SubscribeRSS Feed

Happy birthday Opera 9

Published June 20th, 2007 2:27 PM EDT By Daniel Goldman

One year ago today, the Opera 9 desktop browser was released.

The release of Opera 9 took place in Seattle, Washington (Microsoft’s backyard) with great fanfare and record downloads. I was in Seattle at the Opera 9 release party, along with other Opera community members who were flown in by the company. I took a bunch of pictures of the launch event.

So how has Opera 9 been doing in the past year? Well, according to NetApplications/HitsLink, a company that tracks the browser market share, Opera’s desktop market share grew by 30% since Opera 9 was released. The Opera community has also been growing stronger. The total number of members belonging to the My Opera Community site has more than doubled in the past year. Having a solid community behind Opera shows the extent of Opera’s grassroots support, which is essential in spreading Opera.

Opera 9 added new features such as widgets, content blocker (a.k.a. ad blocker), BitTorrent support, Site preferences, opera:config for advanced settings configuration, integrated source viewer, and a search engine creator. Fraud protection, speed dial, and developer tools were also added with subsequent updates in Opera 9.1 and 9.2.

What’s ahead for Opera 9? The Opera Desktop team is currently working on a major upgrade to the desktop browser, complete with a spanking new rendering engine. The new rendering engine fixes a ton of layout and rendering bugs in Opera, solving many compatibility issues. The developers have also been working hard on making Opera even faster (we gotta beat Safari on all speed tests :) ). And of course the new features…

Haven’t downloaded Opera 9 yet? What are you waiting for? Opera 9.5?

P.S. Today is my birthday too — what a coincidence! :)

If you enjoyed this post, then make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed.

:: Post a Comment
« Why it’s important for browser vendors to support Web standards?
New York Times: Like the iPhone browser, you’ll love Opera Mini on your phone »

45 Comments

Feed for this Post
  1. 1 Gail Jun 20th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Happy birthday Opera 9! The best thing about Opera 9 hasn’t just been the software but the community that has developed since it’s release :)

    Oh and a happy birthday to you too, Daniel *hugs*

  2. 2 chesss Jun 20th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.10 on Windows Windows XP

    The Opera Desktop team is currently working on a major upgrade to the desktop browser, complete with a spanking new rendering engine.

    And of course the new features…

    oh you teasers!! :)
    can’t wait for weekly..

  3. 3 Verlf Jun 20th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Happy birthday to both of you

  4. 4 babox Jun 20th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    happy birthday daniel :)

  5. 5 FataL Jun 20th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Happy birthday, Daniel! :)
    Best wishes!

    What are you waiting for? Opera 9.5?

    Shure! :)

  6. 6 DrLaunch Jun 20th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Linux Linux

    Congrats, Opera 9. Opera Software keeps amazing me.

    And I think if Apple takes the hint, we’ll hopefully be seeing a friendly browser competition for speed now. And who’ll benefit from it? Us browser users that know what we want.

    I also hope Apple keeps following the standards strictly. Because I do want to see web applications follow the standards.

  7. 7 Haggi Jun 20th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
    using Safari Safari 522.12.2 on Mac OS Mac OS X

    happy birthday man!!

  8. 8 Jezetha Jun 20th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Happy Birthday, Daniel & Opera 9! Onwards and upwards!

  9. 9 lamarca Jun 20th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    happy birthday to you both, opera 9 and daniel!

  10. 10 Madis Jun 20th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Happy birthday to both of you!

  11. 11 Zufoo Jun 20th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows Vista

    Happy Birthday

  12. 12 ed Jun 20th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    happy birthday!
    :D

  13. 13 junkeR Jun 20th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
    using Netscape Navigator Netscape Navigator 4.7 on Windows Windows 2000

    Happy birthday to both Opera 9 and Daniel!

    - Keep up the good work!!

  14. 14 e-mak Jun 20th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows Vista

    Happy birthday to you and opera. :) Sorry I am a bit late… :p. Waiting anxiously for kestrel… :p

  15. 15 ResearchWizard Jun 20th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Happy birthday Daniel :-)

    And I’m sorry as I think I found a mistake in your article:

    The new rendering engine fixes a ton of layout and rendering bugs in Opera

    Well, I know quite some of the bugs in Opera but it are a few pounds of them at most. Especially the mentioned rendering is already pretty good, just see the smile in the face of the ACID2 test ;-)
    Besides that it’s quite a bit mean not to give at least a tiny hint about the mentioned new features (besides what we already know about enhanced CSS3 selectors, enhanced EV security, screen reader support, new email backend, enhanced SVG capabilities, undo close windows,
    (already in 9.5?: automatic updater, offline application support, synchronizing between platforms, video support)

    And congratulations to all of you Opera developers for your 1st anniversary of Opera9.

  16. 16 Cyro Jun 20th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows Vista

    Happy birthday Opera 9. May Kestrel take off and bring with you lots of loyal users!

    !arepO ot sgnoleb erutuF
    noos ylkeew wen a ees ot epoh I

  17. 17 rseiler Jun 20th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows Vista

    What am I waiting for? I’m waiting for something in the nearer term, hopefully 9.22, which will allow me to use Opera in Vista without these two nasty issues. I hope the team isn’t *only* working on the pie-in-the-sky v9.5/v10 releases at the expense of the here and now.

    http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=176423

  18. 18 ResearchWizard Jun 20th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Cyro, a Kestrel weekly was announced for (the end of) this month.

    !uoY htiW eB arepO ehT yaM

  19. 19 Arnt Jun 20th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Happy Birthday Daniel :)
    And Opera 9 of course. :-)

  20. 20 Philry4n Jun 20th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
    using Opera Mini Opera Mini 8.01

    Happy birthday Opera 9 & Daniel!

  21. 21 Abhishek Jun 20th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Linux Linux

    This comes from India! Happy Birthday Daniel. And Happy Birthday Opera 9

  22. 22 EC Jun 20th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
    using Mozilla Firefox Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.4 on Windows Windows XP

    Happy Birthday, man - Operaman!

  23. 23 Rhonnysparks Jun 20th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Happy b’day Opera and Daniel! Keep up the good work!

  24. 24 DMXell Jun 20th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Linux Linux

    I just installed Ubuntu today (first modern Linux distro installed) and the first thing I installed was Opera :-p

  25. 25 Tamil Jun 20th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Linux Linux

    Happy Birthday to You & Opera.

  26. 26 James Cassell Jun 20th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows Vista

    Happy Birthday!

    I do have Opera, but am also eagerly awaiting Opera 9.5.

  27. 27 SuitCase Jun 21st, 2007 at 1:03 am
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Mac OS Mac OS X

    Ehh. I really hope Opera 9.5 or Opera 10 is much more of an upgrade. Opera 9 was about as lame an update as Opera 8.

    Happy birthday though! I’ve been reading this blog for a few years now and I really enjoy it.

  28. 28 Maulkin Jun 21st, 2007 at 2:54 am
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Happy Birthday Daniel! Happy birthday Opera! :)

    I just installed a few days ago Ubuntu on my other hard drive, and yes, Opera was the first software I installed. ;)

    I really count on the next releaseof Opera for a better mail, an M3 maybe? :D

  29. 29 cap Jun 21st, 2007 at 2:54 am
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows Vista

    Opera 9 was a lame upgrade?

    I guess you only accept what you can see, and not all the changes under the hood :)

  30. 30 Mark Jun 21st, 2007 at 3:29 am
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows Vista

    “What are you waiting for? Opera 9.5?”

    Yes… The RSS Lockup at startup is driving me bonkers…

    Desperate to get my hands on Opera 9.5 for this fix alone… Don’t care how buggy it is otherwise!!!!

  31. 31 Jack Jun 21st, 2007 at 3:41 am
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Mac OS Mac OS X

    Happy Birthday, Daniel and Opera :-)

  32. 32 Daniel Aleksandersen Jun 21st, 2007 at 3:51 am
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Linux Linux

    Happy birthday the both of you!

  33. 33 Zoli Jun 21st, 2007 at 4:10 am
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Happy Birthday !! :)

  34. 34 Pallab Jun 21st, 2007 at 4:18 am
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Happy Birthday Dan.

  35. 35 ROBO Design Jun 21st, 2007 at 5:19 am
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Linux Linux

    Happy Birthday to Opera and to you! :)

  36. 36 Dante Jun 21st, 2007 at 5:22 am
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Happy birthday! :baloons:

  37. 37 lachralle Jun 21st, 2007 at 5:32 am
    using Opera Mini Opera Mini 9.50

    Happy birthday! :)

  38. 38 Dante Jun 21st, 2007 at 5:39 am
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Hey, today is the longest day(time) of the year. Have a great summer, everyone! :whistle:

  39. 39 Mark Poleon Jun 21st, 2007 at 11:21 am
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows Vista

    Happy birthday!

  40. 40 Daniel Goldman Jun 21st, 2007 at 12:08 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.50 on Windows Windows XP

    On behalf of Opera and myself thanks for all the kind words and wishes. :)

  41. 41 Grin Jun 21st, 2007 at 1:07 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.10 on Windows Windows XP

    @ResearchWizard: Undo close window already exists in Opera for quite some time. Just press Ctrl-Z (or Shift-Ctrl-Z if the focus is in an edit field or something like that).

  42. 42 ResearchWizard Jun 21st, 2007 at 3:25 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Grin: you are describing undo close page - a window is a container for multiple tabs=pages and it is quite annoying if you accidentially close a window with the X on the upper right and realize that instead of exiting Opera just all the tabs in this window are gone and will not be restored on next startup … (just one example)

    Undo Close Window (or Reopen Window) will be available with Kestrel the first time - which makes using multiple windows (e.g. for grouping of tabs, i.e. with window panel) much more save and useful for power users.

  43. 43 IceArdor Jun 22nd, 2007 at 3:44 am
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    Happy Birthday Daniel and Opera 9. I should send you guys some cake or something…

  44. 44 Percy Jun 28th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Mac OS Mac OS X

    Apple claims that Safari beats Opera on all speed tests. However, on my brand new MacBook Pro, I certainly wouldn’t have guessed so. Opera seems to be faster (and much better in general) than Safari in every conceivable way.

    Happy birthday Daniel and Opera 9! Best wishes.

  45. 45 Shimmy Jul 9th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.20 on Windows Windows XP

    Happy Birthday!!

About this blog


Opera Watch, an Opera browser blog, is run by Daniel Goldman, who used to work for Opera Software as a Technical Evangelist.

Subscribe

Subscribe to Opera Watch, and stay in touch with the latest Opera browser buzz.

Opera Mini

Get Opera Mini

View this page in Opera Mini

Opera Mini demo

Opera Tips

(More opera tips)

Search Opera Watch

Note: I encourage you to copy and translate my blog posts to your non-English blog. Do you have an Opera blog (with more than 90% of the content Opera-related)? Let me know and I'll add it to the list above.

About Opera


Q: What is Opera?
A: Opera is one of the most powerful Web browsers around. A Web browser is the program that allows you to view Web pages. Opera is well known for innovation for PC browsers and bringing the full web to mobile phones and devices.

Q: Is Opera free?
A: Absolutely free.

Q: Why should I download a browser? Doesn't my computer already come with one for free?
A: It's about getting more out of the time you spend on the internet. Opera is designed to be much faster than these browsers and gives you powerful features that the default browser lacks. Default browsers like Internet Explorer are also more likely to be subjected to dangerous software such as viruses and spyware.

Q: Will Opera keep me safe from fraudulent websites and malicious hackers?
A: According to Secunia, a respected firm that tracks security in browsers, Opera has the best reputation and track record when it comes to browser security. Keeping our users safe from security vulnerabilities, fraudulent websites, and malicious hackers is a top priority for Opera. Opera is maintained by hundreds of engineers, developers and security experts who are constantly looking to make the browser even safer.

Q: Doesn't Opera copy all of their features from other browsers?
A: Absolutely not. In fact, many of the features that are popular in other browsers today were invented and pioneered by Opera a long time ago. Opera invented the precursor to tabs (in 1994), Page Zoom (1994), was the first browser to block pop-up ads (2000), first to add a Search field in the browser toolbar (2000), Sessions (1996), deleting private data (2000), Mouse Gestures (2000), User JavaScript (2005), BitTorrent support (2005), Widgets (2006), Speed Dial (2007), and much more.

Q: Does Opera support extensions, such as those found in Firefox?
A: Much of the functionality provided through Firefox extensions is already built directly into Opera, so you don't have to download additional extensions in Opera. In addition, Opera is highly customizable and supports all standard plug-ins.

Q: Can I also use Opera on my mobile phone?
A: Yes. And your Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS or almost any connected device and mobile phones. Opera Mobile oftens comes preinstalled from the manufacturers, but if it doesn't you can install Opera Mini which runs on nearly all phones.

Q: This all sounds great, so how do I download Opera?
A: -- Opera on your computer
-- Opera Mini on your phone
-- Opera Mobile on your phone
-- or learn more about Opera at www.opera.com