Opera 11 offers 30 percent enhanced Web performance

by Steven Mostyn - Dec 20 2010, 09:26

Considering all the chatter that seemingly surrounds Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome, you’d be forgiven for letting web browsers such as Safari and Opera slip from your mind. However, the recent release of Opera 11 may well rectify that particular consumer oversight.

Officially unveiled late last week, Opera 11 arrives boasting an elegant design, a selection of updates to some of the browser’s “most popular features”, and a variety of new ways that users can customize their Opera preferences.

Compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux-based computers, Opera 11 is also notable thanks to the introduction of tab stacking, which should provide “a better way to organize your open tabs” by simply dragging tabs to create a content stack—see the video below for a more detailed explanation.

Adding to the worth of Opera’s latest offering, the browser also provides support for extension add-ons, of which two million have reportedly already been downloaded including ad-blocker NoAds, password manager Last Pass, and foreign webpage translator Translate.

“We have also always worked hard to introduce new and bold ideas in web browsing,” said Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder of Opera. “But, sometimes, we want to take an idea and improve upon it.”

“Opera 11 adds a layer of polish to features people have known and loved for more than a decade, while introducing extensions,” he added. “If you have never tried Opera before, Opera 11 will change everything you know about browsing.”

Bold claims… supported by increased performance of up to 30 percent thanks to plug-ins that can be set to load on-demand, a 30 percent smaller file download size when compared to Opera 10.60, visual mouse gestures, and a more secure, safer address field.

In making Opera 11 a little easy to use where Web safety is concerned, the browser now hides the protocol information when the cursor is not on the address field and displays a clear badge indicating the security level and allowing immediate, one-click access to security and trust information about the site.

Download Opera 11 by clicking this direct link. Also watch Opera 11 in action by viewing the following video clip.

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