interface looks and acts like this version was built with the Mac user in mind.
“Making the fastest browser on Earth is not only limited to being the best at speed tests,” Opera Software said today. “Opera is also highly optimized to deliver the little extra in everything from opening a new tab in a split-second, loading pages faster on congested networks with Opera Turbo, or navigating webpages with handy features such as mouse gestures, Speed Dial and unsurpassed tab management.”
After taking Opera 10.60 Beta for a quick spin, Softpedia’s Apple news editor could only agree that Opera for Mac finally worked as advertised.
The Norwegian software company issued a press release today announcing Opera 10.60 for all supported platforms. In the report, it acknowledges that, back in March, the company had rolled out what it called “the fastest browser on Earth.” Although Apple would beg to differ, “Today, Opera does it again, releasing a new beta version of Opera 10.60, now more than 50% faster than its predecessor on selected JavaScript tests,” Opera Software claims. While still just a beta release, the browser is indeed fast (although not blazing fast), and incorporates new web-standard features, such as Geolocation and WebM support for HTML5 video.
For example, before the release of Opera 10.60, playing the iPhone 4 Video from Apple’s website was almost impossible. The image would constantly flicker, the video box would sometimes disappear altogether, or the user would not be able to access the playback controls. Not anymore. Opera has finally made its browser behave when it comes to handling HTML5 content. Opera now comes with open video format WebM, built right into the browser.
