Opera Hints At The Google Chrome Like Release Cycle

In order to calm down some of the most dedicated fans out there, Adam Minchinton, Opera developer for Mac, has issued a statement, claiming that there is a lot more to come and yes, they made a list of features that you demanded. Unfortunately, it was not shared publicly.

As far as release cycles go, gone are Beta and Alpha builds, instead we will get a yet another naming scheme just for the sake of it. I mean, why would you use clear and well known descriptions when you can make up random names like Aurora, Dev, Nightly, Next, you name it.

This is what we will get:

Opera Developer: Most unstable, all the cool stuff
Opera Next: The work we are stabilizing for the next final version
Opera (Stable): The most stable build for everyone

However, there was one interesting sentence that could hint at the Google Chrome like release cycles, “A browser that is not tied to the particular version number but is a continuously work in progress”, adding that Opera “can tip that you will see new versions coming at much, much faster pace than it was with the classic, Presto-based line.”.

What about the features? Link, themes support, geolocation and a feature rich tab bar are in the works, extensive configuration is something that they are looking at in the future builds and as it turns out, Dragonfly wasn’t canned yet.

Now for the most exciting part: Opera 16 Next will debut at a “roughly same time as Opera 15 stable”, so at least you got that going for you.

For even more details, check the following post.