Opera 10.60 claims faster JavaScript execution

Stephen Withers
Monday, 05 July 2010 16:00

Business IT - Technology

The latest version of the Opera browser has multiple improvements, including a claimed 50%-plus boost in JavaScript speed.

Key features of Opera 10.60 include JavaScript speed improvements, enhanced support for HTML5, a wider variety of search engines, search suggestions, and user interface improvements.

According to Opera officials, additional optimisation has made the Presto JavaScript engine more than 50% faster than it was in version 10.50, which they say was already the fastest browser in that regard. Extensive use of JavaScript is becoming increasingly common on popular web sites, making execution speed a particularly important characteristic.

Opera 10.60 delivers improved support for HTML5 and other web standards, and the company claims it is the first browser to provide built-in support for the Google-sponsored WebM video format (which is also being supported by Mozilla and Adobe, among others). WebM uses VP8 video and Vorbis audio in a file structure based on Matroska.

The advantage of specifying one video codec and one audio codec as well as the file structure is that it means that any application (eg, a web browser) that supports WebM should play any WebM file.

Opera's list of user-selectable search engines now includes Bing, and search suggestions are delivered for some sites including Wikipedia.

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