Opera Talks: Future of extensions
With Opera 11 beta around the corner Opera Talks decided to see what information we could get out of Extensions Manager Arnstein Teigene here at Opera. Little did we know that he would pretty much share anything but the launch date! 
Read on to find out more about the future improvements to Opera extensions.
Arnstein Teigene - Product Manager
Choose Opera: Arnstein is it? You seem like a new face in Opera. Could you tell us a bit about yourself and what you do at Opera?
Arnstein: A pleasure! I'm the Product Manager for Desktop Addons. So that covers Opera extensions, which is the new kid on town in terms of Desktop functionality. I haven't been with Opera for long, and extensions was already under heavy development when I started, so I had to hit the ground running. But we have managed to get our first take on extensions out there and the feedback so far have been great. We're still working hard to make sure we follow up on requests and feedback from the community, so there's more to come!
Choose Opera: So you know a bit of what's in store for Opera extensions in the Beta and Final then? Care to share a bit?
Arnstein: There's a few things that will please developers. We're doing some tweaks to the online Extensions catalog to make publishing extensions a faster and more verbose process. For Final the catalog will be better integrated with our opera.com pages.
On the desktop side we're adding support for options pages for extensions, we're including auto-update, an improved icon badge and Developer Mode, to name a few things.
Choose Opera: Developer Mode you said? Care to elaborate a bit on that?
Arnstein: It will make it much easier to test and debug extensions. With Developer Mode you can simply drag the config.xml file of an unzipped extension into Opera and you'll be able to test out the extension without having to zip it up. There will be a few developer options available, like packaging the extension into an .oex file and short cuts to the error console.
Choose Opera: What are the main benefits of the implementation of Opera extensions, both for users and developers?
Arnstein: We have really focused on the open web standards that developers are familiar with. This makes the threshold for development so much lower: there are no new technologies a web developer has to learn in order to create an extension. The additional benefit of this is that extensions runs on our HTML and JavaScript engines, which are the fastest in the world.
Choose Opera: Thanks for the sneak peak into the future! Now before we leave; what's your favorite Opera feature?
Arnstein: Extensions obviously! But second to that it's probably Turbo for when I'm on the road and on slow connections. There are almost too many good features to choose from!
Choose Opera: Thank you so much Arnstein, have a great weekend!
Readers' comments 31
Left under the original article, as archived.
About this article
| Published in | Choose Opera |
|---|---|
| Date | November 5, 2010 |
| Author | Aleksander Aas |
| Tags | extensions, opera talks, opera 11 |
| Original | Internet Archive |
Kai OckendorfFriday, November 5, 2010 4:56:34 PM
HenryFriday, November 5, 2010 5:01:20 PM
Dmitriy KvasnikovFriday, November 5, 2010 5:11:19 PM
Originally posted by Ockendorf:
Fix on Opera 11 beta
YOKEYFriday, November 5, 2010 6:04:48 PM
d4rkn1ghtFriday, November 5, 2010 6:09:48 PM
vipin kumarFriday, November 5, 2010 6:18:10 PM
NicoFriday, November 5, 2010 6:35:24 PM
And I do like the picture of Arnstein Teigene a lot: Deer and beer
Blaz(ž) PristavFriday, November 5, 2010 6:50:46 PM
Aleksander AasFriday, November 5, 2010 9:28:56 PM
Originally posted by farmacevtua:
Fixed
DuckSaturday, November 6, 2010 2:48:38 AM
Jσδμξ_181Saturday, November 6, 2010 4:40:54 AM
KarenSaturday, November 6, 2010 4:50:50 AM
Originally posted by Opera:
Happy weekend to everyone!
Charles SchlossSaturday, November 6, 2010 5:16:12 AM
dirkSaturday, November 6, 2010 6:18:40 AM
TamilSaturday, November 6, 2010 7:16:55 AM
Daniel HendrycksSaturday, November 6, 2010 11:02:12 AM
DJMoleQuelSaturday, November 6, 2010 1:22:04 PM
adebunmi olufemiSaturday, November 6, 2010 3:11:05 PM
adebunmi olufemiSaturday, November 6, 2010 3:11:43 PM
adebunmi olufemiSaturday, November 6, 2010 3:12:06 PM
Adonis @ my.opera /friendspartyworldSaturday, November 6, 2010 4:30:31 PM
you are inter postported to the future by opera. They are talking about extensions.
it is difficult for me to understand the difference between extensions, widgets, user javascripts and bookmarklets.
i can use bookmarklets in opera mini 4.2,. that i know.
i think widgets can be used without starting opera?, extensions can be used with other browsers, maybe even without javascript?,and user javascripts what is the difference between them and extensions and widgets ?
i purpose someone here can explain that very shortlly?
Horlarmileykhan Sirmuel AdedejiSaturday, November 6, 2010 4:38:57 PM
techlawsamSaturday, November 6, 2010 10:49:28 PM
NeverthabaniMonday, November 8, 2010 3:48:40 PM
RobertTuesday, November 9, 2010 1:47:38 PM
QuHnoTuesday, November 9, 2010 2:22:50 PM
НаташаWednesday, November 10, 2010 11:25:56 AM
sandile mhlongoWednesday, November 10, 2010 12:09:37 PM
DuckThursday, November 11, 2010 9:49:48 AM
Shilex TerFriday, November 12, 2010 7:54:46 PM
Adonis @ my.opera /friendspartyworldFriday, November 12, 2010 10:15:38 PM
EDIT: sorry, wrong place. Should be a new extension suggestion.