OS X Users Offered A Peek At Opera

by , 12:00 PM EDT, June 19th, 2001

OS X users looking forward to giving the fast and popular alternative Web browser, Opera, a spin are in luck. Opera has released a "Technology Preview" version of Opera for OS X, version 5tp1. This version is obviously a very early port of Opera to Carbon, but will give users an idea of what to look for in the final version. According to Opera:

Opera Software today made the first technology preview of the Opera browser for the Mac OS X Carbon platform available to the public. This is the second release of Opera for Mac that also supports the Mac OS X platform.

Until now, Opera 5 for Macintosh Beta 1 has been available to Mac OS X users in the Classic mode. Opera 5 for Mac OS X Carbon Technology Preview 1, however, lets even more Mac users try out the many features of the Opera browser which already have become so popular in the Mac community and have received rave reviews in the Mac press.

It is important for us to show our dedication to the continual development of the Mac OS X platform, says Hakon Wium Lie, CTO of Opera Software. We are asking all Mac OS X users to send us bug reports on this technology preview, and make sure that as with our other releases that this evolves into the fastest, smallest and most secure browser they have ever used.

Although a technology preview will probably not harm a user's computer, frequent bugs and crashes are to be expected.

Opera 5 for Mac OS X Carbon Technology Preview 1 supports the following features:

• Fast rendering of pages. Opera is the fastest full-featured browser on the market today.
• Easy keyboard navigation. Opera's easy keyboard shortcuts save time as well as benefit people with disabilities.
• Instant toggling of image and documents settings. For even faster browsing, images can be turned on/off with just the press of a key.
• Multiple windows support. Inside Opera, users may browse in several windows at once, without straining system resources.
• High quality Zooming. Opera users can zoom in on a page up to a 1000%, be it text or images.
• Resume download. In the transfer window, downloads can be resumed if interrupted.
• Small size. Opera is only a 2 MB download so updating to the latest version available is always fast and easy.

Opera 5 for Mac OS X Carbon Technology Preview 1 will work with Mac OS X Carbon in the native mode. Opera 5 for Mac OS X Carbon Technology Preview supports the following World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards: 128-bit encryption, TLS 1.0, SSL 2 and 3, CSS1 and CSS2, XML, HTML 4.01, HTTP 1.1, ECMAScript, DOM and WAP/WML.

You can find more information, including download links, at the Opera Web site.

The Mac Observer Spin:

It seems that many users are not satisfied with the OS X version of Internet Explorer, and are looking for other browsing alternatives. OmniWeb has gained in popularity, and we expect there are many users out there excited to hear this announcement from Opera.

Who would have thought the browser wars would rage again?

Opera