devilhead_satish
In the zone
Opera has released the future version of their popular desktop browser, which was set free in September, available for public consumption. The browser showcases some of the planned new features and improved standards compliancy. Opera 9 is codenamed Merlin.
One of the major changes is the new advanced configuration interface that can be accessed by entering opera:config into the address bar, which will display a page to manually edit opera's preferential values. This version also features Rich Text editing support, which appears to work in Google's popular email service, GMail. The promised new IMAP back-end has been built-in into the M2 mail client, along with the browser's support for XSLT, Canvas 2D, and Web Forms 2.0.
BitTorrent support has been put back in this preview release, a feature Opera pulled from the older preview releases and thus didn't make it to the final 8.0. This feature works in a very subtle manner with minimal resource footprint.
This Preview release is meant by Opera as a way to get bug reports and general feedback from the users, especially those involving Speed & Stability, IDing as Opera by default, render regressions since 8.5 and connecting to secure sites using TLS 1.1. Forums and Newsgroups are open for user input.
Download: Opera 9.0 Preview 1 for Windows [3.9MB]
Changelog for Opera 9.0 Technology Preview 1 for Windows
Information
Download
Build: 8031
Released: October 20, 2005
Release Notes
This is a preview version of Opera. Use only on properly backed up computers and do not install over previous Opera versions.
This release uses a new account storage format. If you install over an existing profile, you will be prompted to convert all accounts into the new format. This will not require a re-index. You will not be able to use the reformatted e-mail with previous versions of Opera.
Emptying trash may prevent new IMAP messages from downloading until Opera is restarted.
Undeleted IMAP e-mails are returned to trash when checking for new mail.
Changes Since Opera 8.5
User Interface
Enhanced pop-up blocker to detect more unwanted pop-ups.
Added new message console for warnings and error messages.
Added opera:config for managing preferences.
'Find' feature now highlights all matches when searching for text on the page.
Added internal source viewer. Set 'Source viewer' preference to 'Opera' to use the internal source viewer. On new installs, the internal source viewer is enabled by default.
Implemented tab locking. Right click on a tab and select 'Lock tab'. Individual tabs cannot be closed while they are locked.
New bookmark icon in address bar.
Fix to prevent key presses being lost after using Alt+Tab.
Updated search.ini
The file version number is now 7. All files with lower version numbers will be overwritten on upgrade.
New shortcut 'a' for searching with answers.com.
Changed keyboard shortcuts for closer cross-browser compatibility:
Ctrl+T replaces Ctrl+N for opening a new tab.
Ctrl+N opens a new browser window.
Ctrl+D and Ctrl+Shift+D replace Ctrl+T and Ctrl+Shift+T, respectively, for adding pages to bookmarks.
Ctrl+Shift+V can be used instead of Ctrl+D for paste-and-go.
Messaging and Newsfeeds
Enabled new IMAP code.
New account storage format. If you install over an existing profile, you will be prompted to convert all accounts into the new format. This will not require a re-index.
Added support for Atom 1.0.
External embeds are now always allowed in newsfeeds, and are not disabled when the "Surpress external embeds" preference is set.
Fix to prevent chat windows going blank when redrawing from cache.
Security
TLS 1.1 and TLS Extensions enabled by default.
SSL v2 and weak encryption methods (56 bit and lower) are disabled by default. See our knowledgebase for more information.
Upgraded crypto library to OpenSSL 0.9.8.
Please report problems accessing secure sites that worked in previous versions of Opera.
HTML
Added support for WebForms 2.
Implemented support for canvas.
Improved handling of the align attribute.
Removed support for XML namespaces in HTML documents.
Allowed negative numbers in numbered lists.
Added support for xml:id.
Added option to re-parse invalid XML documents as HTML after XML parsing has failed.
Fix to prevent minimized boolean attributes from being ignored if they are followed immediately by a / character.
HTTP
Changed default UserAgent string to identify as Opera.
Fixes to prevent delays when using proxy servers.
Added support for the HTTP Link header.
Scripting
Added support for XSLT 1.0 and the XSLTProcessor constructor.
Added support for XPath 1.0.
Implemented designMode for rich text editing.
Implemented Node.textContent property from DOM 3 Core.
Added support for onreadystatechange events, and the readyState property.
Implemented scripting support for canvas.
Added window.getSelection, and associated methods.
XMLHttpRequest returns the status code for the cached page if the request returns the cached page.
Fix to allow scripts to override a CSS #double #id selector.
Fix to prevent CSS generated content being duplicated when element contents are changed with scripts.
Fix to reset scrolling as needed when removing content from an element with overflow.
Plug-ins
Added Netscape Plug-in API extensions developed by browser and plug-in vendors.
Fixed an issue when printing from Java.
Display
Acid2 fixes
Several fixes for margin collapsing model.
Prevented elements from being less than 0 pixels high.
Create an anonymous table cell around tables inside an anonymous table row.
Table backgrounds are rendered if the table has dimensions, but no contents.
:before rules in CSS do not cause unrelated form elements to disappear.
Margins correctly treated on elements with clear: that follow a float.
Comments in strict HTML documents are treated as SGML comments.
Intersection of borders compatible with reference rendering.
Corrected use of :hover with no element selector.
Overflow on the HTML element is applied to the viewport.
Elements with overflow:hidden; can scroll to anchors within them.
Defaults
Body element now uses margin instead of padding by default.
UL/OL elements now use padding instead of margin by default.
DD elements now have a smaller indent.
Use default handheld font size for handheld stylesheets.
Images
SVG support increased to partial SVG 1.1 basic.
Selectors
Added support for CSS 3 attribute and UI selectors.
Fix to allow combinations of + or *, with :active, :focus, and :hover selectors.
Fix for combined :hover::after.
Multiple :first-line fixes.
:lang() selector no longer applies to xml:lang attributes.
Improved error handling for nested {}, [], and () blocks.
Selectors with invalid css identifiers are ignored.
Improved handling of unicode escape characters in ID selectors.
Backslash escapes allowed in ID selectors.
Correctly treat semicolons in @-rules.
Support media queries in @import rules.
Box, table, and inline
Removed box model quirk (box-sizing:border-box
in quirks mode.
Fixed display:inline; on table rows.
Fixed percentage widths on button elements.
Fixed default padding and border spacing on elements with display:table-cell;
Fix to allow padding in TD and TH elements to detect mouse events and :hover.
Fix for margin-top being mis-interpreted as padding-top.
Positioning
Allowed positioned elements to appear in front of iframes and objects.
Position and dimensions of absolutely positioned and fixed position elements are treated correctly when they are nested inside each other.
Fix to allow float, position, and z-index to be combined.
Absolutely positioned elements now take percentage widths relative to their parent container.
Lists and generated content
Respect list-style even if 'none' is specified for list-style-image.
List-style-image is now respected on :hover.
content:attr() now works for 'style' attributes.
Fixed margins of generated content for inline elements.
Background
Prevented background color of pseudo elements propagating to parent element.
Prevented background of html::before overriding background of html.
Object iframes now accept transparent backgrounds.
Other display
Fix to prevent fixed positioned elements from remaining visible when hiding them with display: none;
Fix to prevent positioned content, hidden using overflow, from producing a scrollbar.
Added support for quotes:none;
Multiple bidi, decoration, forms and paged media fixes.
Improved display of frames when 'Fit to window width' is enabled.
Miscellaneous
Site-specific settings are now available as part of the site-specific ini settings. A User Interface for these settings is not yet available.
Multiple stability fixes.
Windows specific fixes
Fonts selection now works correctly when more than 1024 fonts are installed.
Sources
Opera.com
Neowin.net
One of the major changes is the new advanced configuration interface that can be accessed by entering opera:config into the address bar, which will display a page to manually edit opera's preferential values. This version also features Rich Text editing support, which appears to work in Google's popular email service, GMail. The promised new IMAP back-end has been built-in into the M2 mail client, along with the browser's support for XSLT, Canvas 2D, and Web Forms 2.0.
BitTorrent support has been put back in this preview release, a feature Opera pulled from the older preview releases and thus didn't make it to the final 8.0. This feature works in a very subtle manner with minimal resource footprint.
This Preview release is meant by Opera as a way to get bug reports and general feedback from the users, especially those involving Speed & Stability, IDing as Opera by default, render regressions since 8.5 and connecting to secure sites using TLS 1.1. Forums and Newsgroups are open for user input.
Download: Opera 9.0 Preview 1 for Windows [3.9MB]
Changelog for Opera 9.0 Technology Preview 1 for Windows
Information
Download
Build: 8031
Released: October 20, 2005
Release Notes
This is a preview version of Opera. Use only on properly backed up computers and do not install over previous Opera versions.
This release uses a new account storage format. If you install over an existing profile, you will be prompted to convert all accounts into the new format. This will not require a re-index. You will not be able to use the reformatted e-mail with previous versions of Opera.
Emptying trash may prevent new IMAP messages from downloading until Opera is restarted.
Undeleted IMAP e-mails are returned to trash when checking for new mail.
Changes Since Opera 8.5
User Interface
Enhanced pop-up blocker to detect more unwanted pop-ups.
Added new message console for warnings and error messages.
Added opera:config for managing preferences.
'Find' feature now highlights all matches when searching for text on the page.
Added internal source viewer. Set 'Source viewer' preference to 'Opera' to use the internal source viewer. On new installs, the internal source viewer is enabled by default.
Implemented tab locking. Right click on a tab and select 'Lock tab'. Individual tabs cannot be closed while they are locked.
New bookmark icon in address bar.
Fix to prevent key presses being lost after using Alt+Tab.
Updated search.ini
The file version number is now 7. All files with lower version numbers will be overwritten on upgrade.
New shortcut 'a' for searching with answers.com.
Changed keyboard shortcuts for closer cross-browser compatibility:
Ctrl+T replaces Ctrl+N for opening a new tab.
Ctrl+N opens a new browser window.
Ctrl+D and Ctrl+Shift+D replace Ctrl+T and Ctrl+Shift+T, respectively, for adding pages to bookmarks.
Ctrl+Shift+V can be used instead of Ctrl+D for paste-and-go.
Messaging and Newsfeeds
Enabled new IMAP code.
New account storage format. If you install over an existing profile, you will be prompted to convert all accounts into the new format. This will not require a re-index.
Added support for Atom 1.0.
External embeds are now always allowed in newsfeeds, and are not disabled when the "Surpress external embeds" preference is set.
Fix to prevent chat windows going blank when redrawing from cache.
Security
TLS 1.1 and TLS Extensions enabled by default.
SSL v2 and weak encryption methods (56 bit and lower) are disabled by default. See our knowledgebase for more information.
Upgraded crypto library to OpenSSL 0.9.8.
Please report problems accessing secure sites that worked in previous versions of Opera.
HTML
Added support for WebForms 2.
Implemented support for canvas.
Improved handling of the align attribute.
Removed support for XML namespaces in HTML documents.
Allowed negative numbers in numbered lists.
Added support for xml:id.
Added option to re-parse invalid XML documents as HTML after XML parsing has failed.
Fix to prevent minimized boolean attributes from being ignored if they are followed immediately by a / character.
HTTP
Changed default UserAgent string to identify as Opera.
Fixes to prevent delays when using proxy servers.
Added support for the HTTP Link header.
Scripting
Added support for XSLT 1.0 and the XSLTProcessor constructor.
Added support for XPath 1.0.
Implemented designMode for rich text editing.
Implemented Node.textContent property from DOM 3 Core.
Added support for onreadystatechange events, and the readyState property.
Implemented scripting support for canvas.
Added window.getSelection, and associated methods.
XMLHttpRequest returns the status code for the cached page if the request returns the cached page.
Fix to allow scripts to override a CSS #double #id selector.
Fix to prevent CSS generated content being duplicated when element contents are changed with scripts.
Fix to reset scrolling as needed when removing content from an element with overflow.
Plug-ins
Added Netscape Plug-in API extensions developed by browser and plug-in vendors.
Fixed an issue when printing from Java.
Display
Acid2 fixes
Several fixes for margin collapsing model.
Prevented elements from being less than 0 pixels high.
Create an anonymous table cell around tables inside an anonymous table row.
Table backgrounds are rendered if the table has dimensions, but no contents.
:before rules in CSS do not cause unrelated form elements to disappear.
Margins correctly treated on elements with clear: that follow a float.
Comments in strict HTML documents are treated as SGML comments.
Intersection of borders compatible with reference rendering.
Corrected use of :hover with no element selector.
Overflow on the HTML element is applied to the viewport.
Elements with overflow:hidden; can scroll to anchors within them.
Defaults
Body element now uses margin instead of padding by default.
UL/OL elements now use padding instead of margin by default.
DD elements now have a smaller indent.
Use default handheld font size for handheld stylesheets.
Images
SVG support increased to partial SVG 1.1 basic.
Selectors
Added support for CSS 3 attribute and UI selectors.
Fix to allow combinations of + or *, with :active, :focus, and :hover selectors.
Fix for combined :hover::after.
Multiple :first-line fixes.
:lang() selector no longer applies to xml:lang attributes.
Improved error handling for nested {}, [], and () blocks.
Selectors with invalid css identifiers are ignored.
Improved handling of unicode escape characters in ID selectors.
Backslash escapes allowed in ID selectors.
Correctly treat semicolons in @-rules.
Support media queries in @import rules.
Box, table, and inline
Removed box model quirk (box-sizing:border-box
in quirks mode.Fixed display:inline; on table rows.
Fixed percentage widths on button elements.
Fixed default padding and border spacing on elements with display:table-cell;
Fix to allow padding in TD and TH elements to detect mouse events and :hover.
Fix for margin-top being mis-interpreted as padding-top.
Positioning
Allowed positioned elements to appear in front of iframes and objects.
Position and dimensions of absolutely positioned and fixed position elements are treated correctly when they are nested inside each other.
Fix to allow float, position, and z-index to be combined.
Absolutely positioned elements now take percentage widths relative to their parent container.
Lists and generated content
Respect list-style even if 'none' is specified for list-style-image.
List-style-image is now respected on :hover.
content:attr() now works for 'style' attributes.
Fixed margins of generated content for inline elements.
Background
Prevented background color of pseudo elements propagating to parent element.
Prevented background of html::before overriding background of html.
Object iframes now accept transparent backgrounds.
Other display
Fix to prevent fixed positioned elements from remaining visible when hiding them with display: none;
Fix to prevent positioned content, hidden using overflow, from producing a scrollbar.
Added support for quotes:none;
Multiple bidi, decoration, forms and paged media fixes.
Improved display of frames when 'Fit to window width' is enabled.
Miscellaneous
Site-specific settings are now available as part of the site-specific ini settings. A User Interface for these settings is not yet available.
Multiple stability fixes.
Windows specific fixes
Fonts selection now works correctly when more than 1024 fonts are installed.
Sources
Opera.com
Neowin.net