Opera 12 "Wahoo" Features Hardware Acceleration, Themes
Norwegian developer Opera Software has recently shed a bit of light onto what the upcoming Opera 12 codename “Wahoo” will have to offer. Opera Software released an early Alpha version of Opera 12 and the interesting thing is that it comes with hardware acceleration. Opera, as fans and non-fans already know, I speedy browser that gets things done rapidly. The upcoming Opera 12 “Wahoo”, thanks to hardware acceleration, will be even faster than all previous versions of the browser.
“Hardware acceleration allows Opera to offload graphics rendering from the processor (CPU) to the graphics card (GPU). This makes graphics intensive operations such as animations faster. The ability to render with the GPU opens up the ability to render WebGL as well. WebGL allows programmers to write 3D games and fancy-looking demos for you to play with,” explained Opera’s Tommy A. Olsen.
Other browser developers have implemented hardware acceleration into their products. Olsen went on to say that Opera Software’s implementation of hardware acceleration is different because when possible, everything is rendered using the GPU. This means the whole user interface, and all of the web-page, and WebGL.
Another interesting thing about the upcoming Opera 12 browser is that it makes it easier for the users to customize the way the browser looks like. Skins have been reintroduced as themes and Opera 12 Wahoo has a nice selection of themes to offer. If you don’t like what’s on offer, you can create your own themes using the images of your choice. You can check out the themes that are currently available by clicking here. You can learn how to make your own themes by clicking here.
If you would like to get Opera 12 Alpha, you can download it straight from Opera Software here. Do not get it unless you understand what testing early development builds is all about.
“Hardware acceleration allows Opera to offload graphics rendering from the processor (CPU) to the graphics card (GPU). This makes graphics intensive operations such as animations faster. The ability to render with the GPU opens up the ability to render WebGL as well. WebGL allows programmers to write 3D games and fancy-looking demos for you to play with,” explained Opera’s Tommy A. Olsen.
Other browser developers have implemented hardware acceleration into their products. Olsen went on to say that Opera Software’s implementation of hardware acceleration is different because when possible, everything is rendered using the GPU. This means the whole user interface, and all of the web-page, and WebGL.
Another interesting thing about the upcoming Opera 12 browser is that it makes it easier for the users to customize the way the browser looks like. Skins have been reintroduced as themes and Opera 12 Wahoo has a nice selection of themes to offer. If you don’t like what’s on offer, you can create your own themes using the images of your choice. You can check out the themes that are currently available by clicking here. You can learn how to make your own themes by clicking here.
If you would like to get Opera 12 Alpha, you can download it straight from Opera Software here. Do not get it unless you understand what testing early development builds is all about.
