Maximum PC Opera RSS Feed

Opera Unite to be Integrated with Opera Beta Builds

Paul Lilly — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:51:21 -0500

Originally intended as a separate download -- or at least released that way in beta form -- Opera Unite now comes bundled with the release of Opera 10.10 beta as a standard feature.

Opera Unite is a peer-to-peer system with an API that allows developers to create feature-rich apps using only HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Or as Opera describes it, a Web server in the Web browser. The software ships with six pre-installed apps, including photo sharing, an instant messenger, file sharing, a Web server, media player, and an app called "the fridge," which allows users to share notes with friends and family.

You can view a corny YouTube video of Unite here, which looks like it took a page from Microsoft's Launch Party video. If you want to give a whirl yourself, grab the download here.

EU Grows Skeptical of Browser Ballot

Pulkit Chandna — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:52:07 -0500

In July, the European Commission and Microsoft finally reached some common ground in their protracted dispute over the bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows, when Microsoft finally assented to the Commission’s favorite solution: a browser ballot. But the European Commission wants to make sure that the proposed browser ballot doesn’t eventually turn out be a well thought out artifice.

Soon after receiving Microsoft’s assent, the Commission secretly sent out a questionnaire about the proposed ballot screen to browser developers and PC makers. The Wall Street Journal has managed to get its hand on the results of that questionnaire.

The European Committee for Interoperable Systems, a non-profit association, which includes Norwegian browser maker Opera among its ranks, isn’t quite convinced by the idea of a ballot screen and the manner in which Microsoft has proposed to implement it. ECIS believes that the entire process of choosing a different browser contains “threatening and confusing warnings and questions.”

"Microsoft has cunningly found a way to accept the commission's suggestion of a ballot screen, but to do so in a way that will be entirely ineffective," ECIS's lawyer, Thomas Vinje, told the WSJ. Ironically, Microsoft plans to offer the ballot screen from within Internet Explorer. Though not opposed to the idea, Mozilla wants it to be modified.

Image Credit: ZDNet

Chrome 4.0 vs Opera 10 vs Firefox 3.5

Paul Lilly — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:00:26 -0500

In a three-way cage match, LifeHacker threw Chrome 4, Firefox 3.5, and Opera 10 into the ring and let the three browsers duke it out to see which would emerge as the fastest app for surfing the web.

A number of tests were run, including a "cold start" right after boot, a "warm start" after the browsers have already run once measuring the time it takes 8 tabs to load, a JavaScript testing suite, and memory utilization.

Opera turned in the best cold start time and was slightly slower than Firefox 3.5 with a warm start, while Chrome trailed the competition in both. But once the browsers were open and it came time to load 8 tabs, Chrome whipped both Opera and Firefox by loading up to about 1.5 seconds faster. Chrome also performed best in JavaScript testing, but was far less efficient in memory utilization with 8 tabs open than either of the two other browsers.

See the full results here, then hit the jump and tell us which browser you like best.

Opera Releases First Version 10 Release Candidate

Paul Lilly — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:54:33 -0500

Mozilla (Firefox), Microsoft (Internet Explorer), Apple (Safari), and Google (Chrome) have all recently released new browser versions for the next-gen browser wars, and soon Opera will join the pack. In the meantime, Opera Software today announced the first release candidate for Opera 10.

"The release candidate pushes us closer to the final launch of Opera 10," said Jan Standal, VP of Desktop Products, Opera. "We paid special attention to the mail client, which is one of our most enduring and popular features."

According to Opera Software, the RC is feature complete and sports a fresh look, a new application icon, and of course improved speed and performance over previous versions, up to 40 percent faster than Opera 9.6, the software maker claims. Other new features include an inline spell-checker, automated crash reporting, Web integration for email, a resizable search field, RSS Feed previews, and more.

Interested in giving Opera 10 a spin? Grab your copy here, or chill out until September 1st when the final version is expected to launch.

Browser Ballot Screen Won’t be Limited to Windows 7

Justin Kerr — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 11:53:26 -0500

Last week we reported on the new concessions Microsoft was proposing to the EU in the hopes of quelling its ongoing antitrust battles in Europe. The solution was a simple ballot screen pushed out as a “high priority” Windows Update, but what we didn’t know at the time is that it will also be sent out to computers running Windows XP and Vista as well.

The exact lineup of browsers hasn’t been finalized yet, but it is said to include 10 of “the most widely-used web browsers that run on Windows with a usage share of equal to or more than 0.5% in the European Economic Area”. Oddly enough, it’s still not even clear if Opera meets these requirements and given that they are the ones responsible for the antitrust woes facing Microsoft, would be bitter justice.

Opera officials overjoyed with the concessions, but never resting on their laurels, are said to now be pushing for an “icon-less ballot screen”. I suppose they are concerned that many users associate the “blue E” icon with “internet” and it still gives an unfair advantage to Microsoft. They are also said to be asking that this browser ballot be pushed out worldwide, but I somehow doubt Microsoft will take this approach. The browser ballot screen will include two links, one to the manufacturers website where they can learn more and an extra link directly to a download server.

Given the amazing amount of concessions being made by Microsoft, is Opera being unreasonable by asking for more?

(Image Credit Newwin.net)

Microsoft Agrees to Ship Windows 7 with Browser Ballot

Pulkit Chandna — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:40:10 -0500

Microsoft had to cough up $193 million in legal charges during its fiscal fourth quarter, the (depressing) results of which it announced on Friday. Now, it has forestalled the possibility of being slapped with another hefty fine. The Redmond-based software giant has bowed to EU’s demand that it let OEMs have the ability to bundle any other browser besides Internet Explorer with Windows.

"The European Commission can confirm that Microsoft has proposed a consumer ballot screen as a solution to the pending antitrust case,” EU revealed in a statement.

Microsoft had been hoping EU would allow it to ship Windows without a browser. EU had agreed to this solution when bundling of Windows Media Player was at issue, but the results proved that it was just a ruse. Had EU lent its seal of approval to Microsoft’s favorite solution, the company would have found it very easy to influence OEMs.

Image Credit: NewsFactor

Freeware Files: Five July Upgrades Worth Downloading!

David Murphy — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:00:00 -0500

As we close up yet another month of freeware goodies, it's important to look back and reflect on some of the awesome programs that received a version bump in the past 30 days. It was tough to nail down five free applications that not only upgraded themselves to a new iteration, but ones that successfully packed new and interesting features into their latest builds. There's no overarching theme this week save for that; it's a grab-bag of awesome new software to install. If this lack of a unifying concept horrifies you, don't worry. I'll list out all of this month's freeware roundups below, which you can use as a guide of-sorts to travel back to safer downloading waters.

Audacity

What it does: One of the best open-source audio editors out there has jumped up from version 1.3.7 to 1.3.8--both beta. What's included in the new batch of features? Support for more than 16 channels of audio recording, provided your hardware can handle it. The performance of the app's single-file editing and multi-track editing modes have been improved as well, as has the speed of the app's included equalization and noise removal options. A new interface mode--the "mixer board" view, offers volume-unit meters (VU meters) for each track.

For a full list of updates, click here! To grab the app, click here!

MyDefrag

What it does: Remember JkDefrag? It's gone. The latest iteration of the program, version four, has transformed this previously open-source defragging tool into a closed-source freeware application. And MyDefrag, after sitting in beta for nearly five months, finally launched its official release in early July. The program boasts an improved interface and performance over its open-source predecessor, as well as lower memory use and more helpful documentation. Is it better than the standard Windows defragmentation tool? Run some benchmarks and report back!

Download the app--click here!

Opera

What it does: The semi-popular Opera browser has jumped up to its second version of the Opera 10.0 beta. Aside from widget version support and multi-server updates, a majority of the differences between 10.0 beta 2 and 10.0 beta 1 come in the form of tweaks and improvements to a laundry list of specific items. I'll back the train up even more--what separates the Opera 10 beta program from the current Opera 9 browser? Gosh. Visual tabs, increased configuration options for the browser's "Speed Dial" feature--a Safari-like list of the Web pages you most frequent--as well as automatic updates, crash logging, an inline spell checker, and perfection on the much-dreaded Acid3 rendering test.

For a full list of updates, click here! To grab the app, click here!

VLC Media Player

What it does: This open-source alternative to Windows Media Player is the kitchen sink of features and formats. New to the 1.0.0 "Goldeneye" release of the app includes support for even more HD codecs: Dolby Digital Plus, TrueHD, and Blu-ray Linear PCM, to name a few. The app also brings instant pausing and frame-by-frame advancement to the table, perfect for those trying to catch every little detail in their favorite sci-fi series of choice. You can live record video in VLC Media Player 1.0.0, and even stream the audio of what you're watching via AirTunes

For a full list of updates, click here! To grab the app, click here!

VirtualBox

What it does: To be fair, the update of VirtualBox from 3.0.0 to 3.0.2 is more a maintenance release than anything else. But what's less important than increasing the performance of a virtual PC application? You can use this open-source app to launch new versions of operating systems inside your primary OS. It's a great time-saver when you want to fiddle with some component of an alternate OS, but don't have the time, space, or desire to split your drive into partitions and install a separate version of said OS in addition to what you normally run. This version of VirtualBox fixes 28 annoying bugs across Windows and Linux platforms, including a nasty one that sucked up your CPU resources when attempting to load a virtual OS from a hibernated state.

For a full list of updates, click here! To grab the app, click here!

July's Mega-Freeware roundup!

Miss any of the freeware roundups this month? Check out this list of 14 other programs that are worth your bandwidth, time, and love:

Freeware Files: Five Instant Messaging Apps (that are better than AIM)

Including: Pidgin, Digsby, Trillian Astra, Miranda IM, VoxOX

Freeware Files: Five Free Distributed Computing Projects for your Idle PC!

Including: Folding@home, Climateprediction.net, GIMPS, SETI@home, Muon1

Freeware Files: Five Portable Software Suites for your USB Key

Including: PortableApps, Lupo PenSuite, MyApps, Mojopac

As always, if you have any freeware or open-source programs that you think rock harder than a reunion of your favorite band (Jonas Brothers excluded), leave me a message in the comments or via Twitter @acererak. You could be featured in a future freeware roundup!

Did Opera Just Reinvent the Web?

Alex Castle — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:58:25 -0500

Last night, Opera released an alpha build of Opera Unite and, to hear them tell it, reinvented the internet in the process. With a claim as big as that, we think it's important to take a good, hard look at Opera Unite —what is it, what can it do, and will it really change the way we use the web?

So first, what is Opera Unite? Basically, it's a version of the Opera browser with built-in server software, which allows users of Opera Unite to send data (everything from text to multimedia) directly to other people on the web, even if they're using a different browser, and all without having to upload anything to a traditional server. Opera's billing this as a way to free yourself from the tyranny of the datacenter, allowing you to share pictures without having to put them on a stranger's computer, network socially without having to subject yourself to Facebook's terms of service, collaborate without relying on the Google Docs server, and so on and so forth.

But what can it really do?

Right now, Opera Unite is more of a proof of concept than anything. They have a couple apps (which Opera has termed "Unite Services") available already, including a Facebook Wall-style "Fridge," a chat client called "The Lounge" and a streaming media service. Every person running Unite gets a Unite Homepage, (hosted on their own computer, of course) which other people can connect to, in order to see a list of which Unite Services that person is hosting. In other words, if I wanted to host a chat for my friends, they would simply log onto my Opera Unite homepage (with an address like unite://mypc.examplename.operaunite.com/) then click on the chat app.

Of course, these services are all very much in the alpha stage right now, and it's hard to imagine anyone switching to Opera just to use killer apps like "Fridge," but Opera's hoping that people will recognize the huge potential of Unite, and that will spur interest and development for the platform. But before we worry too much about how much potential Opera Unite has, let's discuss...

The Drawbacks

In addition to a lot of positive early buzz, Opera's announcement has also been met with some pretty stiff skepticism. Here are some of the major points to keep in mind:

There are good reasons that people use servers.

What do you suppose happens when someone tries to connect to your Opera Unite homepage or services while you have your computer turned off? Yep, they get a service not available message. So, if you wanted to host, say, a Facebook-style profile with Opera Unite, and have it always be available, you'd have to leave your PC on 24/7. For a datacenter, which uses high-efficiency server hardware and has the economics of scale on its side, that's not a problem, but for the average person leaving your computer on all the time would mean a noticeable hike in the electricity bill.

Also, datacenters have industrial-strength bandwidth, which is simply not the case for most individual households. Even with a high-quality broadband connection, low upload rates mean that if a Unite-hosted blog post you write gets passed around and linked, your PC just won't be able to handle the demand.

Servers aren't entirely out of the picture

As much as Opera likes to stress the peer-to-peer nature of Unite, there is actually still a server in the picture, and it belongs to Opera itself. When you type a Unite address into the address bar of your browser, the Opera proxy server has to redirect you to the Opera Unite server you're trying to reach. Sure, your files aren't stored on this server, but you're still screwed if Opera's datacenter gets hit by a meteor, or something.

No one uses Opera

We kid, we kid. There are of course plenty of people out there using Opera, but percentage-wise it's a negligable portion of the overall internet userbase. Maybe Opera Unite will help the browser gain more traction, but it seems more likely that this technology won't make much of a splash until a bigger player like Mozilla incorporates it into their own browser.

But back to potential...

It's hard to look at what Opera's doing with Unite and not find a lot of potential there. Despite the drawbacks we've already covered, it a pretty exciting new way to look at the internet. And although the applications are rough now, who knows what kinds of services, tools and games will be written for Unite in the near future.

But don't just take our word for it, hit up the Opera website, download Unite, and then let us know what you think about it in the comments.