Opera Software has released the latest test version of its Opera browser, codenamed “Barracuda”. Similar to previous versions of Opera, Barracuda (Opera 11.10 beta) is available on all major desktop operating systems, incorporating “smarter features” and delivering webpages faster than before.
Opera now has improved Speed Dial functionality, allowing users to set an unlimited number of Speed Dials, thanks largely to the new Speed Dial flow feature which opens new Speed Dial websites as you add them.
Flash support will be baked into Opera, automatically handling the download and installation of the Flash plug-in. With Barracuda, when a user visits a Flash-enabled website for the first time, Opera will automatically download the plug-in and install it in the background, without prompting the user to perform unnecessary actions.
Opera Software has also made sure to optimise the browser core, adding the ability to render CSS3 layouts and gradients, as well as introducing support for the Web Open Font Format (WOFF) and Google’s WebP image protocol.
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Opera will be looking to innovate with the latest version of its internet browsing software, especially now that Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 9 and Mozilla is due to launch Firefox 4 on March 22. Opera enjoys over 100 million users on its mobile platform too, providing smartphone owners with quickly-loaded webpages thanks to its compression technology.
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