Opera 12 debuts with new customization options, smart features
Oslo, Norway – June 14, 2012
If you’re the type of person who spends most of your days in front of a web browser, get ready for a summer makeover that will last the entire year. Opera 12, the newest release from the browser junkies at Opera Software, debuts today with everything you need for a complete browser transformation.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to taking your web browsing from drab to fab:
1. Download Opera 12
It’s free, downloads fast and installs even faster. Point your old browser to http://www.opera.com/, and let us do the rest.
2. Play dress up
Most browsers” color palettes don’t inspire any of your creative impulses. That’s why Opera 12 has introduced themes, the easiest, fastest way to customize the look of your browser. With hundreds of themes available, and more added each day, you can always express your personal style. Browse the full gallery here: https://addons.opera.com/themes/
3. Lights, camera, action!
What other browser encourages you to strike a pose? Opera 12 makes you the star of your own show by allowing applications to use your webcam (always and only with your express permission). Hilarity and awesomeness often ensue as these applications demonstrate:
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Photo Booth
Enjoy our take on the funhouse photo booth. -
Polaroid
Please do not shake your browser. -
FaceKat
Use your head – literally – to avoid asteroids.
4. Sexier security
Nothing is sexier (to us, anyway) than knowing your personal information is safe and secure. Opera 12 makes it even easier to know how websites treat your data and personal information. We overhauled our famous security badge to make it easier to understand the security and privacy policies of the sites you visit. You can quickly see if a site is using your location information or wants to turn on your webcam.
5. Enjoy all the extras
Opera 12 comes with more than just these features. Numerous other tweaks, tricks and tucks make this Opera version the best yet:
- Plug-ins run in their own process, so if they crash, Opera keeps singing.
- Giddy-up: Opera 12 receives a significant speed boost – faster page loading, faster start up and faster HTML5 rendering – over its predecessor. 64-bit support on Windows and Mac gives better performance on more advanced machines. Why waste time loading a page? You have more important stuff to play with.
- For the real speed freaks among us, try out our experimental hardware acceleration.
- Right-to-left text support and five new languages: Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Urdu and Kazakh. Opera 12 now comes in 60 total languages.
“You spend hours each day in front of a web browser,” says Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera. “Shouldn”t those hours be as fun and, occasionally, as productive as possible? We think so, so we made Opera 12 the smartest, fastest and most unique browser available. In a sea of browsers that look the same and act the same, isn”t it nice to know that you can get something better? We think you deserve it.”
Even though the makeover is complete, there’s no need to stop exploring Opera. We recommend Speed Dial extensions to liven up our popular Speed Dial, which keeps your favorite sites one click away. Here are three Speed Dial extensions we recommend:
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Gismeteo
Your local weather, right in your Speed Dial. -
TED
Watch the featured TED Talk of the Day. -
Live news feed
Headlines from the world’s news sources, constantly updated.
Just can”t get enough?
For a full guide to all our features, visit: http://www.opera.com/browser/features/.
Toys for web developers
Opera 12 gets a boost from improved handling of web standards, including improvements to CSS3 and HTML5 support. Full documentation for developers is right here: http://dev.opera.com/.