Opera 8 Beta2 is now available with a host of new features, including security fixes, and UI enhancements. Would be nice to see an Opera version for PocketPCs too, not just for Smartphones.
Opera 8 Beta2 Available
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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yeah, but is it better than firefox 1.0.1
Opera has a work-around for IDN spoofing whereby the domain name is shown in punycode if the TLD (i.e. country code in this case) is not in their list. Not an ideal solution but its at least a temporary fix.
Now we just need all these parties (ICANN, Mozilla Foundation, Opera Software, etc) to decide on a standard, long-term fix.
Damien
Only linking to windows version????
And Linux, Mac, FreeBSD, Solaris etc…
http://www.opera.com/download/
Linux:
http://www.opera.com/download/index.dml?platform=linux&ver=8.0b1
FreeBSD:
http://www.opera.com/download/index.dml?platform=freebsd&ver=8.0b1
Solaris:
http://www.opera.com/download/index.dml?platform=solaris&ver=8.0b1
**No Beta for Mac
I will download soon…
Well, compared to B1, Net Banking finally works as it should (commonwealth australia) and Google gmail works without complaints. I loved B1, so this update is a welcome fix.
PS – just returned from a round the world holiday. Back on the net.
Only linking to windows version????
Because there is no release version of Beta2 for other OSs yet. All of your links are Beta1.
http://my.opera.com/forums/showthread.php?s=93fe2bcad87c62196189ba1…
—-Build for OSX
The builds for the other operating systems should be out very shortly, considering the release times of previous versions.
I’ve been using it under FreeBSD. The web browser is great. M2 is still having problems with some IMAP servers though.
I’ve been using Gmail successfully with Opera since 7.6. However, what didn’t previously used to work were Google Suggest and Google Maps. Both of these now work almost flawlessly. The only problem I’m seeing with Google Maps is that the images don’t load as you scroll but load after you stop scrolling, and as you scroll old images from other parts of the map are shown. Hopefully they’ll have that problem fixed by 8.0 final.
I have to say, with network.http.max-connections set to 64 and network.http.max-connections-per-server set to 32 in Firefox and the same values set accordingly in Opera, Opera renders the maps considerably faster than Firefox initially (i.e. whenever you change zoom levels) Firefox still does a much better job overall because it loads images as you scroll whereas Opera doesn’t yet (you instead see old images from other parts of the map that haven’t yet been reloaded) However, with the next beta I can hopefully ditch Firefox completely for maps.google.com use because it looks like Opera is once again shaping up to be the better performer. That seems to be the Opera vs. Firefox track record; Firefox supports a feature first, then Opera comes along and does it faster and better…
Don’t use Google Maps just because it was made by Google. Some people recommend map24.com; while it is very cool, don’t use it, because it gives bad dirctions. Sometimes the directions are terrible. I assume that for Europe it works great, but for USA, it is pathetic. The best map service is mappoint.com.
PS: This looks that it is going to be the most stable Opera ever. It has had the longest test period than any other Opera.
@Others It works with Gmail. However, I’m wondering why the buttons are small. Google should use web standards istead of proprietary crap.
When I browse I see that some sites deny to render because they say that opera is not supported. This happens in opera 7.54 (even when it is supposed to identify its self as IE) but I don’t know if opera 8 figured out a way to trick these sites in to thinking it is IE explorer. Does anyone using opera beta have the same problem? Other than that I really like it, indeed the fastst and most functional browser.
That seems to be the Opera vs. Firefox track record; Firefox supports a feature first, then Opera comes along and does it faster and better…
You have 1 part backwards, Firefox borrows many of it’s “innovations” from Opera, not the other way around. But you were correct in stating that Opera does it better and faster. 😉
I am a firefox user who thinks firefox has lots of room to improve .I just tried opera and guess what…. I noticed the following.
1.Opera is more snappier clicks respond very fast(on 128 mb ram) .I was actually surprised since in run Xfce
2.Takes up less %Mem and CPU time
and I dont really care about the features i mean i know that most features will exist in both(the ones i use )
but I dont think opera has Adblock . the rest i think opera wins .Firefox has a cleaner interface ( i know opera’s can be changed)
So i will continue using both.
I have been using Opera for a long time now (> 6 years) and paid for Opera as well but I think they are losing it.
The browser gets more and more features that I don’t want (mail client??), pages don’t work where Firefox does (just yesterday with an order at dabs.com).
Opera is faster and has more features but -and it is a big but- the architecture is old-fashioned by now. Firefox has very flexible plugins, it is impossible for Opera to program against it, VERY good ad blockers, nice and cool things like manipulating your music player, it is all impossible with Opera. Will see were it leads too but I am afraid, very afraid…
cool! i cant even do that in malaysia or singapore or germany.
but in malaysia a copy of xp prices at 1.50 USD yeah!
$1 in the Ukraine and $2 in Russia….. And $0.50 in Pakistan.
The browser gets more and more features that I don’t want (mail client??)
Well, disable it then. This option does exist in the perferences area.
Something that doesn’t seem to get mentioned:
The fixes for Google Maps and GMail were done on Google’s end. They work in b1 and 7.6 now too if you don’t believe me.
Google Suggest, however, was fixed by adding support for propietary textrange stuff.
This beta is definately great though. Just when I think there is little to be improved, they prove me wrong.
I keep my sessions on a separated dir from the browser, that feature is a killer in opera, and now they ruined it, because it doesn’t open on dirs different than default, oh my god, that’s just stupid, where’s the dialog box?
Terrible decision. Other thing I hate, the close button by default on tabs, stupid desing again, rigth-click->close is more secure and better, but I use mouse gestures anyway, but I can accidentally close a window just navigating.
I liked the control+f5 reload all windows(on 7.54), they are there in the shortcut, but not on menu, but instead of reloading the current windows and it’s tabs only, it reloads all windows and tabs, not very smart again.
Well, Opera 8b1 it’s very fast, and I used it a lot, but please stop making this stupid design decisions, it annoys people. Someday I will stop using it… because you have to rewrite the whole browser using cryptic hidden config options to make it work nicely.
“The browser gets more and more features that I don’t want (mail client??)…”
If you want a plain browser then use goddamn Lynx. Opera is that great because it has a number of useful features in one small but fast package. If you don’t want a mail client in Opera then don’t use it for goodness sake.
As a matter of fact, some people DO want a mail client embedded in Opera (which is so much better than Thunderbird or Outlook IMHO).
“If you don’t want a mail client in Opera then don’t use it for goodness sake.”
You missed the point of the argument.
I used to use Opera but I ditched it for Firefox. I think Firefox is on the correct path. If you want bells and whistles, the add-on option is the way to go. Don’t make a software bloated for the sake of features most people don’t need.
I am not even going to talk about the interface mess they created with the recent Opera versions.
If you want bells and whistles, the add-on option is the way to go. Don’t make a software bloated for the sake of features most people don’t need.
Bloated? Compare the download size of FF (all the extensions have to be downloaded separately) with the download size of Opera (voice functionality has to be downloaded separately, if needed.). And which one of them is bloated?
And by the way, you missed my point too: If you want a plain vanilla browser, use one (like Lynx, or K-Meleon or any other). But most of us want a somewhat full-featured browser and I’d hardly consider including a 200KB mail client DLL file “bloat”. Then again, I have to agree about the standard interface which is horrific. Nothing a little customisation won’t fix, though. Which, by the way, is waaaaaaaay easier than in Firefox.
Bloated?
In the sense of feature-bloat, interface-bloat, not download size.
If you want a plain vanilla browser, use one
NelsonN seems to not want a “plain vanilla browser,” but one where the problem of bumping into feature interfaces he doesn’t want, day after day, is minimal.
Axord wrote:
> > Bloated?
>
> In the sense of feature-bloat, interface-bloat, not download
> size.
How is the integrated email client bloat in any way after you’ve turned it off?
Even Opera 6.0 is better than Firefox 1.01. Mozilla lags far behind Opera in performance, features, and standards-compliance.
I have been using Opera for a long time now (> 6 years) and paid for Opera as well but I think they are losing it.
The browser gets more and more features that I don’t want (mail client??)
If you had in fact been using Opera for more than 6 years you would know that Opera had an integrated email client for almost 5 of those years.
Here is a great site for customizing and getting the most out of Opera: http://nontroppo.org/wiki/Opera7
“Even Opera 6.0 is better than Firefox 1.01. Mozilla lags far behind Opera in performance, features, and standards-compliance.”
You want features I don’t want? Do it by add-ons, please!
You don’t get it do you? That’s the reason Firefox is hot. It doesn’t try to be one package does all for everyone.
I don’t want to talk to my browser, I don’t want my browser to be my e-mail client, I don’t want my browser to be an installer, I don’t want an interface so cluttered as to be useless, etc., etc. That’s the beauty of it.
I will say that if the Firefox team adds anything else to the basic package, they will ruin Firefox for me!
lynx as a text browser seems like a small browser but not many know about offbyone (offbyone.com). 450kb for a graphical browser, rad. but still for dialup user like me, opera with its speed is a must!
Wcool, are you sure you aren’t the one losing it?
Wcool> The browser gets more and more features that I don’t
Wcool> want (mail client??)
Opera has had a mail client since version 2 or 3. If you are going to complain, how about trying to get your facts straight first?
Wcool> Opera is faster and has more features but -and it is
Wcool> a big but- the architecture is old-fashioned by now.
Then how come it’s smaller yet more functional than Firefox?
Wcool> Firefox has very flexible plugins, it is impossible
Wcool> for Opera to program against it, VERY good ad
Wcool> blockers, nice and cool things like manipulating
Wcool> your music player, it is all impossible with Opera.
Nope, it is not impossible with Opera a tall. There are many ways to block ads in Opera, and I’m controlling Winamp from Opera as we speak.
Wcool> Will see were it leads too but I am afraid, very
Wcool> afraid…
Afraid of the Firefox hype? Opera’s survived worse.
Also…
NelsonN> I am not even going to talk about the interface
NelsonN> mess they created with the recent Opera versions.
Do a clean install of Opera Beta2 and see which browser has a cleaner interface, smaller download size, and still most available features. If you don’t use mail, rss, etc. don’t worry, they are hidden anyways.
Some of you use Firefox and I really can’t see that as a problem. However chances are great that you will find yourselves X’d in the end.
Personally I don’t trust Mozilla.org, Firefox QA, or the extension providers.
Where does the money go?
– not into the product via developers!
Guess who is smiling?
– PR agency
– Management on 1st class