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A browser engine's job is to process all the HTML, JavaScript, and CSS
instructions on a Web page or Web app then render the result on the
screen. Although Opera is following Chrome at this low level by using
the engine with the open-source Chromium project, it's got a number of
interface features that distinguish it from Google's browser. Among
them:
• Speed Dial, long an Opera feature for presenting frequently used Web pages, now lets people group multiple links into folders.
• Off-Road Mode uses Opera's proxy-browsing infrastructure to speed performance with slow networks. With the technology, Opera servers send boiled-down versions of Web pages. The feature automatically turns itself off when you get back to a fast connection.
• The Stash feature can be used to collect screenshots of Web pages in a centralized location for future reference. The interface shows small versions of the pages that you can expand, and you can label snapshots with keywords to find them later.
• Opera Discover presents a selection of Web pages based on a user's expressed interests such as regional news or sporting events.
Opera has hung onto a small fraction of browser usage on the PC, and its Opera Mini browser continues to have a reasonable foothold in the mobile market. But Opera Mini is chiefly used on the lower-end phones that are losing out to modern Android and iOS smartphones. Opera concluded it would be better to devote its engineering resources to the Chromium project than to continue with its independent Presto work.
Google releases new versions of Chrome about every six weeks to distribute new technology as soon as possible, and Firefox has followed the same approach. Now Opera, which had been accelerating its development already, plans to move faster as well with its own rapid-release process. The company has been contributing code to the Chromium project, too.
Chromium began with the WebKit browser engine also used in Apple's Safari, but to enable more substantial changes, Google forked that software project into its own Blink project.
Opera released a beta version of the Chromium-based browser in late May under the Opera Next label. Opera releases three versions of its browser: stable, Opera Next, and for the most adventurous, Opera Developer.
• Speed Dial, long an Opera feature for presenting frequently used Web pages, now lets people group multiple links into folders.
• Off-Road Mode uses Opera's proxy-browsing infrastructure to speed performance with slow networks. With the technology, Opera servers send boiled-down versions of Web pages. The feature automatically turns itself off when you get back to a fast connection.
• The Stash feature can be used to collect screenshots of Web pages in a centralized location for future reference. The interface shows small versions of the pages that you can expand, and you can label snapshots with keywords to find them later.
• Opera Discover presents a selection of Web pages based on a user's expressed interests such as regional news or sporting events.
Opera has hung onto a small fraction of browser usage on the PC, and its Opera Mini browser continues to have a reasonable foothold in the mobile market. But Opera Mini is chiefly used on the lower-end phones that are losing out to modern Android and iOS smartphones. Opera concluded it would be better to devote its engineering resources to the Chromium project than to continue with its independent Presto work.
Google releases new versions of Chrome about every six weeks to distribute new technology as soon as possible, and Firefox has followed the same approach. Now Opera, which had been accelerating its development already, plans to move faster as well with its own rapid-release process. The company has been contributing code to the Chromium project, too.
Chromium began with the WebKit browser engine also used in Apple's Safari, but to enable more substantial changes, Google forked that software project into its own Blink project.
Opera released a beta version of the Chromium-based browser in late May under the Opera Next label. Opera releases three versions of its browser: stable, Opera Next, and for the most adventurous, Opera Developer.
