History of the Opera web browser

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MultiTorg Opera
MultiTorg Opera

The history of the Opera web browser began in 1994 when it was as a research project at Telenor, the largest Norwegian telecommunications company. In 1995, the project branched out into a separate company named Opera Software ASA,[1] with the first publicly available version released in 1996.[2] Since that time, Opera has undergone extensive changes and improvements, such as the relatively recent addition of built-in phishing protection.

The Opera browser was, until version 2.0, called MultiTorg Opera and was not available to the public — although online documents show it at The Third International WWW Conference in 1995.[3] It was known for its multiple document interface (MDI) and 'hotlist' (sidebar), which made browsing several pages at once much easier, as well as being the first browser to completely focus on adhering to the W3C standards.

Contents

[edit] Version 2

Version 2.0, the first public release of Opera, was released as shareware in 1996.[4][5]

Due to popular demand, Opera Software shows interest in programming its browser for alternate operating systems such as Apple Macintosh, QNX and BeOS. On October 10, 1997, they launch "Project Magic", an effort to determine who would be willing to purchase a copy of their browser in their native OS, and to properly distribute funds to develop or outsource for such operating systems. [6] On November 30, 1997 they closed voting for which operating system to develop with. Project Magic then became a news column for updates for alternate operating systems until version 4.[7]

[edit] Version 3

Opera 3.62
Opera 3.62

Opera 3 was the first version of Opera with JavaScript support.[5] It was released for multiple operating systems on December 31, 1997.[citation needed]

In 1998, Opera 3.5 was released, adding Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) support[5] and file upload capability.[8]

Since version 3.5, Opera has supported CSS, and Håkon Wium Lie, one of the inventors of CSS, is the CTO at Opera.[9] Up to 6.0 Opera supported most common web standards, Netscape plugins and some other recent standards such as WAP and WML for wireless devices, but its implementation of advanced ECMAScript (better known as "JavaScript") and the HTML Document Object Model was poor.

Version 3.6 was released on May 12, 1999.[10]

[edit] Version 4

On June 28, 2000,[11] Opera 4 for Windows was released, introducing a new cross-platform core (Elektra), and a new integrated e-mail client.

[edit] Version 5

Opera 5.02
Opera 5.02

Opera 5, released on December 6, 2000, was the first version which was ad-sponsored instead of having a trial period.[12]

[edit] Version 6

Opera 6.0
Opera 6.0

On November 29, 2001, Opera 6 was released with new features including Unicode support, and offering a single document interface as well as the multiple document interface allowed by previous versions.[13]

[edit] First MSN.com controversy

On October 24, 2001, Microsoft blocked users of third-party browsers, including Opera, from accessing MSN.com. Microsoft Internet Explorer users were not affected. After cries of antitrust behavior, Microsoft lifted the restrictions after two days.[14][15] However, as late as November 2001 Opera users were still locked out from some MSN.com content, despite Opera's ability to display the content if MSN.com were to serve it.[16]

[edit] Version 7

Opera 7.02
Opera 7.02

On January 28, 2003,[17] Opera 7 was released, introducing the new "Presto" layout engine, with improved CSS, client-side scripting, and Document Object Model (DOM) support. Mac OS 9 support was dropped.

Version 7.0 saw Opera undergo an extensive rewrite with the older Elektra layout engine being replaced with the faster and more powerful Presto layout engine. The new engine brought almost full support for the HTML DOM meaning that parts of, or a whole, page can be re-rendered in response to DOM and script events.

In August 2004, Opera 7.6 began limited alpha testing. It had more advanced standards support, and introduced voice support for Opera, as well as support for Voice XML. Opera also announced a new browser for Interactive Television, which included a fit to width option Opera 8 introduced. Fit to Width is a technology that initially utilized the power of CSS, but it is now internal Opera technology. Pages are dynamically resized by making images and/or text smaller, and even removing images with specific dimensions to make it fit on any screen width, improving the experience on smaller screens dramatically. Opera 7.6 was never officially released as a final version.

On January 12, 2005, Opera Software announced that it would offer free licenses to higher education institutions,[18] a change from the previous cost of $1,000 USD for unlimited licenses. Schools that opted for the free license included Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, University of Oxford, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Duke University. Opera was commonly criticized for having been ad-sponsored, since this was seen as a barrier to gaining market share. In the newer versions the user was allowed a choice of generic graphical banners, or text-based targeted advertisements provided by Google based upon the page being viewed. Users could pay a license fee to remove the advertisement bar.

[edit] Second MSN.com controversy

In 2003, MSN.com was configured to present Opera browsers with a style sheet used for old versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer.[19] Other browsers received either a style sheet tailored to them, or at least the latest Internet Explorer style sheet.[20] The outdated style sheet that Opera received caused Opera to move a significant amount of MSN.com's content 30 pixels to the left of where it should be, distorting the page and making it appear as though there was a bug in Opera.[21]

In response, the Opera Software company created a special "Bork" edition of Opera which displayed gibberish instead of MSN.com but not instead of any other web site. They did this to make a point about the necessity of a harmonious relationship between web browsers and web sites.[22]

After the complaints, Microsoft changed their servers to present the latest version of Opera, version 7, with the style sheet served to the latest version of Internet Explorer, which resolved the problem. However, Microsoft continued to serve the outdated style sheet to the older Opera 6, even though Opera 6 also needed the latest style sheet.[22][20]

[edit] Hotmail controversy

In November 2004, the Opera Software company sent an electronic message to Microsoft, complaining that Opera users were sent an incomplete JavaScript file when using Hotmail. The incomplete file prevented Opera users from emptying their "Junk E-mail" folders. The Opera Software company later sent a physical letter to Microsoft. Nevertheless, as of February 11, 2005, Microsoft had neither replied to the messages nor corrected the issue.[23][24]

[edit] Version 8

Opera 8.0
Opera 8.0
Wikinews

On April 19, 2005, version 8.0 was released.[25] Besides supporting SVG Tiny, multimodal features and User JavaScript, the default user interface has been cleaned up and simplified. The default home page is an improved search portal.[26] The changes displeased a number of existing users since some advanced settings became hidden.[27]

With the release of Opera 8.5 on September 20, 2005, Opera announced that their browser would be available free of charge and without advertisements from then onwards, although the company still sells support contracts.[28] Enhancements included: automatic client-side fixing of web sites that did not render correctly, and a number of security fixes.

Version 8.0 introduced support for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.1 Tiny. This marked the first major web browser to natively support some form of SVG. [29] Opera has a presentation mode called Opera Show, which allows the use of a single HTML or XML document for large-screen presentations, and web browsing.

[edit] Version 9

Version 9.0 was the first Microsoft Windows browser to pass the Acid2 test. This version adds XSLT and improves SVG to 1.1 Basic level.

[edit] See also

Graphical timeline of Opera development
Graphical timeline of Opera development

[edit] References

  1. ^ Milestones. Opera Software. Retrieved on 2007-10-30.
  2. ^ Affiliated Organization of Firefox and Mozilla. Mozilla Japan (2006). Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  3. ^ MultiTorg Opera, retrieved on November 5, 2005
  4. ^ jons (1996-07-14). Opera web browser. Google Groups. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  5. ^ a b c Rijk (2006-02-15). Rendering engines and code names. Tweak. Opera Software. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  6. ^ Opera Software's amazing 'Project Magic' from the Internet Archive
  7. ^ 'Project Magic' -- 10 February 1998 and beyond From the Internet Archive
  8. ^ Wilson, Brian. Browser History: Opera. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  9. ^ CSS: If not now, when?, Eric Meyer, June 1999, retrieved on October 25, 2005
  10. ^ Opera Software (1998-05-12). "Opera Software Releases 3.60". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  11. ^ (2000-06-28). "Opera 4.0 for Windows Released". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  12. ^ Opera Software (2000-12-06). "The Browser War Lights Up in Europe". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  13. ^ Opera Software (2001-11-29). "Opera 6.0 for Windows launched after record-breaking beta". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  14. ^ Wilcox, Joe; Sandeep Junnarkar. "MSN lockout stirs antitrust rumblings", CNET, 2001-10-26. Retrieved on 2007-10-13. 
  15. ^ Opera Software (2001-10-26). "Microsoft Does an About-Face". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  16. ^ Opera Software (2001-11-01). "Microsoft PR spin continues while browser lockout still in effect". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  17. ^ Opera Software (2003-01-28). "Opera 7 Ready to Rock the Web". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  18. ^ Students surf safely with Opera: Opera site license free for educational institutions, January 12, 2005, retrieved on October 25, 2005
  19. ^ Festa, Paul. "Opera cries foul against MSN--again", CNET, 2003-02-05. Retrieved on 2007-10-13. 
  20. ^ a b Why doesn't MSN work with Opera?. Opera Software (2003-02-20). Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  21. ^ Lettice, John. "MSN deliberately breaks Opera's browser, claims company", The Register, 2003-02-06. Retrieved on 2007-10-13. 
  22. ^ a b Opera Software (2003-02-14). "Opera releases "Bork" edition". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  23. ^ Lie, Håkon Wium (2005-02-11). Why Opera users can't purge spam in Hotmail. Opera Software. Retrieved on 2007-12-24.
  24. ^ "Opera to MS: Get real about interoperability, Mr Gates", The Register, 2005-02-11. Retrieved on 2007-12-24. 
  25. ^ Opera Software (2005-04-19). "Speed, Security and Simplicity: Opera 8 Web Browser Released Today". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
  26. ^ Opera search portal, retrieved on October 25, 2005
  27. ^ Get back old preferences dialog, retrieved on October 25, 2005
  28. ^ Feel Free: Opera Eliminates Ad Banner and Licensing Fee, retrieved on October 25, 2005
  29. ^ Opera Adds SVG Tiny Support to Desktop Browser. svg.org. Retrieved on 2006-09-12.

[edit] External links


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