New features

Better integration with the Windows operating system

• Windows 7:
• Aero Glass
• Aero Peek
• Jump Lists

Opera Carakan JavaScript engine

• Cross-platform bytecode interpreter for a new register-based instruction set
• Internal object model with automatic classification and inline property caching
• Machine code generation (JIT compiler)
• Divided garbage collection heap: automatically traverses the memory of active heaps
• Caching of compiled programs
• Reduced memory usage
• Additional Carakan information (http://my.opera.com/core/blog/2009/12/22/carakan-revisited)

Opera "O" tab and menu
The new Opera "O" tab and its associated menu (located on the left side of the Opera Tab bar) replaces the traditional Opera Menu bar. This increases vertical space in the Opera desktop window, and centralizes frequently used features and tools in one, convenient location. Optionally, the new Opera "O" tab and menu can be replaced with the traditional Opera Menu bar by clicking "Show Menu Bar" in the Opera "O" menu. This new Opera feature contains the following items.

• Tabs and Windows ?
• Page ?
• Print ?
• Bookmarks ?
• History
• Downloads
• Opera Unite ?
• Synchronize Opera ?
• Widgets ?
• Notes
• Mail and Chat Accounts
• Mail ?
• Contacts
• Appearance
• Settings ?
• Help ?
• Show Menu Bar
• Exit

Opera Presto 2.5 rendering engine
The beta 2 release of Opera 10.50 (with Opera Widgets for Desktop) for Windows contains the latest Opera rendering engine: Opera Presto 2.5, and employs the following features from it.
CSS

• CSS 2.1 visibility: collapse
• CSS3 border-radius property (rounded corners)
• CSS3 Backgrounds and Borders
• CSS3 2D Transforms
• CSS3 Transitions

HTML5

• HTML5 <video> element DOM APIs to reflect changes in the specification
• HTML5 <param> element (child of the HTML5 <object> element) support for controlling animations/scripts; see:
• W3C testsuite (http://www.w3.org/2004/CDF/TestSuite/WICD_CDR_WP1/)
• W3C specification (http://www.w3.org/TR/WICD/#param-elements)

SVG

• SVG buffered-rendering property; see the W3C reference(http://www.w3.org/TR/SVGTiny12/painting.html#BufferedRenderingProperty)
• Text search inside SVG
• Animated raster images (APNG, GIF) in all the SVG elements that support raster graphics, i.e., <image>,<foreignObject>, and <feImage>

Additional Opera Presto information (http://my.opera.com/ODIN/blog/opera-10-5-pre-alpha-build-released-here-is-whats-new)
Opera Vega graphics library

• Renders all graphics in Opera
• Employs rounded corners, box shadow, animations, etc.
• Contains improved support for SVG and the HTML 5 <canvas> element
• Additional Vega information (http://my.opera.com/core/blog/2009/02/04/vega)

Opera Widgets for Desktop
Although they run outside the browser, Opera Widgets have been treated as entities inside the browser in many respects. The new Opera Widgets for Desktop ends this dependency on the browser and moves Opera Widgets to the next level: that of first-class applications. Above all, Opera Widgets for Desktop gives widgets the potential to replace some native applications on the computer.
Opera Widgets for Desktop includes the following features:

• A Widget menu located within the new Opera "O" menu, or optionally from the traditional Opera Menu toolbar. Menu options include:
• Get Widgets
• Manage Widgets... (opens the Widgets panel in the Opera user interface)
• What are Opera Widgets?
• Widget lifespans are separated from the Opera desktop browser.
• Each widget runs in a separate process.
• Integration with the operating system includes support for creating desktop and menu-based application shortcuts.
• Widget control buttons organize important actions:
• Move
• Close
• Minimize
• Settings
• Support is provided for different widget modes such as "Application" and "Widget".
• A new widget installation/uninstallation process is supported:
• Uninstallation from "Add/Remove Programs" in the Windows Control Panel
• Notification pop-ups are supported.
• Password manager is supported.
• File I/O (Input/Output) access is supported.
• The upgrading of installed widgets from current to new runtime is supported.
• Improved support for Opera Dragonfly is provided.
• Remote debugging is possible; configurable via a widget's context menu.

Non-modal notification messages

• Notification message windows no longer interrupt workflow
• JavaScript alerts, HTTP notifications, password manager, etc., now display as page overlays.
• Switching of tabs or windows while these dialogs are displayed is now allowed.

Private browsing

• Creating, browsing, and then closing private tabs and private windows removes all records of Web sites visited through them.
• Using the new Opera "O" tab and menu, go to:
• Tabs and Windows > New Private Tab
• Tabs and Windows > New Private Window
• Using the traditional Opera Menu bar, go to:
• File > New Private Tab
• File > New Private Window

Web Storage

• Support is established for:
• Session storage: offers a temporary storage of data
• Warning dialogs when exceeding storage quotas for web storage
• The user can increase, or set unlimited quotas for web storage
• Local storage: stores data for a longer period until the user explicitly clears it
• The Address field autocomplete list now includes opera:webstorage
• Added a "Delete Web storage databases" check box item in the "Delete private data" detailed options dialog
• See: Web Storage W3C Working Draft (http://www.w3.org/TR/webstorage/)

Web SQL Database

• Support is established for:
• Storage of data in a more structured manner
• Querying data using SQL
• Warning dialogs when exceeding storage quotas for web database
• The user can increase, or set unlimited quotas for web database
• Added a "Delete Web storage databases" check box item in the "Delete private data" detailed options dialog
• The Address field autocomplete list now includes opera:webdatabases
• See: Web SQL Database W3C Working Draft (http://www.w3.org/TR/webdatabase/)

Changes and improvements since Opera 10.50 beta 1 (with Opera Widgets for Desktop)

User interface
Added

• Vista, Windows 7 style title bar integration on WinXP, when tabs are on top
• Applies only when the WinXP default desktop/start menu is employed, and not to the Classic desktop/start menu
• Opera "O" menu: changed "Page Tools" menu item to "Page"
• opera:webstorage and opera:webdatabases to the Address bar history dropdown list
• Opera Widgets
• Widget Manger panel in the Opera user interface
• Support for window style (floating/below etc)
• Support for an error console

Improved

• Stabilized, polished, and increased protection against spoofing of overlay dialogs
• Opera Unite:
• Numerous tweaks and improvements to bundled Opera Unite applications
• Opera Widgets
• Widget generic icon
• Widget installation process
• Widget documentation
• Widget localization:
• Various widget translation strings
• Localization:
• Strings for private browsing
• Strings for download-acceleration software compatibility

Fixed

• Image context menu items being greyed out
• Title bar flickering when resizing on WinXP
• Several issues regarding bookmark manipulation
• An issue that occurred while Opera Turbo is running
• An issue when duplicating tabs using mouse gestures
• Current images mode not being inherited when opening links in a new tab
• New tab gesture opening a blank page without focus in the address bar instead of in Speed Dial
• Pasted bookmarks being stored in the wrong location
• Page zoom menu not being keyboard accessible
• Web fonts with a specified format not working
• Full name of dictionaries not being shown
• An issue when deleting many bookmarks freezes Opera
• Import/Export only supporting the old .adr bookmark format and not the new .ini format
• Trash name not being displayed if the name is absent in the bookmarks file
• After importing bookmarks from Internet Explorer, the dialog cannot be opened again
• Opera creating both a bookmarks.adr and a bookmarks.ini file on first start
• The order of personal bar items not being remembered between sessions
• Opening a new window opens a ghost window
• Auto-hiding of the Windows taskbar is obscured by the Opera window
• Bottom arrow in a vertical / horizontal scrollbar points up when hovering the scrollbar
• Creating a "New (Private) Tab" from the task bar or systray does not maximize the Opera window
• A random font being set when changing fonts in Preferences and then restarting Opera
• An issue with "Open file" from the completed download notifications open sessions dialog
• Replaced "Developer Tools" with "Opera Dragonfly" in the Tools > Advanced traditional Opera menu bar
• Longdesc link going to the wrong URI
• Longdesc image description showing up in the image context menu
• Context menu not working in the Speed Dial search box
• Firewall alert when starting Opera on Windows 7
• Ctrl+T keyboard shortcut missing from the File menu
• Opera Unite:
• Context menu missing for images and links in widgets
• An issue with translations
• Right-click menu missing from the path field in the Opera Unite properties dialog
• Opera Widgets:
• An issue with the widget Edit field context menu after Spellcheck has been enabled
• An issue with password manager
• An issue while downloading from an untrusted repository
• Scrollbars appearing when the Yandex Traffic widget is docked
• Zooming widgets displays scrollbars
• Scrollbars not appearing for widgets in application mode
• Downloading a widget fails if it is already in the transfers list

Display and scripting

Added

• Numerous upgrades to the Carakan JavaScript engine
• New backend for webstorage with improved performance

Improved

• Tab hover thumbnails
• Tab cycler by adding transparency

Fixed

• Property caching in combination with special properties
• An issue with Google Buzz
• Instruction via the command line not being evaluated in local scope with Opera Dragonfly
• Optimization of the <canvas> putImageData operation
• Plug-in size and position not being updated when a plug-in is in synchronous state (Youtube)
• SVG background-images being misplaced and clipped
• An issue with third-party native skin icons
• Not being able to escape <input>
• An issue when using fullscreen mode

Mail, news, chat

Improved

• Localization:
• String for "Reply to list"
• String for "Reply to sender"
• Strings for "Mail progress"

Fixed

• RSS/newsfeed preview being stuck at the "loading" stage
• Ghost feed items appearing after restart
• Smileys not showing their images in mail and chat
• An issue when trying to send a file in Opera chat/IRC
• No mail messages being selected on startup
• "Mark messages as read" option in filters being broken
• Slow loading of mail
• Loading mail without showing a progress indicator
• Mails being lost on IMAP when deleting a draft reply
• Sent mail appearing in the received index
• Cut and paste not working in the mail compose context menu
• Not being able to attach files by dragging and dropping them to the compose window
• The "Reply to list" button not showing for mailing list mails
• Context menu for the compose window
• Problem while holding the backspace key when typing a message in M2

Network

Fixed

• Opera Unite:
• Cross network request being issued when accessing an Opera Unite application