New Opera 10.5 pre-alpha released...Awesomeness

ForumMaster

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2005
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500x_crazy_javascript_results.jpg


Windows/Mac: Opera's developers have released a very unstable but promising version of their web browser into the open. What does Opera 10.5 have to offer? If a quick test is any indication, faster JavaScript speed than any browser out there.

Based on Opera's reports of their new JavaScript engine, Caraken, being "7x faster" than the standard Futhark engine built into Opera 10.10, we ran it through Mozilla's Dromaeo JavaScript tests, which combine Apple's SunSpider and Google's V8 JavaScript benchmarks. Pure runs-per-second speed isn't everything, of course, and engines can be built specifically to max out in these kinds of tests. That said, the results of Opera 10.5, rolled into our last round of browser speed tests, were more than a little impressive, using Dromaeo as a measuring stick:

The chart up top is pulled from our most recent speed tests, with Opera 10.5 pre-alpha results rolled in. It shows some, shall we say, notable improvement. The gHacks blog put 10.5 against Firefox 3.6 beta and Chrome's development build in the SunSpider and V8 tests and found that Opera either beat, or came very close to, Chrome, in those separate runs, and usually left Firefox in the dust. We'll have to put Opera 10.5 through its full paces when it's out of its very unstable build.

If you're the adventurous type and do want to give the pre-alpha a try, you'll also find improvements to the page rendering engine, new Private Browsing tabs and windows that don't track any history, and some interface and visual design tweaks, detailed in the post below. The big JavaScript improvements aren't as pronounced on the Mac build as on Windows, according to the development team, but are still there.

Opera 10.5 pre-alpha is a free download for Windows and Mac systems. Tell us if you think there's some real speed-ups in this build, and what else you like, in the comments.


I dl'ed it and so far the speed is defiantly noticeable. It is rough. Features are missing... (spell check, unite), there are known issues like high memory usage occasionally, but for the most part it rocks.

In vista and windows 7, it integrates with aero glass. The tabs now look normal and the are many other improvements.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
58,855
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Oh my god it is awesome! My new favorite browser!

So you saw this thread, downloaded the alpha, installed it, and determined that it was now your favorite browser; all in 2 minutes o_O

I think I detect a bit of skulduggery afoot....
 

jkroeder

Member
Dec 7, 2009
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It's nice. Would wait until at least a beta though. This pre-alpha is understandably crash happy.

This is where Chrome's multi-process architecture can help. Firefox is going in that direction with 4.0. Plugins like flash is planned to be separated into it's own process in Firefox for 3.7
 

pcslookout

Lifer
Mar 18, 2007
11,958
156
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So you saw this thread, downloaded the alpha, installed it, and determined that it was now your favorite browser; all in 2 minutes o_O

I think I detect a bit of skulduggery afoot....

Well I see someone jealous over someone that is much faster at giving replies. Oh well. You will never be able to keep up!
 

GrumpyMan

Diamond Member
May 14, 2001
5,780
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Well now, learn something new everyday, if it's free I'll check it out when it comes out of beta testing then. Thanks.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
58,855
9,195
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Well now, learn something new everyday, if it's free I'll check it out when it comes out of beta testing then. Thanks.

Give their current release a try. Opera's a pretty good browser, and it's already speedy at rendering pages. It's my favorite browser after Firefox.
 

Modelworks

Lifer
Feb 22, 2007
16,240
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I have been a die hard FF user trying opera some along the way. Now using the alpha and I like it a lot. It is fast and doesn't feel bogged down like I do when I use FF. Also uses much less screen space so I see more of the page and less of the browser.

I use admuncher for ad blocking which works with whatever is installed without pluigins so I don't worry about adblocker or the other stuff.

My biggest complaint in the past was opera trying to be a mail, news, web, torrent, calendar and everything else. I just want the browser.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
58,855
9,195
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You can make Firefox take up much less screen space with some tweaking. Get rid of the status bar, move your bookmarks toolbar to the top, small icons on the main bar....
 

Ihmemies

Member
Apr 18, 2006
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I wish they implemented color management. I switched to FF 3.0 when it came because of that. I really like Opera's speed and built-in features, but color is a deal-breaker for me because I watch a *lot* of photos on internet with my wide-gamut display. Without color management every color photo is way oversaturated and garish.

Edit: if screen space is a problem and you use lots of tabs, try tree style tab addon for firefox. I think you can also disable the file-edit-view-etc menu so the browser UI takes even less space vertically. Mine looks something like this: http://hakkarainen.kuvat.fi/tempo/ff_layout.jpg
 
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