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Opera 11 beta released with a host of new features

by Pete Mason on 24 November 2010, 11:32

Tags: Internet Explorer, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Opera (OPERA.OL)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qa3av

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Over a year after the release of its last major version, Opera has announced the availability of the version 11 beta of its eponymous browser.

The new version includes a handful of features that should help to make the brower a compelling choice over the competition. The biggest addition is called 'Tab Stacking' and allows you to drag tabs on top of each other to group them into one. You can then expand, move or close the group, or pause over a stack to see a preview of each tab. This looks to be a very handy feature for anyone who works across dozens of pages at a time, and will provide similar functionality to Firefox's Tab Panorama.

This release is also the first to introduce extensions to the browser. Unfortunately there are still fewer than 150 add-ons available, but this number should grow pretty quickly as developers get used to the new functionality.

Rounding out the major changes is a new system of visual feedback for the mouse gesture interface. Holding down the right mouse button will now bring up a command wheel that will help you to learn Opera's range of mouse-based controls.

The first beta of Opera 11 is available to download now directly from the developers website.

Microsoft has also released an update to the Internet Explorer 9 beta, just a week after the latest developer preview was made available. According to the company, this isn't a new build, but a series of stability and reliability fixes. Nonetheless, it's being pushed as a recommended update through Windows Update, and is advisable for anyone currently putting the browser through its paces. Alternatively, a standalone update has also been made available.



HEXUS Forums :: 4 Comments

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Using it since yesterday - colour me impressed :)

Tab pinning and stacking works very well for me - takes a little getting used to ;)

Extensions are very well done - lots of useful ones but a few need updating for the new beta.

I also like the new mouse gestures popup - right click and hold and a helper preview shows you what you can do - this has led me to finally start using the darn things :)
dangel
I also like the new mouse gestures popup - right click and hold and a helper preview shows you what you can do - this has led me to finally start using the darn things :)
This is what I thought when reading the article. I've never used them before, but probably will if they are easier to find out about.
I'll be honest, I'd never used Opera before, but I was very impressed by the beta. It's as fast as Chrome but a lot easier to use.

I'm getting sick and tired of Chrome's sub-par tab management, but Firefox 4 is just too bloaty to make it a viable alternative right now.

Will definitely be keeping an eye on Opera.
Hmmm, sounds like it might be a good time to move back to Opera. Can't remember why I stopped using it in the first place, but Chrome's terrible memory management is really starting to bug me, Firefox has never really grabbed me, and IE… well, I like IE8, but I'm not sure I'd want it is my first choice browser ;) For the way I work (which tends to involve having numerous reference tabs open on several different topics) tab stacking sounds like a good idea. Might wait until I've whacked Windows 7 on the work laptop though…. :D