Opera 12 Alpha with Hardware Acceleration

October 13, 2011 · by Aleksander Aas

As announced at Up North Web we are happy to present the Opera 12 Alpha. The main feature we need help testing is Hardware Acceleration. We also re-introduce skins in the form of themes, give the address field some needed attention, and update to the new HTML5 engine!

Hardware Accelerated

Opera just got even faster by hitching a ride with your graphics card for more processing power. This is what's known as hardware acceleration. This will this improve your everyday browsing, with OpenGL you can also enjoy the web in 3D like never before.

To check if your Opera 12 alpha install has hardware acceleration, type "opera:gpu" in the address field. If the answer is yes, check out Emberwind or WebGL demos such as Formula 1.

Themes

We love to style and personalize our browser, with Opera themes this is even easier! We've created some pretty cool themes to show you how it works, but you can also make your own themes using any image you like.

To get your hands on these new themes check out addons.opera.com/themes and get them now! Don't worry though, we still have the skin support if you want to go all out when customizing Opera.

Download

Remember that this is a Alpha build. Some bugs are expected, but we need your help to test it. Simply download it trough Opera Next. If you find any issues please use our forums or the Bug Report Wizard to help us out! Feel free to share your initial impressions in the comments!

Readers' comments 49

Left under the original article, as archived.

InggoThursday, October 13, 2011 7:17:55 AM
good job master
Roberto AbellaThursday, October 13, 2011 7:22:49 AM
Yes!!
ManuThursday, October 13, 2011 7:29:55 AM
Might I add that EmberWind freezes in Opera 12 Alpha on Mac when pressing ctrl for a special power thing :-) Does not freeze the browser, just the game ;-)
Докучаев КонстантинThursday, October 13, 2011 7:30:41 AM
QIP http://qip.ru/download_qip_2012 is blinking

and context menu is blinking
ssainThursday, October 13, 2011 7:37:06 AM
Oooh, it looks shiny.. I might have to give it a test drive soon!
dizThursday, October 13, 2011 7:42:52 AM
Great. I woke up earlier to try new Opera.

Well I didn't.. but it's good news! I'm testing now!
Докучаев КонстантинThursday, October 13, 2011 7:42:55 AM
How to set my own image like in new themes?
theyoungchemist17Thursday, October 13, 2011 7:45:08 AM
it still doesn't display google+ properly. it's still not a supported browser by google+
Докучаев КонстантинThursday, October 13, 2011 7:47:14 AM
Originally posted by Foffa:

QIP http://qip.ru/download_qip_2012 is blinking

and context menu is blinking
without hardware acceleration everything is fine
pantera9Thursday, October 13, 2011 7:49:57 AM
Hope the hardware acceleration is as good as IE9's... none of the other browsers can compete with that as of now. Hope Opera does better! Norway ftw.
Paweł PawlakThursday, October 13, 2011 7:55:55 AM
When I type opera:gpu in the address field, it displays message:
"Vega backend
Software"
What does it mean?
Tiago WakabayashiThursday, October 13, 2011 8:25:14 AM
great
Áron VirginásThursday, October 13, 2011 8:51:15 AM
Outstanding!
Roger ARBOGASTThursday, October 13, 2011 9:05:32 AM
Is it meaning that Opera is gonna hog more RAM than ever ?

I feel it's been already eating too much of it, I hope you have optimized it, or I will be forced to buy 1GB dedicated to Opera.
DanielThursday, October 13, 2011 9:07:47 AM
wow!
Эльдар ОсмановThursday, October 13, 2011 10:41:48 AM
Mod edit: No multiposting, please.
Raul Alfredo Chan RamosThursday, October 13, 2011 12:02:55 PM
oh opera 12 but... alpha... fine... downloading......... Thanks!
RakeshThursday, October 13, 2011 12:03:24 PM
Problems currently only if I switch to a non-default theme

1. Switch to new theme, icons for close, maximise and minimise change contours to 2D rather than 3D default of Windows 7

2. Border for the entire window disappears and it appears as a floating frame when restored to a non-maximised size.

3. Win 7 feature of drag to top to maximise does not work

Do note that this is only with the installation of "any" of the new "themes" and not skins.
Also, the first screenshot of Эльдар Османов, (http://smotr.im/zK3) is faced even in the final version of Opera 11.51, of fast scrolling when page may not have completely loaded

No other problems yet
P.J. FrayneThursday, October 13, 2011 12:04:48 PM
How can I get the URL bar to be like Chrome? I know how to search from the URL bar, but I want it to provide suggestions and basically be like the Chrome Omnibox.

Also, I would love an extension that can serve as an in-line dictionary.
PhriendThursday, October 13, 2011 12:54:39 PM
Vega backend - OpenGL

OpenGL

Blocklist version - 1
Blocklist status for 2D - Supported
Blocklist status for 3D - Supported

This is what I see. I take it that hardware acceleration works for me now that I have updated my driver, correct?
marwane zharThursday, October 13, 2011 1:32:38 PM
Great :O
Maciej BałutaThursday, October 13, 2011 1:56:20 PM
Well, finally! I couldn't wait for hw acceleration:)
Ricardo M. RubertThursday, October 13, 2011 1:58:37 PM
That's a good new. But, will you improve the API of the content blocker?
Andrei Daniel TicleanThursday, October 13, 2011 2:10:49 PM
Originally posted by RMRubert:

That's a good new. But, will you improve the API of the content blocker?
techlawsamThursday, October 13, 2011 2:41:42 PM
you guys never cease to amaze me keep it up!
Stoyan PomakovThursday, October 13, 2011 3:09:56 PM
I have problems with the new version of Opera Next 12 (build 1105). I see everything blurry. It's only my problem?
SolidSnakeThursday, October 13, 2011 4:16:09 PM
I tested the alpha version of Opera, but it does not work at all. All the browser flickers and I can not do anything. I tried to install and uninstall several times without it getting better.
TyranisaurThursday, October 13, 2011 5:08:33 PM
This is a far cry from 11.51's speed.
joa17DeThursday, October 13, 2011 5:26:25 PM
I have problemms with new version of Opera Next. My computer is slowed and the browser crashed.

Now I use my oldest computer with Windows XP. He have only 1GB RAM.

I downgrade to previous version this browser and it again good working...
Charles SchlossThursday, October 13, 2011 7:08:16 PM
http://files.myopera.com/Tamil/Smilies/Happy.gif - The alpha is looking good so far

Will continue to test while using 11.51 as the stable and main use
KhazekThursday, October 13, 2011 9:38:28 PM
My problem is, that I have a task bar ("Start") with autohide. It should reappear under pointer, but Opera seems to be "on the top" and nothing happens.
ObjectDock+ doesnt appear either.

I believe it's connected with the issue listed here before.
"2. Border for the entire window disappears and it appears as a floating frame when restored to a non-maximised size.".

Anyway: themes are GREAT!
Diogo CostaThursday, October 13, 2011 11:09:23 PM
Hey! Thanks for this, it's looking great!
The WebGL demos run perfectly in my AMD Radeon 5000 + Ubuntu 11.04 toshiba laptop!

Some things I noticed:

- The interface flickers at start (no biggie)
- Flash objects sometimes disappear, partially or totally.

Keep up the good work!

Best regards,
Diogo
Robert BaileyFriday, October 14, 2011 2:14:52 AM
Originally posted by Buluck:

good job master

Do the same as putting them Hawi'in style; but an aerial-photo, of trees in a line and the shadows waving. Neat Trick.ciao
Oscar SogansFriday, October 14, 2011 3:38:03 AM
I've got Opera 10:61 as well as Opera 11.51 I haven't gotten rid of my 10:61 yet since I find the 11:51 hasn't worked out all the bugs yet. Sometimes when using 11:51 and closing the browser, it will give me an error notice and sometimes when changing pages it will sometimes crash, none of this ever happens with my 10:61. Sometimes when I open it up (the 10:61) it asks for upgrading, no way!!
Obese MauriceFriday, October 14, 2011 10:26:23 AM
Themes are great!!!
GeorgeFriday, October 14, 2011 12:11:41 PM
Opera Next is a move up for the Great Team at Opera.Good work Guys
Diogo CostaFriday, October 14, 2011 1:24:24 PM
Also noticed that on Ubuntu 11.10 (updated now ), opera is always consuming ~12% on my CPU, even when hidden behind over windows and no tabs open. wth?
TyranisaurFriday, October 14, 2011 6:01:46 PM
Originally posted by Tyranisaur:

This is a far cry from 11.51's speed.

Actually, I tried to install it again now, and it works great. A little faster than 11.51.
ENMLV07Friday, October 14, 2011 7:47:55 PM
that good works are in search of innovation
Cutting SpoonSaturday, October 15, 2011 8:43:58 AM
Happy thus far....no HA on the machine I tested but it had no hope with the OpenGL anyway. Still better than anything else from the snapshots line. Turbo seems more reliable and the memory is much improved.

Something wrong with fullscreen but I expect that is a known issue.
jeison cardoso barbosaSunday, October 16, 2011 4:42:26 AM
good job guys.
Matthew LaBrakeSunday, October 16, 2011 12:04:36 PM
Vega Backend: Software
Updated drivers, still says this.
Opera, Y U No Help?!?!?!
Obese MauriceSunday, October 16, 2011 3:50:49 PM
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/370447/opera-ditches-browser-scrolling-for-pages

Are there any "test sites" where can I try this feature?
PhriendMonday, October 17, 2011 11:13:08 PM
I need multiprocess browsing more than hardware acceleration.
Cutting SpoonTuesday, October 18, 2011 1:35:40 AM
While I consider it a (feature) to have 100 tabs open and only occupy a single CPU core, I can understand if someone wants to draw out more power from their PC. It was briefly mentioned months ago that Workers at least may be spun out to a separate process. After all, their purpose is to do extra background work without interfering in the presentation.

Thereby, it is possible that you may hope to soon play games - in the browser - that are multicore-enabled. But do not hold your breath, Opera hasn't officially played with multiprocess browsing since BeOS.
JulianThursday, October 20, 2011 5:28:37 AM
I can't for the stable release of Opera 12
Charles SchlossThursday, October 20, 2011 4:42:47 PM
new snapshot of 12 alpha out
E AFriday, October 21, 2011 6:18:07 PM
how did you do the facebook preview thing in the screenshot above
http://files.myopera.com/Aleksander/work/201110-screenshot-mac-cookie.jpg
Charles SchlossSaturday, October 22, 2011 2:24:11 AM
Originally posted by xsouldeath:

how did you do the facebook preview thing in the screenshot above

It is a speeddial extension