Posted on Tuesday, October 02 2012 @ 11:28 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
Opera Software has published the Opera 12.10 beta browser for Windows, Linux and Mac, you can download it
at this page if you'd like to give it a try. This new beta release introduces new APIs for extension developers, more web standard support, SPDY turned on by default, and new features for Windows 7/8 and Mac OS X Mountain Lion.
API, API, API
Context Menu API: Developers can now allow their extension to work with Opera’s context menu (known as the right-click menu among friends). By allowing this, users can highlight text and make use of the extension for social networking, translations and more.
Screenshot API: Screenshots can be tricky to do (where did the Print Screen button go?) and difficult to share. With the Screenshot API developers can integrate a screenshot feature in their extension and easily allow Opera users share what they see in their browser.
Resource Loader API: Allow Opera extensions to load the CSS or JavaScript included inside an Opera extension file for easy manipulation of both functionality and design on web pages. For example, you can replace all fonts in Comic Sans on web pages to Helvetica or execute advanced JavaScript right inside webpages.
Standards galore
As if the new APIs were not enough, we tossed even more web standard support. The Fullscreen API, along with the Page Visibility API, lets developers have more say in presentation of content and better manage resources in the browser.
For developers yearning to get going with web sockets, we have some good news for you! Opera 12.10 includes the latest Web Sockets implementation with richer functionality for developers and an improved experience for end users. And we’ve enabled it by default.
SPDY Gonzales
Among a long list of speed and performance improvements, we are introducing the SPDY network standard as a supplement for the HTTP protocol, promising even faster downloading of webpages. In Opera 12.10, SPDY is turned on by default and works with webpages that support the standard. As of today, several large-scale websites such as Twitter and Gmail support the SPDY standard in addition to the traditional HTTP protocol.
“During the planning of Opera 12.10 we listened to the web developers,” says Krystian Kolondra, SVP Desktop, Opera Software. “The web developer community is thriving like never before and we want to support that in every way we can. With the new APIs, developers are better suited than ever to create extensions that give users of Opera for desktop a unique browsing experience.”
The times are a-changin’
In both the Windows and Mac worlds, there are new and exciting operating system updates this fall. Opera for desktop includes several updates to take advantage of the new features in the operating systems.
With the launch of the Mac OS X Mountain Lion, a number of new features have been included directly in the operating system. Opera 12.10 for Mac supports a number of the new MacOS X Mountain Lion features, including Notification Center, Retina Display support and built-in sharing of content to social networks.
Soon, the Windows 8 version will also be publicly available, and Opera 12.10 includes updates to accommodate Windows 8 enhancements. These include touch support for Windows 8 Classic mode, with the added bonus of working on Windows 7, as well.
