Opera 9.62: To be released soon, try it now

It looks like Opera is about to do a follow-up release of 9.62 to fix a zero-day flaw that made it into 9.61. The International install file is dated 10/29/2008 02:47:00 PM on the ftp server.

I’ve uploaded Windows and Macintosh builds of Opera 9.62 to my “Old Versions” of Opera download page.

While Opera 9.62 is not official until it has been published on the front page and the official Opera download page, it’s usually a good sign when builds for Windows, Macintosh and Unix have all been built and are waiting on the servers. 😀

So you can either go to my download page or you can browse through the files on Opera’s ftp server (if you don’t trust my files 😛 ).

Or if you’re not ready to install it yet and would prefer to wait until it’s officially released then you should expect to see an update notification possibly within the next couple of days.

I do not have a definite list of the changes since 9.61 (yet). However, I think there will be a fix for the zero-day flaw as mentioned above and explained by ZD Net as:

On the same day Opera shipped a browser update with patches for three separate security vulnerabilities, hackers are openly discussion a new zero-day flaw that exposes Windows users to remote code execution attacks.

With Opera 9.61, the Norwegian browser maker corrects an issue where History Search could be used to reveal browser history (rated extremely severe); a Fast Forward bug that allows cross-site scripting (highly severe); and an information disclosure flaw in news feeds (also highly severe).

Source: On Opera patch day, a new zero-day flaw

Opera 9.5: Kestrel is Coming!

From the Opera desktopteam:
The last couple of months we’ve been working hard on the upcoming Opera 9.5 release, codename Kestrel. Opera 9.5 will contain many cool new features, improvement of existing features, and we fixed a lot of bugs. Within a few weeks we will publish 9.5 weeklies on this blog so everyone can start playing with it.

What’s new!
After the release of Opera 9 last year, we continued the development of Opera’s rendering engine for inclusion in the 9.5 release. As a result, Opera 9.5 contains more than a year of improvements on the rendering engine. This includes improved CSS3 support (text-shadow anyone ), superior SVG support and a brand new javascript engine with support for ECMAScript 4 ‘getters’ and ‘setters’. Apart from being the best standard compliant browser, Opera 9.5 will also display even more webpages with bad coding.

User Interface
Earlier we asked our users for feedback by enabling the usage statistics. Thanks to all the feedback that we got, we now know more about which features are most popular and which ones are used less. In the Opera 9.5 user interface we made several usability improvements that make the popular features easier to access, and more consistent with other browsers.

Accessibility
Opera’s zoom function has always been a very popular accessibility feature. Opera 9.5 takes a big step forward in accessibility by introducing screen reader support , improved keyboard navigation and more consistent keyboard shortcuts.

Platform integration
To make sure that Opera remains the best choice on your platform, we spend a lot of time making Opera feel more integrated with your platform. Mac users can expect a nice new visual look and feel. Opera for Linux will add a QT4 build, so you can easily adjust the skin to match with desktop. There will also be 64-bit Linux/FreeBSD packages made available.

Performance
If you like speed, we’ve got good news for you! Opera 9.5 will be much faster, both in benchmarks (and we don’t have to cheat ) and most important: on real web pages. The user interface will also feel snappier and more responsive, for example switching tabs is now a lot faster on UNIX.

And there is so much more! While we’re preparing the first weekly build for you, we will introduce you to more new features and changes in 9.5. Keep yourself updated!

I don’t know about you, but I for one am very excited!

Opera 9.5..Kestrel..almost ready!

Fantastic news! Kestrel is almost ready all! The following news was pulled from an Opera enthusiast’s blog post. Opera Software is quite busy, actually that busy that two versions are coming. And not just on one platform, no the intention is to link many platforms together, meaning the desktop release will simultaneously come with the release for devices and mobiles. Currently Opera 9.5, code named Kestrel, is planned for a golden final release this year, while the first preview of Opera 10, code named Peregrine, will appear at the end of this year.

So what is Kestrel? A falcon. And also a warming up present from Opera Software. But you shouldn’t take that too negatively, Kestrel is an in-between release, while Peregrine is the next major release (Opera 10). Kestrel will introduce some of the rendering engine changes from Peregrine which don’t have a too high impact yet on the entire release. Peregrine itself, also a falcon, will have major rendering engine changes (of course everything that’s in Kestrel), improvements to the user interface, performance enhancements and stunning new features. What we can expect remains to be seen, but I’m betting on an entirely new skin, one that fits Windows Vista and Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), as well as features that, just like Speed Dial, will make the news headlines.

In this article we mainly discuss the upcoming Kestrel release as news on Peregrine is still very limited due to it’s early stage.

Rendering engine improvements
Support for CSS3, where especially selectors will get a major addition. One of the most noticeable is text-shadow support (multiple shadows, maximum blur limitation) to have, well, text with shadows behind them. Amongst other fixes include correct (not IE compatible) support of document.getElementById(), which should return the id, not the name. Additionally changes are in the house for the rendering of tables and fixes for rounding problems (using ems).

Opera Mail improvements
Kestrel will include at least the first run of changes for Opera’s mail client (aka M2), consisting of a new back-end, which should end any freezes when checking mail as well as fixes for corrupted search and indexes. Uncertain is yet if the second run of changes will make it, where a long awaited newsgroup feature is coming (what could it be?). Mail client operability is also important, and Kestrel will have full support (part of it is already in Opera 9.2) for exchanging mails between Apple Mail and Opera Mail. The problem was apparently caused by Apple Mail, which doesn’t fully comply with the RFC standards for exchanging messages. One of the annoying Opera Mail bugs will also be fixed where attachments are renamed to .tmp files rather than their original names, due to content-type recognition problems.

User interface fixes
Although no major user interface work is planned for Kestrel there seems to be a little hope that there will be a couple of small, yet wanted, changes. One of the possible changes could be site specific support for the content blocker. The code is already there, but it’s keeping your hopes up that it’s stable enough to include in Kestrel. Additionally site specific preferences for opera:about will work correctly in Kestrel. For the Linux platform a fix is included where when the tab bar is disabled (with the window panel on), and tabs are minimized icons are displayed (a remnant from MDI).

And more…
Support for extra security through HttpOnly cookies will be included in Kestrel (as it will be in Firefox 3), which should prevent renegade scripts on a site setting the cookie from reading the cookie. UserJS for https should be working in Kestrel according to Mitchman. Peter Karlsson has been working on an updated Info panel, which contains better organized and more information on the current website your viewing.

Unconfirmed future features
Support for the <video> tag is already present in an experimental build on Opera Labs. Microsoft Silverlight support, which by the sounds of supporting competition could be included as a default plug-in, just like Flash? For Peregrine we might see HTML 5 support as well as offline web applications (beyond Widgets) following the WHATWG specifications.As always, please remember this is a rather incomplete article on all the changes that we can expect for Kestrel (Opera 9.5), and especially Peregrine (Opera 10). With the passing of time, and when we get new builds from the Opera Desktop Team, we’ll learn more and more of what Opera Software has up its sleeves. With Kestrel this year, and Peregrine probably next year there’s a lot of work being done, and a lot coming for all of us to see of the famous Opera Software innovations for the web.