Prefetching DNS when hovering links

October 26, 2012 · by Daniel Aleksandersen

Speed is sexy, and today Opera just got sexier.

When a user hovers links, they are likely to click them. To get the destination page to the user faster, Opera will now make DNS look-ups for the links when the user moves the mouse cursor ontop of the link. This will result in the destination page loading faster if the user decides to click on the link. Opera will not prefetch the destination resource/document, but only the domain name look-up.

DNS will only be resolved for HTTP links, and Opera will perform no more than five look-ups per second.

In addition there are a nice set of bug fixes included. So have a good testing weekend!

Known issues

DSK-375750 [Windows] Can't restore window if theme installed
DSK-375761 [Windows] Black window/UI not responding after minimizing and maximizing Opera
[OS X] No 64-bit build for this snapshot

WARNING: This is a development snapshot: It contains the latest changes, but may also have severe known issues, including crashes and data loss situations. In fact, it may not work at all.

Download

Windows 32-bit / Windows 64-bit
Mac OS X 32-bit / ~~Mac OS X 64-bit~~
Linux/FreeBSD

Changelog
Desktop

DSK-375732 Prefetching DNS when hovering links
DSK-376038 text-shadow renders really weird (regression from 12.00)
DSK-375832 Thread starter messages missing from IMAP sent folder view
DSK-361306 Opera detects two Java plugins which leads to a freeze/crash
DSK-363907 Open in Background Window opens new Window in the Foreground
DSK-369215 History page: wrong grouping in quick search results
DSK-367126 Info and Links panels not working when displayed floating

OS X

DSK-374969 Autoupdate silently fails for unprivileged installations (more robust installer)
DSK-375249 Drag & drop triggered when navigating between pages using flip-back/flip-forward and then dragging.
DSK-376027 Web fonts disappear on some pages with corrupt font names

Linux

CORE-45685 LC_MESSAGES should take priority over LANG environmental variable for localization

Core

CORE-49086 Opera often crashes while ew.com is open in a background tab
CORE-47458 Crash in layout properties
CORE-49107 Disallow internet shortcuts in frames (+ svg images)
CORE-49072 Networking related crashes

Readers' comments 100

Left under the original article, as archived; 1 page of comments could not be recovered.

minhoFriday, October 26, 2012 3:50:15 PM
OperaCrashedFriday, October 26, 2012 4:05:24 PM
This version, as well as previous ones, crashes on start when turning on OpenGL hardware acceleration. No crash report attempted. DirectX works but unusable due to blurred fonts.

With turned off hwa opera:gpu shows: "OpenGL - Backend not supported - Unknown error".

System: Win7 x64, Quadro 600, GeForce 310.33 driver.
HendryFriday, October 26, 2012 4:05:26 PM
Thanks

will test it, the known issues only happen in win xp x86 but didn't happen on my win 7 sp1 x86 for me, also for past build before this that has same issues

wow opera many improvement, good job
Surferz WorldFriday, October 26, 2012 4:06:07 PM
I am missing the page loading spinner in the tabs..
--
Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit, Private window mode.
SteveKongFriday, October 26, 2012 4:14:54 PM
Nice batch of fixes, thanks! =) Does the solution for DSK-374969 resolve DSK-373135 too?
Martin KadlecFriday, October 26, 2012 4:18:31 PM
Cool. This makes me ask: are link rel="prefetch" and "ping" attributes coming soon as well?
ahoj1234Friday, October 26, 2012 4:19:59 PM

this build is fixing:
DSK-376187

you wanted to know some more info.. I sent it about 10 minutes ago.. should I send another one that this is fixed now and tester can close it?
Muneer Hassan AbdullaFriday, October 26, 2012 4:21:23 PM
Charles SchlossFriday, October 26, 2012 4:21:23 PM
Add a bookmark and it is a few seconds before it shows in the bookmark menu

OS X 10.7.5
SteveKongFriday, October 26, 2012 4:23:57 PM
[OS X 10.8.2] Unfortunately, this build does not render any glyphs at all in the PDF.js example document: http://mozilla.github.com/pdf.js/web/viewer.html
Is this a side effect of "DSK-376027 Web fonts disappear on some pages with corrupt font names"? Being optimistic, I treat this as an intermediate step in finally drawing the labels in that example document again (DSK-365028).
Davide RepettoFriday, October 26, 2012 4:24:37 PM
Persistent 100% CPU utilization after switching to the "transfer window" under fedora 17 32bit. It happens both with this build and the previous one.
АлександрFriday, October 26, 2012 4:29:08 PM
Ctrl+1
Ctrl+2
......
Ctrl+9

NO WORK!!!
DawidD.Friday, October 26, 2012 4:29:27 PM
When can we expect a fully working version of HA? And what about plugins in separate proces?
NEOAethyrFriday, October 26, 2012 4:30:20 PM
Uh..

DSK-375732 Prefetching DNS when hovering links
Please tell me there's a way to disable this...
Surferz WorldFriday, October 26, 2012 4:34:19 PM
Originally posted by NEOAethyr:

Please tell me there's a way to disable this...

Here you go:
opera:config#Network|DNSPrefetching
minhoFriday, October 26, 2012 4:49:52 PM
several random NSLs
scrolling performance needs many improvements yet.
SashaFriday, October 26, 2012 4:53:57 PM
CORE-49107 Disallow internet shortcuts in frames (+ svg images)

long running fan
XombieFriday, October 26, 2012 4:59:23 PM
sabioFriday, October 26, 2012 5:00:28 PM
Originally posted by DragonLP:

Ctrl+1
Ctrl+2
......
Ctrl+9

NO WORK!!!

Можешь удалить клавиатурные шорткаты для Ctrl+Shift+1..9, чтобы они снова заработали.
В поле фильтра набери "1 ctrl" и удали тот, что начинается с "Platform...". Потом так же для остальных цифр.

---

You can delete keyboard shortcuts for Ctrl+Shift+1..9 to make them work again.
Type "1 ctrl" in filter and delete a shortcut saying "Platform...". Then repeat for other digits.
JimFriday, October 26, 2012 5:08:55 PM
DNS prefetch seems like a privacy nightmare. Since you could gather info on where someones mouse hovers.

Can this be turned off on a domain by domain basis, and or globally?
NEOAethyrFriday, October 26, 2012 5:12:38 PM
Originally posted by surferzworld:

Here you go:
opera:config#Network|DNSPrefetching

Ah thank you very much .

Old bug, cant get this page to load:
http://www.marvell.com/support/downloads/

Could be a browser.js thing though, I gotta update mine.
Wish the installer came with the latest browser.js instead of me having to install a fresh copy to the side in order for it to dl the file and then rip the file from it... (some reason or another my config never allows me to dl it)

Edit:
Last 3 builds have been pretty good to me btw .
A few nsl's and a few crashes after clearing my cache.
But otherwise much better then most 12.xx builds.

One bug that sticks out to me, is when some flash vid's don't obey the ondemand plugin rule.
And another where ondemand is enabled, some types of flash players don't work.
Annoying but nothing huge.
ClashCityRockerFriday, October 26, 2012 5:17:31 PM
Windows minimising bugs are killing me here. Any news on ETA?
CawingtonFriday, October 26, 2012 5:19:46 PM
Originally posted by minho:

Confirmed!!!

Friday is new Snapshot!?
NEOAethyrFriday, October 26, 2012 5:20:06 PM
I use these custom buttons, may or may not help others..

Button8, "Minimize"="Minimize window, , , "Minimize", "Custom Minimize""
Button9, "Close"="Close window, , , "Close", "Custom Exit""

I use them because I remove the titlebar using ahk script...
TZ86Friday, October 26, 2012 5:42:18 PM
http://snapshot.opera.com/unix/latest/ is still pointing to 1620 build. Fix please.
Igor BudakFriday, October 26, 2012 6:02:29 PM
//my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/ crash
kangarrouFriday, October 26, 2012 6:10:11 PM
What is going on with bookmarks? I can move bmarks above and below other ones, but if I want to move them or a folder above other folder it's not possible, they are dropped inside it
DaveFriday, October 26, 2012 6:19:59 PM
Nice job.
Page loading seems snappier than before.
Daniel AleksandersenFriday, October 26, 2012 6:25:55 PM
Originally posted by toyotabedzrock:

DNS prefetch seems like a privacy nightmare. Since you could gather info on where someones mouse hovers.

You can do this using JavaScript already. You would need to compromise both the page the user is looking on and the DNS server. Plus, you’d find a way to exploit it in a usable way. The user has already loaded the document and all the links are already known to a potential man-in-the-middle.

No, I don’t see it. If you find any severe new problems with this, you sure do let us know, though.
Meta KleosFriday, October 26, 2012 6:26:12 PM
Just a simple question: What would happen if I use spatial navigation? What if the link I want is the sixth I pass over in one second?
minhoFriday, October 26, 2012 6:41:23 PM
Originally posted by NEOAethyr:

Old bug, cant get this page to load:
http://www.marvell.com/support/downloads/

The page loads fine here.
Meta KleosFriday, October 26, 2012 7:09:24 PM
Probably a bug:

Opera crashes when the "Subscribe to IMAP folders" dialog in open when checking a Gmail account that has an application specific password. That is, a special password generated by Google when the account is using a 2-step verification.

Other Gmail accounts and AIM accounts do not crash Opera when loading IMAP folders.

Opera x64 on Win 7x64, clean usb install.
cowwFriday, October 26, 2012 7:19:03 PM
Originally posted by toyotabedzrock:

DNS prefetch seems like a privacy nightmare. Since you could gather info on where someones mouse hovers.

Can this be turned off on a domain by domain basis, and or globally?
sorry, I dont understand. What is DNS prefetching and why it should be enabled?
cowwFriday, October 26, 2012 7:22:08 PM
Version
12.10 beta
Build
1642
Platform
Win32
System
Windows 7
ktxgioFriday, October 26, 2012 7:34:03 PM
Hi! Thanks a lot for new release! I tested x32 and x64 for more than one hour... (one hour and many minutes) and i can say that this release is faster than previous! Opera don't navigate, but fly!
i haven't any NSLs for now...but i will test again...

EDIT: tested even with dns prefetch disabled and i confirm that this release is faster than previous

i have one problem only, the same of many many previous release:
Opera 12 32 bit does't work fine like Opera 12 64 bit
dsk-365031 and DSK-376184 still present! only in 32 bit, 64 bit works great.
Problem with webmail...opera don't load page after log in at webmail (virgilio.it for example) like a NSL but with a blank page if opera is identified like opera, if i change identity (of opera) login is completed successfully: this ONLY with opera 12 32 bit (and opera 11.6x release)

No problem with opera x64 bit version or previous 11.51 32 bit (for example), log in is completed successfully and webmail page is loaded without problems even if opera is identified like opera

Win 7 x64 clean installation

and now other tests!

EDIT: tested even with dns prefetch disabled and i confirm that this release is faster than previous
SashaFriday, October 26, 2012 7:34:11 PM
CORE-49107 Disallow internet shortcuts in frames (+ svg images)
Charles SchlossFriday, October 26, 2012 7:40:29 PM
Getting a 90% cpu spike when downloading the Google talk plug in https://dl.google.com/googletalk/googletalkplugin/GoogleVoiceAndVideoSetup.dmg

I started it from http://www.google.com/talk/ then click the button "Install video chat plug-in" and the download starts and never stops

opera:cpu Is not showing the cpu spike

It to downloads non stop, it finishes & then starts over

OS X 10.7.5
VectronicFriday, October 26, 2012 7:40:37 PM
5... per second?... will that be configurable in the future? Change the "DNS Prefetching" to a numeric value, -1/0 = off, 1+ = on.

Not that it's resource intensive, but I'd rather just have 1ps.

Also, when it reaches the limit, what happens? does it just stop until 1 or more has completed, or does it cancel out of older attempts and begin the latest one?

/curious
minhoFriday, October 26, 2012 7:41:19 PM
scroll bars size increases/decreases when I increase/decrease zoom level on outlook.com
ktxgioFriday, October 26, 2012 7:44:07 PM
and crash bug that there is in previous release on this page
https://www.facebook.com/Mobilizujeme.cz?ref=ts&fref=ts&filter=2
is solved, i haven't any crash (tested with Opera 32 and 64 bit)
ahoj1234Friday, October 26, 2012 7:51:57 PM
Originally posted by ktxgio:

and crash bug that there is in previous release on this page
https://www.facebook.com/Mobilizujeme.cz?ref=ts&fref=ts&filter=2
is solved, i haven't any crash (tested with Opera 32 and 64 bit)

You are right (I ask what can I do because this bug was related to something else.. because they can not be able to reproduce and asked me for some more info and I give it after released this build..)
so keep the good work going
PS: some more info for prefetching DNS is needed (maybe post on ODIN blog?)
michaelFriday, October 26, 2012 7:52:27 PM
does anyone know how one can change the speed dial thumbnail to a full picture of the site again? hasn't been working for quite a few builds so far :/
Christian RivestFriday, October 26, 2012 7:52:47 PM
http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/ redirect on ru.tracker.org on Opera 12.02 but on Opera Next 12.10 the blog seems ok
wardiesFriday, October 26, 2012 7:55:39 PM
Originally posted by daniel:

Originally posted by toyotabedzrock:

DNS prefetch seems like a privacy nightmare. Since you could gather info on where someones mouse hovers.
You can do this using JavaScript already. You would need to compromise both the page the user is looking on and the DNS server.

Not necessarily. For example, I send an email to someone containing the link http://traceme.example.com/ and that person hovers over it. If I own the domain example.com, I can set the NS entry to my Name Server so that when their client does a DNS lookup for the A record for traceme.example.com I now know from my NS logs that they've viewed the email.

All of a sudden the usual privacy features of email (such as don't load images unless user wants to) that prevent tracking go out the window unless we're really careful where we hover our mice.

I'm assuming Opera's Mail client does DNS prefetch here. If not, that's good, but I'm sure not all Web-based email providers provide URL redirects so the same problem applies there.
berend ytsmaFriday, October 26, 2012 8:21:02 PM
Originally posted by milliVanilli:

does anyone know how one can change the speed dial thumbnail to a full picture of the site again? hasn't been working for quite a few builds so far :/

Just set opera:config#UserPrefs|ThumbnailLogoPosMaxX and opera:config#UserPrefs|ThumbnailLogoPosMaxY to 0
virusgratis2Friday, October 26, 2012 8:30:33 PM
Skin bug on opera 12.10 and 12.02
grishka93Friday, October 26, 2012 8:32:24 PM
DSK-374921 still not fixed... It makes me sad.
There were nearly 5 builds since I've reported it.
michaelFriday, October 26, 2012 8:33:57 PM
Originally posted by ytsmabeer:

Just set opera:config#UserPrefs|ThumbnailLogoPosMaxX and opera:config#UserPrefs|ThumbnailLogoPosMaxY to 0
doesn't seem to be working and it changes automatically back to 1
CawingtonFriday, October 26, 2012 8:49:15 PM
Question!

Opera will hold these pages show ever?

https://bet.szerencsejatek.hu/bet/default.aspx

https://webshop.t-mobile.hu/webapp/wcs/stores/MTLogonPageView?storeId=2001&langId=-11

The other two competing browser normally displays the pages!
(IE, FF)

Win XP x86 HWA-OFF WebGL-ON
ktxgioFriday, October 26, 2012 8:52:07 PM
Originally posted by ahoj1234:

Originally posted by ktxgio:
and crash bug that there is in previous release on this page
https://www.facebook.com/Mobilizujeme.cz?ref=ts&fref=ts&filter=2" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/Mobilizujeme.cz?ref=ts&fref=ts&filter=2
is solved, i haven't any crash (tested with Opera 32 and 64 bit)

You are right (I ask what can I do because this bug was related to something else.. because they can not be able to reproduce and asked me for some more info and I give it after released this build..)
so keep the good work going
PS: some more info for prefetching DNS is needed (maybe post on ODIN blog?)
thanks for more info about dns prefetching you can search in google and read first result...i can't link it because admin kill me! haha! pros: more fast navigation, cons: more internet traffic data