In keeping with Opera's focus on desktops for 2011, the beta version of the new Opera 11.10 browser, Barracuda, has been released this week.
While Opera may not gather the same mainstream interest as Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Mozilla's Firefox or Google's Chrome, according to analysts it does have a record of coming up with features that the more widely used browsers pick up down the line.
The new browser is said to offer smarter features and faster performance. Barracuda includes an unlimited “Speed Dial” function that gives quick access to one's favourite sites.
Customisation options also include new layout choices, and an improved zoom slider, said to enable viewing of five-column layouts on a monitor. Opera also says the new browser offers easier plug-ins, with automatic Flash plug-in downloads.
“A new browser core not only makes Barracuda the fastest version of Opera, but also adds support for CSS3's multi-column layouts and gradients, the Web Open Font Format and Google's WebIP image protocol,” says Opera.
Jan Standal, VP of desktop products for Opera, says: "Barracuda is our first release in the new year and shows off some of our freshest ideas. If you are already an Opera fan, you will appreciate the polish we added to Speed Dial, a favourite feature for many millions of people who use Opera. If you've never tried Opera, maybe Speed Dial will become your favourite feature.”
As Opera is known for supporting the major operating systems, the Opera 11.10 beta release is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
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