The Pleasant Surprise of Opera 10.5

Easily one of the most pleasant surprises of this test was Opera 10.5, which performed significantly better than its predecessor, Opera 10.0. In the previous comparison test, Opera 10.0 finished fourth and had a few nice features, but it was slower than the rest of the browsers with the exception of IE8. However, version 10.5 would not just be a minor upgrade from that, as it proved to be a major improvement.

Using the Sunspider JavaScript test, Opera 10.5 made a huge improvement coming from the rear of the pack to the very top. It beat out Chrome by a very small margin but still managed to impress. The Mozilla Dromeo suit tells much the same story, with Opera beating out both Safari and Chrome by a decent amount. However, the Celtic Kane's JavaScript test had a different outcome, where Opera gets beaten by both Safari and Chrome.

In the Google V8 benchmark, Chrome wins again, while in the Acid Three test, there is a three-way tie between Chrome, Opera, and Safari all with perfect scores of 100. The clincher, however, is in the Peacekeeper benchmark, which is a wide-ranging test that covers all kinds of common browser tasks. In this test, Opera 10.5 wins easily, while many tests conflicted on whether Opera or Chrome is faster.

Something that we do every day is fire up our browser, and the faster it loads, the better. From a cold start, which is how long the program takes to load after you turn on your computer, Opera does a good job. It's only beaten out by Chrome but still manages to turn on in well under three seconds. However, from a warm start, which is how fast the browser launches after it has been opened since you started using it, it only improves slightly, putting it in last place. Last place, however, is about two and a half seconds, so it's not quite that bad.

Memory usage is also a big factor in a browser, and it's safe to say that Opera 10.5 does quite well. Firefox beats it with both one and eight tabs open but still manages to do a respectable job and not eat up lots of computer resources. However, the interface of Opera 10.5 underwent a simple yet very effective overhaul, cutting out the top title bar which gives it a very Chrome-like look with the tabs on top.

It also features tight Windows 7 integration both in looks and functionality. Jump lists are fully supported as well as tabs showing individual windows accessible from the taskbar. All of the menus have been pushed sideways into a small button on the top left, doing a great deal to help clean up the browser. The offer contains a huge amount of options to really tweak just about anything you might like right out of the box and theme support is included.

Not that it's at all necessary, Opera 10.5 looks fantastic as is while add-on support isn't quite as robust as in Firefox. However, they are still there and are quite handy. Putting it all together, you have a real killer browser. The main problem right now is that Opera 10.5 is an alpha which means that it's very early and prone to crashing and lots of bugs.

However, before too long, it will be sorted out and Opera will really be an excellent browser all considered. I would say it's very disturbing of its first place finish because of the technical issues present in the current version.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: eneasily one of the most pleasant surprises of this test was opera 10.5 in the previous comparison test opera 10.0 finished fourth it had a few nice features but it was slower than the rest of the browsers with the exception of ie8 it really didn't have anything exciting going for it you might think that version 10.5 would just be a minor upgrade from that you would be wrong using the sunspider javascript test opera 10.5 has made a huge improvement coming from the rear of the pack to the very top it beat out chrome by a very small margin but still that's quite impressive the mozilla dromeo suit tells much the same story opera beats out both safari and chrome by a decent amount the story is a bit different in celtic kane's javascript test where opera gets beaten by both safari and chrome and helping to really confuse things chrome wins again in the google v8 benchmark moving to the acid three test which doesn't focus so much on outright speed it's a three-way tie between chrome opera and safari all with the perfect scores of 100 where the clincher is however is in the peacekeeper benchmark peacekeeper is a wide-ranging test that covers all kinds of common browser tasks and in opera 10.5 wins easily while a lot of tests conflicted of whether opera or chrome is faster i have to give the edge to opera obviously there's more to it than that though something that you do every day is fire up your browser so the faster it loads the better from a cold start which is how long the program takes to load after you turn your computer on opera does a good job he's only beaten out by chrome but it still manages to turn on in well under three seconds it's not quite so good from a warm start which is how fast the browser launches after it's been opened since you started your computer it only improves just a little from its cold start time which puts it in last that said last place is about two and a half seconds so it's not quite that bad memory usage is also a big factor in a browser and it's safe to say that here opera 10.5 does quite well firefox beats it with both one and eight tabs open but still does a respectable job and not eating up lots of computer resources opera 10.5 was a huge surprise the interface went through a simple yet very effective overhaul cutting out the top title bar which gives it a very chrome-like look with the tabs on top it also features tight windows 7 integration both in the looks and functionality jump lists are fully supported as are tabs showing the individual windows accessible from the task bar all of the menus have been pushed sideways into a small button on the top left and this does a great deal of help towards cleaning up the browser offer contains a huge amount of options to really tweak just about anything you might like right out of the box and theme support is included not that it's at all necessary opera 10.5 looks fantastic as is while add-on support isn't quite as robust as in firefox and i found they sometimes aren't up to the quality that you would find in firefox or chrome it's still up there and it's quite handy put it all together and you have a real killer browser the main problem right now is that opera 10.5 is an alpha which means that it's very early and prone to crashing and lots of bugs but that's not a bad thing before too long it will be sorted out and opera will really be an excellent browser all considered i would say it's very disturbing of its first place finish now feel free to go back to the main video via the annotation on your screen to see how the rest of the browsers did youeasily one of the most pleasant surprises of this test was opera 10.5 in the previous comparison test opera 10.0 finished fourth it had a few nice features but it was slower than the rest of the browsers with the exception of ie8 it really didn't have anything exciting going for it you might think that version 10.5 would just be a minor upgrade from that you would be wrong using the sunspider javascript test opera 10.5 has made a huge improvement coming from the rear of the pack to the very top it beat out chrome by a very small margin but still that's quite impressive the mozilla dromeo suit tells much the same story opera beats out both safari and chrome by a decent amount the story is a bit different in celtic kane's javascript test where opera gets beaten by both safari and chrome and helping to really confuse things chrome wins again in the google v8 benchmark moving to the acid three test which doesn't focus so much on outright speed it's a three-way tie between chrome opera and safari all with the perfect scores of 100 where the clincher is however is in the peacekeeper benchmark peacekeeper is a wide-ranging test that covers all kinds of common browser tasks and in opera 10.5 wins easily while a lot of tests conflicted of whether opera or chrome is faster i have to give the edge to opera obviously there's more to it than that though something that you do every day is fire up your browser so the faster it loads the better from a cold start which is how long the program takes to load after you turn your computer on opera does a good job he's only beaten out by chrome but it still manages to turn on in well under three seconds it's not quite so good from a warm start which is how fast the browser launches after it's been opened since you started your computer it only improves just a little from its cold start time which puts it in last that said last place is about two and a half seconds so it's not quite that bad memory usage is also a big factor in a browser and it's safe to say that here opera 10.5 does quite well firefox beats it with both one and eight tabs open but still does a respectable job and not eating up lots of computer resources opera 10.5 was a huge surprise the interface went through a simple yet very effective overhaul cutting out the top title bar which gives it a very chrome-like look with the tabs on top it also features tight windows 7 integration both in the looks and functionality jump lists are fully supported as are tabs showing the individual windows accessible from the task bar all of the menus have been pushed sideways into a small button on the top left and this does a great deal of help towards cleaning up the browser offer contains a huge amount of options to really tweak just about anything you might like right out of the box and theme support is included not that it's at all necessary opera 10.5 looks fantastic as is while add-on support isn't quite as robust as in firefox and i found they sometimes aren't up to the quality that you would find in firefox or chrome it's still up there and it's quite handy put it all together and you have a real killer browser the main problem right now is that opera 10.5 is an alpha which means that it's very early and prone to crashing and lots of bugs but that's not a bad thing before too long it will be sorted out and opera will really be an excellent browser all considered i would say it's very disturbing of its first place finish now feel free to go back to the main video via the annotation on your screen to see how the rest of the browsers did you