Opera has released a beta version of the new Opera 10.50 browser for Windows.

Opera today released the beta version of Opera 10.50, its newest and most feature-rich desktop web browser. In addition to impressive speed, Opera 10.50 beta offers a minimalist interface that maximizes screen space for website content.

The latest version of the browser supports many new features and even more open web standards. The beta version for Windows can be downloaded free of charge at http://www.opera.com/next. Beta versions for Mac and Linux will be released soon.

The fastest browser

A high-speed JavaScript engine, graphics library support, and excellent performance even on slow networks thanks to the updated Opera Turbo technology—all of this allows Opera 10.50 to claim the title of the fastest browser on the planet. The new Carakan core launches web applications more than eight times faster than its predecessor. Even content-heavy websites now load at a stunning speed.

The entire interface of the Opera 10.50 beta is rendered using the new high-performance Vega graphics library. This allows for faster and smoother graphical effects, from tab switching to webpage animations.

New interface with a minimum of elements

Opera 10.50 features a streamlined, minimalist interface that maximizes usable space for displaying website content. Opera 10.50 offers a visually enhanced Speed ​​Dial, tabbed browsing with thumbnails of open pages, and other features.

Tabs and windows in private browsing mode

In private mode, Opera 10.50 doesn't store any information about the websites you visit or the actions you take on them. The ability to work in private tabs and windows is what makes Opera a unique browser.

Smart address field and search interface

Using your favorite search engine has become even easier—you can do it right from the address bar. The new address bar displays matches in your browsing history, bookmarks, and even the content of visited pages. And from the search bar, you can compose queries to search the web or the current web page. Adding a new search engine to the search bar, such as Twitter, repeating a previously entered query, or finding the desired fragment on the current page is now a breeze.

Excellent integration with Windows OS

Opera 10.50 beta supports Aero Glass technology on Windows 7 and Vista. The browser is integrated with Aero Peek and Jump List effects, and the menu bar is displayed vertically and appears with the click of a dedicated button.

Widgets become apps

The new platform allows widgets from the Opera Widgets family to run on top of the web browser. Each widget runs as a process independent of the browser and appears as a standalone operating system application on the desktop.

For our developer friends: the latest web standards

Opera has always been committed to implementing web standards. The new Opera Presto 2.5 core in the Opera 10.5 beta browser provides improved HTML5 support, full CSS 2.1 support, and, for the most part, CSS3 support, displaying websites as developers intended when they coded them.

"Our previous-generation Futhark JavaScript engine was the fastest browser on the planet when it launched a few years ago. Our engineers were tasked with making Opera the fastest browser on the planet once again," says Christen Krogh, Director of Engineering at Opera Software. "Today, we're proud to present the results of our work and are excited to announce the final version of Opera 10.50."

Learn more about Opera 10.50: http://www.opera.com/next