The browser wars seem to be in terms of pre-final versions this time. We have already had the beta version of IE9 and Firefox 4 and joining them today is the alpha version of Opera 11. We have always considered Opera to be particularly sharp in browser innovation (they got us the browser tabs, remember) and sure enough, this time too there is something new – extensions. These are tools that can be added to enhance one’s browsing experience by adding all sorts of features and functionality to it.
Opera says that extensions for the browser can be built using the same web standards used to build web sites and web applications. What’s more, developers who have made extensions for other browsers will be able to share them with Opera users (more than 50 million, according to the release) with “only a few tweaks to their code.” Apart from extensions, there is also improved browser performance, new features like a new mail panel and a new bookmarks bar, and support for HTML5 server-sent events to support dynamic Web applications.
Impressed or interested? Grab the browser from here, alpha warnings notwithstanding.
