Opera 10.5 has a completely renewed chassis and much more horsepower in
the engine, but some work remaining to be done with the upholstery.
Still, Opera is back in the hunt. In terms of computational speed,
Opera is not yet the fastest, but it is disarmingly close. In graphics
performance, it zips past the rest of the field at warp speed.(Pictured: Opera 10.5 Release Version)
Usually software companies have the luxury of picking their own deadlines, and typically -- especially in the case of open source or free programs -- those deadlines are allowed to slip or even lapse. But the European Commission gave Opera a solid opportunity to get back in the game, to be discussed once again in the same company as Mozilla Firefox, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Chrome, and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Safari.
Version 10.2 wasn't going to do it. We saw that back in December, with performance scores that were falling below those from the stable Opera 10.1. Among those browser users who do take advantage of their choice, speed is becoming more and more of a factor, as evidenced by Chrome's rising usage share. So last January, Opera made a strategic gamble: Dump 10.2, and throw everything behind an effort to re-create the Opera desktop browser for speed and efficiency.
The main JavaScript processor engine, dubbed Carakan, is to the interpreter in Opera 10.1 what the Macintosh II was to the Apple II. They are worlds different. There is no reason for anyone today to use Opera 10.1; not to upgrade is about as sensible as hanging onto a 1975 Toyota Celica rather than accept a free 2010 Camry.
Yet there was indisputably a rush to the finish, and even then, developers spent an extra day past the March 1 deadline when Microsoft
(Nasdaq: MSFT) delivered its browser choice screen to European Internet
Explorer users. The big question now is, amid the rush, was Opera 10.5
rushed, or like the hero from the movie Tucker: The Man and His Dream,
did the company polish the front end and leave the chasses further down
the line to be fixed later?
Source: Scott M. Fulton, III, Betanews, (Tech News World)
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