Opera 7 for Windows Beta 2 Unleashed
Oslo, Norway – Dec. 18, 2002
Opera Software ASA today released Opera forWindows Beta 2, crammed with cool new power-browsing features to give thebest Internet experience.
Since the release of Beta 1, Opera has added even more features. Newadditions include “Fast Forward”, immediate access to the pages you willwant to visit next; “The Wand”, a one-click log-in password manager; a newlinks panel that quickly displays all links in the current page; a one-click skin install; powerful new panel management; and multiple user stylesheets.
“The new features in Opera 7 will save users even more time when online,”says Mary Lambert, product line manager desktop, Opera Software. “A featurelike Fast Forward will endear many new users. Just click Fast Forward, andyou quickly move between pages without looking for those pesky small ‘nextresults’ or ‘next page’ links with your mouse. New, innovative featureslike these will ensure that Opera 7 continues the explosive growth we haveseen in users over the last few years.”
Opera 7 has also garnered a lot of interest in the Web developer community.Introduced in Beta 1, developers can now test their Web pages with Opera’sbreakthrough Small-Screen Rendering (SSR) technology, and see how Web pageswill be presented on small-screen devices such as PDAs and smartphonesrunning Opera. Developers also save time with Opera 7’s new style sheets;offering time-savers such as viewing structural elements without revertingto its source, or click for the page’s outline for easy debugging.
The new features in Opera 7 for Windows include:
New rendering engine
Opera’s new rendering engine supports W3C’s DOM (Document Object Model)level 2, non-standard dynamic HTML (DHTML),CSS1 and CSS2, ECMAScript, andhas improved HTML 4.01 support, as well as complete support for WML 1.3 and2.0. It is faster, smaller and can dynamically change documents through DOM.
M2 — new e-mail client
Opera’s new e-mail client, M2, automatically categorizes and sorts e-mailmessages by contact and has an integrated spam filter. Innovative featuressuch as QuickReply and QuickFind lets users answer or find e-mails atunrivalled speed. M2 supports POP3, IMAP,ESMTP, and threaded display of mailing lists. In addition, M2 supports news servers with passwordauthentication.
Small-Screen Rendering (SSR)
Web developers can test and see how their pages would look on a smallermobile devices by simply pressing [Shift][F11] to enable Opera’s small-screen mode. With Opera’s breakthrough SSR technology Web pages arereformatted to fit smaller screens, while maintaining all functionality.
The Wand
Opera now offers one-click log-in to password protected sites. Log-infields with available passwords are marked with a slick golden rim, andaccess provided by simply clicking the Wand icon or the keyboard shortcut[CTRL][Enter].
Fast Forward
Now the pages you will want to visit next are immediately available withjust another click. Opera will try to detect the most likely “next page”link. If available, Forward will change to Fast Forward, greatlysimplifying navigation in multi-page documents. This feature can also becombined with The Wand, providing immediate “Fast Forward” access topassword protected sites.
Links panel
Opera 7 includes a new, easier way to navigate pages. The Hotlist nowincludes a Links panel by default. In the panel, all the links in thecurrent page are listed, with icons for common types like images andmovies. Links can then be easily selected for quick navigation or download.In addition, a page’s panel can be ‘locked’ to keep its particular linklist available when users move over to other pages, making it possible toclick the page’s links when on a completely other part of the Web.
Multiple user style sheets
Opera comes equipped with 12 new style sheets, varying from helpfulfeatures for users and developers, to the more zany like a Commodore 64browser emulator.Users annoyed by a particular Web author’s design preferences, or whosuffers from visual impairments, can now get an easy fix in Opera. Bychoosing style sheets such as “Accessibility layout” or “High contrast B/W”users can in a snap modify pages for an easy read.Developers immediately benefit from features such as viewing structuralelements without constantly reverting to its source code, or just clickingfor a page’s outline for easy debugging.Fans of good old text browsing can get excited over the new text-browseremulator, one of the many options available.
New navigation bar
On sites that support navigation through link tags, users have more controlover how they interact with Web pages. The site navigation will bedisplayed in the navigation bar, and the navigation menu will feel the sameto the user regardless of site.
Sleek new look
Enjoy a new user interface with 3D buttons and enhanced alphablendedeffects.
Hotlist
Bookmarks and history, windows sessions and e-mail can now be managed viathe Hotlist and shown respectively as a bookmarks, history, e-mail, orwindows panel. Manage your downloads and transfers via the floatabledownload and transfer manager with extensive drag-and-drop support.
Skinning
Changing the look of a browser has never been easier with Opera’s new one-click skin install. Just pick and click once on any of the many skinsavailable online. The skin is downloaded and applied, and users can chooseto keep or remove the new skin. As a further enhancement, even changes inthe coloring of skins can be altered by selecting a color scheme from theView menu.
Window management
Instead of having to choose between multiple and single document interface(MDI/SDI) as in Opera 6, users can nowcombine MDI, SDI and tabbed browsing– without restarting the browser. Users can also save different windowcombinations as window sessions, or go back and forth between differentwindow sessions.
Multiple or single user accounts
Set up different Opera user profiles in one Opera browser to ensure thatall your family members have the Opera set-up and look that suits thembest.
Extended and improved drag-and-drop support
Rearrange or move toolbar items using drag-and-drop customization or movebookmarks, tabs, and window sessions (MDI/SDI)URL as shortcuts on the desktop. Open or save any page link.
Powerful panel management
All panels can now be shown, hidden or rearranged at will.
Standards-compliance
Opera continues its commitment to the standards as laid out by the W3C.Opera 7.0 for Windows supports the following technologies: 128-bitencryption, TLS 1.0, SSL 2 and 3, CSS1and CSS2, XML, HTML 4.01, HTTP 1.1,ECMAScript, JavaScript 1.3, WAP/WML and DOM level 2.
Availability
The browser is available free of charge with a sponsored advertising bannerin the top-right corner of the user interface. To remove the advertisingbanner users must register their version for USD 39.Various discounts apply. As a new feature in Opera 7, a user’s first download is rewardedwith 14 banner-free days. If the user then chooses to register, theadvertising banner is permanently removed. In addition, registered userscan freely access personal support via e-mail and enjoy six months of freeOperaMail Premium, the latter starting the day the final version of Opera 7is released.
Download Opera
Opera 7 for Windows Beta 2 is available for download from ourdownload pages.
About Opera Software ASA
Opera Software ASA is an industry leader in the development of Web browser technology, partnering with companies such as IBM, AMD, Nokia, Macromedia, Symbian, Canal+ Technologies, Ericsson, Sharp and Lineo (now Embedix). The Opera browser has received international recognition from users, industry experts and media for being faster, smaller and more standards-compliant than other browsers. Opera’s browser technology is cross-platform and modular, targeting the desktop, smartphone, PDA, iTV and vertical markets.
Opera Software ASA is a privately held company headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with development centers in Linköping and Gothenburg, Sweden TX –>.Learn more about Opera at www.opera.com