The first version of Opera 15 for computers

From the oven that has not yet cooled down after the release of Opera 14 for Android , straight for you is the first version of Opera 15 for computers based on the Blink engine. It is called Opera 15 because it was made on Chromium 28 (while Opera 14 on Chrome 26). But don't get too carried away with numerology (we are tired of answering questions about the magic of the number 13), our new evergreen browser will be updated often enough so that version numbers lose meaning - let's better talk about what's inside the first version.

• Opera Next 15 for Windows
• Opera Next 15 for OS X

This build is stable (we have been using the new browser for some time in our daily work inside the company for some time), but it’s not the final yet or the RC. This pre-release is ready for classic Windows and OS X. The versions for Windows 8 and Linux will be ready soon, but we were so impatient to show the new product that we did not wait.
')

What is new?

First of all, you will notice a very simplified interface integrated into the platform. We wanted to make your browser as natural as possible for the OS - after all, this is your most frequently used program, besides the OS itself.

Just like in Opera 14 for Android, we removed the bookmarks from Opera 15 and replaced them with a new express panel, which will make it easier to visually navigate your favorite pages. Now you can group cells into folders by simply dragging one onto another. If you want, you can name the folder by clicking on it with the right button and selecting “Change title”.

To add a page or extension in the Express panel, just click on the big plus. The same can be done right on the page: just click on the Speed ​​Dial icon in the address bar and it will highlight to show that the page has been added.

If you have a lot of cells in the Express panel, you can find the one you need in the search from the top right: start typing letters and sites are immediately filtered out by coincidence.




Developers can still create extensions for Express panels - we will tell you more about this later. Existing extensions can be automatically converted for Opera 15.

Piggy bank

Have you ever wandered around the network and found pages that I would like to read later, for example, a list of gadgets to compare somewhere on the Market or different hotels on Bookings? Previously, it was a big problem, and many saved up dozens of open tabs to return to them later. Opera 15 will help you solve this problem: add the page to the piggy bank and return to it when you have time.

Just click the heart in the address bar on the page to which you want to return then and the heart will be highlighted, meaning that the page has been added. Change your mind? Click the heart again. You can enter the Money Box from the start page: open a new tab or click the button to the left of the address bar.



To adjust the page size in the money box, use the handle on the right. If you have a lot of pages “for later”, you can find them in the search as easily as the cells of the Express panel.

Recommendations

Recommendations - another new Opera 14 for Android and Opera 15 for computers, which helps to find the interesting and immediately move on to reading. You can customize your country, language, and list of interesting topics using the menu under the gear on the top right. By the time we launch, we already have 13 categories in 32 languages.

Smart string

Opera 15 for computers combined address bar and search bar into one. The smart line offers hints (they can be turned off in the settings) and several search providers to choose from.

Compression mode

Just because you have a computer, not a mobile device, does not mean that you have a megabyte channel at your fingertips. Maybe you and a dozen unfortunate people are sitting on the same Wi-Fi point in a cafe or are trying to catch a 3G modem signal on the roof of a summer house. Turning on compression mode from the main menu sends pages through Opera's proxy servers, which significantly reduce the page size using a clever combination of image compression, SPDY, and other magic. Please note that rendering takes place on the browser side, so JavaScript works without problems. Secure connections (https) do not go through our proxies.

Mouse gestures

One of the classic features of Opera is mouse gestures that help control the browser with simple movements. Please note that gestures are disabled by default on OS X, since this OS has a built-in gestures system. You can also enable additional hotkeys in the settings (as well as many other interesting things).

For developers

You can enable a special menu with developer tools (Menu - Other Tools - Enable Developer Tools on Windows or in the "View" menu on OS X) - they will wait for you there: Web Inspector (Opera Dragonfly debugger while in operation), Classic Viewer code and a list of plugins installed in the browser. You can call the web inspector with the usual hotkeys: Cmd Alt I or Ctrl Shift I, depending on your OS, or right-click “Inspect the item”.

Extensions

In connection with the transition to Chromium and a completely rewritten interface, the infrastructure of extensions has undergone major changes: starting with Opera 15 and further, the format of extensions for Opera 11 and 12 is no longer supported (the old documentation is hidden on GitHab ) and we are switching to the Chromium extension format. At this point, Opera 15 supports part of the Chromium extension API (there will be more later) and our own API for the Express Panel .

If you are developing extensions for Chromium, do not forget to send them to our catalog ! Evernote, Feedly, Disconnect, LastPass, WOT, Ghostery, AdblockPlus and very cool cottonTracks have already done this.

If the Chromium extensions are new to you, we have prepared several tutorial articles and corresponding API documentation for you. We also built an automatic converter into the new format in the interface for developers of the extension catalog - all in order to make the transition to the new format for you as inconspicuous as possible.

What else (yet) is not in Opera 15 for computers?

Opera 15 does not include the M2 email client. Not all Opera users found it useful, therefore, to simplify the interface and even less impact on all the code, we decided to separate the email client into a separate product and today we present you its first version:

• Opera Mail for Windows
• Opera Mail for OS X

Taking this opportunity, I say hello to the fan of M2 vithar .

Other features that are not included in the first release based on Chromium, which will be returned in future versions:

• Access to getUserMedia and Geolocation API is not yet included in the version for the computer, although they already work in Opera 14 for Android. They will certainly come back.
• There are no pages with experimental flags for developers either, but the flags for the command line work. They too will return, do not worry.

Created for discoveries

This is not all that is interesting in the new version of Opera 15 for computers, many other possibilities are hidden behind the new attractive and friendly interface. Look around, look at the settings: you can turn off cookies, pop-up windows, plug-ins for hotel websites, turn on the “Do Not Track” heading, turn off various settings to optimize speed, if they suddenly bother you. We hope that you will enjoy discovering new opportunities and may they inspire you to write your own, with the help of extensions.