PowerPC Architecture No Longer Supported, Says Opera
Bad news if you are on the PowerPC architecture and you would like to try Opera 10.7 – when the browser will eventually be rolled out to the public. Opera Software, the Norwegian software developer behind the popular web browser, has announced that Opera 10.6 is the last version that supports PowerPC architecture. The upcoming Opera 10.7 will no longer come with PowerPC support.
“We have some sad news for the 0.1% of our users who are still on the PowerPC architecture. Starting with the Next version of Opera, we are discontinuing the PowerPC architecture on Mac and Linux. Opera 10.6x will be the last release with support for this architecture. This is unfortunate, but with third party vendor support dwindling away, we can no longer keep developing Opera for this architecture,” announced Opera’s Daniel Aleksandersen.
It’s not all that bad; Opera 10.6 has quite a lot to offer:
Speed
The Carakan JavaScript engine in Opera 10.6 has been tweaked to be up to 50% speedier than in Opera 10.53. Opera 10.53 in turn was ten times faster than version 10.10.
Security
Opera 10.6 features AVG's Web Threat Data Feed to protect users from online threats.
“Staying secure on the Web is easier than ever with the unsurpassed AVG-supported anti-fraud systems and phishing protection introduced in Opera 10.6. Live feeds supply fresh information on the latest web threats to the users and keep them in the know about potential malware, harm or scams. In certain regions, Yandex supplies user malware protection,” explained Opera in a press release.
Looks
From a visual point of view, Opera 10.6 comes with better looks for Speed Dial, tab previews and the Opera menu button. The browser also comes with custom thumbnails for tabs.
Web technologies of tomorrow
Geolocation is a new feature in Opera 10.6. What it does is it determines your geographical location and puts you on the map. To be more precise, a website you visit asks the Opera browser for your location; if you agree to give out your location, the website can pinpoint your whereabouts and “do cool stuff” as Opera’s Aleksander Aas said.
Opera Software has created an interactive map to showcase the geolocation feature; the map, which is available here , shows real-time downloads of the Opera browser.
Opera 10.6 comes with support for the WebM format meaning the browser has built-in video playback. Opera 10.50 also comes with some additional HTML goodness – HTML5 Appcache, Offline Web Applications, and Web Workers.
Other changes (compared to Opera 10.5x)
As a little side note, Mozilla announced something along the same lines – the upcoming Firefox 4 Browser, which is currently still in Beta, will not provide support for PowerPCs.
If you would like to get Opera, you can download the browser here.
“We have some sad news for the 0.1% of our users who are still on the PowerPC architecture. Starting with the Next version of Opera, we are discontinuing the PowerPC architecture on Mac and Linux. Opera 10.6x will be the last release with support for this architecture. This is unfortunate, but with third party vendor support dwindling away, we can no longer keep developing Opera for this architecture,” announced Opera’s Daniel Aleksandersen.
It’s not all that bad; Opera 10.6 has quite a lot to offer:
Speed
The Carakan JavaScript engine in Opera 10.6 has been tweaked to be up to 50% speedier than in Opera 10.53. Opera 10.53 in turn was ten times faster than version 10.10.
Security
Opera 10.6 features AVG's Web Threat Data Feed to protect users from online threats.
“Staying secure on the Web is easier than ever with the unsurpassed AVG-supported anti-fraud systems and phishing protection introduced in Opera 10.6. Live feeds supply fresh information on the latest web threats to the users and keep them in the know about potential malware, harm or scams. In certain regions, Yandex supplies user malware protection,” explained Opera in a press release.
Looks
From a visual point of view, Opera 10.6 comes with better looks for Speed Dial, tab previews and the Opera menu button. The browser also comes with custom thumbnails for tabs.
Web technologies of tomorrow
Geolocation is a new feature in Opera 10.6. What it does is it determines your geographical location and puts you on the map. To be more precise, a website you visit asks the Opera browser for your location; if you agree to give out your location, the website can pinpoint your whereabouts and “do cool stuff” as Opera’s Aleksander Aas said.
Opera Software has created an interactive map to showcase the geolocation feature; the map, which is available here , shows real-time downloads of the Opera browser.
Opera 10.6 comes with support for the WebM format meaning the browser has built-in video playback. Opera 10.50 also comes with some additional HTML goodness – HTML5 Appcache, Offline Web Applications, and Web Workers.
Other changes (compared to Opera 10.5x)
- Search suggestions in the Speed Dial and search box, of course.
- Microsoft Bing is featured as one of the search engines.
As a little side note, Mozilla announced something along the same lines – the upcoming Firefox 4 Browser, which is currently still in Beta, will not provide support for PowerPCs.
If you would like to get Opera, you can download the browser here.
