Opera’s default user interface hasn’t changed dramatically since Opera 8. All this is about to change with the upcoming release of Opera 9.5 (Code-named Kestrel). Today marks the first public outing of this all-new UI.
The development of the new skin has been running in parallel with the development of Kestrel, but has been kept secret, even from many Opera employees. The inspiration for the new skin is clear. As Johan Borg puts it on the Desktop Team blog:
If one word should describe the new look, it would be Sharp. We wanted to create a skin with clean lines and clear icons, inspired by the intuitive symbols you can expect at an airport and in line with our Scandinavian heritage. This also better matches the look and feel we introduced on the Wii and refine in Opera 9.5 for Windows Mobile.
As a frequent visitor to airports (See Oslo Gardermoen in some of opera’s product pages), I can see some of this inspiration show through. The tab bar is the most visually distinct part of the new theme, and could become somewhat of a trademark visual clue. With a dark glossy strip, and two arrows—which make up the new tab and trash can buttons—always pointing forward, it certainly stands out. This visual trick reminds me of the arrow in the Fedex logo.
The panels button on the right hand side makes it much easier to discover and open the panels, especially on Mac where the previous opening strip was disabled due to not running applications in full screen mode. On Mac however, the tab bar remains visually the same as the previous Kestrel skin, with the updated icon positions.
The rest of the interface is toned down and understated, in swathes of grey. I think this works best for the icons on the status bar, where the grey icons don’t call out for attention and steal your eyes focus. The camera icon is perhaps one of the nicest in the set.
Just like Kestrel, the skin is going through refinement, and progress marches on. If you’d like to see the new skin and download the latest build then head over to the Desktop Team blog.
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using
I hope this is not being pushed on all platforms? I do not think it will work well on all operating systems as each one has a distinct look and feel of their own. I hope there will be variations in the skin to fit more naively with the different operating systems’ styles.
This Sharp-thingy will probably work well on Windows Vista, but I do not see it working on KDE under Linux.
using
And still no tablet input panel support… so I won’t install it.
using
I like the looks of it and i really find this skin more soothing for my eyes, but as with most interfaces I think it is a bit too space consuming.
The red x’es on the tabs. They are placed over the title and right to it. I think they should be placed right above the end of the text. (meaning the text would end under the cross, saving space for 3 letters per tab.)
Tab bar height seems to high, it could easily be trimmed some pixels. Same goes for adress bar.
And…one oddity is that when you have enough tabs for the “new tab” button to touch the “trash button”, the “new tab” button seem to extend to the other side of the border between them. (open one more tab than needed to make them touch to verify)
using
Clicking on your hotlink “Desktop Team Blog” takes me to a 404 page at this url:
http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/2008/06/05/looking-sharp/
Remove the trailing “/” to make it work.
using
Downloaded it few hours ago. It definitely feels easier on the eyes.
using
ugly
(big ugly tabs with stupid red X; very heavy feeling, definitly NOT easier for eyes.)
using
Generally I like it, the main issue for me is that the tab bar is far too dark.
using
Most important improvement would be:
select text = right click = search in new background tab
That way I could keep reading while waiting for multiple searches.
using
Despite all the criticism, I love it!
using
Very elegant and modern interface, I like it. Besides, for those who did not, skins are still an available option. (Although I regret that Opera skins, unlike Firefox themes, do not alter the menus’ look and feel.)
Until recent security concerns, I had been using Safari on both Windows and Mac, for its sheer speed. Opera 9.5 feels about the same, I look forward to the final release.
At least on Vista, Opera 9.5’s menu are weird, in that they all use the width of the largest menu. With a long-titled tab, all menus are 900+ pixels wide
using
“The Emperor’s New Clothes” – Well…this time the Emperor is wearing to much *grin*
using
it looks cheap
fortunatelly the new ff3 look also has some of it (mostly ‘back’ button area), but ff3 look is far more consistent with general UI rules – no matter if it is macos or ubuntu or vista, ff3 somehow fits there (not perfectly, but it doesnt stand out).
while new opera skin looks ok only in black vista theme, everywhere else it looks simply terrible
tango cl is still the best skin ever made, skin that makes using opera an option for many.
because the new one is too stylish (in the worst sense of this word) and looks like somebody discovered the gradient tool in photoshop and thinks that using it everywhere makes him a great designer.
it doesnt. to the point that it doesnt look like a professional’ job, but an amateurish side-project.
this skin in current shape is going to do opera more harm than good. much more harm than good.
using
The new skin screams “Hey, look at me!”, distracting you from the actual content: the sites.
However, I still like it better than the old one. Scrollbars and buttons don’t go bright yellow when hovered anymore, which is a plus.
using
According to the June 6th release changelog, “Changed default Speed dial search engine from Yahoo to Ask”, Opera has switched their contract to Ask. Hmm…. is this worthy of an article post on Operawatch?
using
well, it was about time for a skin change. first impression is very important.
using
I use “windows native” on Windows XP with Classic Skin.
using
The skin looks really good in the latest build – the first version was already ok, but now it looks great if you ask me.
using
work in progress. like the skin overall but the toolbars are too thick, and the buttons could lose the square outline on them.
as for ff skins, ff1 was ok, ff2was dull ankludgey looking and sadly ff3 is not big improvement. Add all that to the fact that ff just hasn’t impressed me, even more so with extensions that break with each new ff update.
using
wtroll2 is apparently unaware of the fact that the skin doesn’t look exactly the same on all platforms.
using
As usual, Opera doesn’t understand UI guidelines and instead of looking like a native application on Windows or OSX, it looks out of place, just like all previous versions.
using
As ugly as before. I never used Operas default skin. “The blue button” still rules.
using
Tab bar height could be reduced a little and Opera Link could sync also searches… anyway I love this browser, cool as never before. Good job.
using
I’ve just installed this new RC on my Mac, and I’m really, really disappointed ! The new skin looks horrid, and doesn’t fit at all with OS X interface ! Please give us back the old style, which was even not very well integrated with OS X UI, but was at least “lookable”… I’m going back right now to previous beta version of 9.5 !
using
@ Sage
They have to. Otherwise the code becomes dependent on the OS. One of the reason why Opera stays slim is the lack of OS baggage.
using
It seems to be not totally finished on OSX (i.e. tabs, buttons and panels highlits). Hope it would be better looking in final version. Also, bring more color ! And why such a greeny reload button, all alone in all this grey ? I know these are details, but as a mac user, I like nice finishes.
using
i take my words back… after week of using it i like it
using
the gui for the opera 9.5 is way too highlighted, feld big and was created with vista only in mind (what bout xp and mac user!)
It a good thing window native skin was there, is way better than the black one and it should had been the default
Another that bother me with disappearing of ‘new tab’ button. Im a frequent opera user, and im always click ‘new tab’ for new tab, of coz
i know ctrl+t is avalaible, but some user likes clicking and throwing it away feld lost coz i keep moving my cursor for new tab and is not there (and yes, i know u can get it my right clicking, but thats not the point)
opera was all about new friendly.. and losing one clear button (new tab) and created complex interface (black) just might lose some fan/new user to get them get started with the this new opera..
using
If one word can describe new look, it would be ‘overdesigned’. The browser chrome should be as little annoying as possible, because browser is about sites, not about itself.
The x button is too small, while it is the second most important thing in the tab header (after the header itself). The look is not even consistent — toolbar looks absolutely different from tabs.
New design just says — look at me, I was done by a cool designer. But good designer does not just throw a bunch of gradients in, he also have to think about what is important and what shoud be more subtle.
This is a first Opera style that forced me to download a custom theme (tango cl).
using
I run Windows Native. Always have. Looks great with themes turned off in Windows, looks like a serious business app.
Opera 9.5 is going on all ym desktops. Sticking with IE on my Tablet because Microsoft is the only vendor around who actually makes sure their product is reasonably useable on Tablets. All the keyboard shortcuts, the fancy address bar, etc. etc. are useless on a slate Tablet that has no keyboard at all.