Next for Opera: Minimalist design, engine switcheroo

[steve2470]

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9239556/Next_for_Opera_Minimalist_design_engine_switcheroo?source=rss_keyword_edpicks

Computerworld - Opera Software today released the first beta version of its flagship browser that uses the open-source WebKit rendering engine, making good on a pledge from February.

"Opera Next" -- analogous to a beta -- shipped Tuesday for Windows and OS X as version 15, skipping from the current production-grade browser, Opera 12, to synchronize with the engine's identifier. The application identifies itself as a WebKit browser, the same engine used by Apple's Safari and Google's Chrome.

Google, however, is ditching WebKit for its own variant, called "Blink," and Opera has promised to follow in Chrome's footsteps. The shift to WebKit is the first step.

"Opera for desktop has [been] completely re-engineered under the hood," the company said in a statement. "With the Chromium engine, users get a standards-compliant and high-performance browser."

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If you want to download and try it, link here: http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/opera-next-15-0-released

[MichaelSoE]

1. thanks for the post

i've been an opera user since it was first introduce to the public. downloaded it to a floppy. i'm gonna install this beta tomorrow and check it out.

[MichaelSoE]

2. better wait until alpha

right now it's missing so many of the features that made opera such a pleasure to use, one might as well use chrome. everything that made opera so highly customizable are lacking at the moment. i won't go into details but if you are using any version of 12 you will be shocked ... keep it (v12) as long as you can. it (opera next) is going to be right up there with windows 8. check their forums ... the backlash is starting.

[hunter]

3. I have mixed feelings about this.

But I think it was inevitable now that webkit based browsers have left the others behind thanks (or not) to google and apple.

Things really are getting too complicated for a smaller developer like Opera or any number of open source browser projects to keep up.

I miss the simplicity of HTML 3.2 in favor of all this bling. I liked it when the user controlled the general appearance of a web page, not the web page developer.