Opera 9.5 web browser gets a new look

Filed under: Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Browser Tips, Unix

Opera 9.5 web browser gets a new look

by Brad Linder Jun 6th 2008

It's been a few years since the Opera web browser's interface got a major overhaul. But now the Opera Desktop Team has posted an updated version of Opera 9.5 beta which features a shiny new theme.

The new theme is a bit closer to what you'll find on Opera's non-desktop browsers, including Opera 9.5 for Windows Mobile and Opera for the Nintendo Wii. Aside from a darker look, there are a few nice features, like an animated stop/refresh button that turns red when a page is loading, and green when it's finished.

There's also a new settings icon in the main toolbar that lets you open the side panel to launch the Opera Widget engine, bookmark sidebar and other tools.

The updated version of Opera 9.5 beta is a development snapshot, so there are some known issues. But there's an option to install this version side by side with an existing version of Opera so you don't lose your settings.

Tags: opera, opera-9.5, skins, themes, web-browser

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

jim said 11:17AM on 6-06-2008

This looks awesome.

James said 11:57AM on 6-06-2008

Can I get a beta of Opera Mobile 9.5 anywhere? I have 8.65 (what happened to e.g. 9.0?), and I hear some of the new 9.5 features are really awesome.

Mark said 12:06PM on 6-06-2008

Let me know when you can easily move toolbars around without jumping through a million hoops and sacrificing a dozen goats.

Hylic said 1:58PM on 6-06-2008

To move around toolbars you just go to Tools>Apearance>toolbars and click on which toolbar you want to move and select the placement.

Unless you're trying to move the tab bar right below the address bar in which case it is indeed more complicated then it should be.

MDH1727 said 12:52PM on 6-06-2008

This looks amazing, finally Opera may catch up to Firefox in the style dept...

jim said 10:55AM on 6-09-2008

I think the looks equal those of Firefox already.

Josh said 5:26PM on 6-06-2008

Yet another browser that doesn't seem to get the whole "UI Standards" that OSs have.

Firefox... starting to get it. But their default for OS X is hideous and Windows isn't much better. Linux, not so sure.

Safari... Apple got it right in OS X. It follows the UI perfectly. But what the hell were they thinking with the Windows version? It works with iTunes, somehow. It DOES NOT work for Safari. Not even close.

IE... they had it good with IE 6. IE 7 was a joke on XP and didn't even seem to fit into Vista all that well. Back when it was on the OS X (not sure if it still is), it was an absolute joke.

Opera... bleh. Their UI isn't good to begin with. The tab bar is placed horribly. Nothing flows together. It isn't exactly an easy task to edit things. And they aren't UI compliant for any OS which is more than just a little ridiculous. This new version doesn't improve on this at all. Doesn't look like a Vista app (which is what it APPEARS they were going for), sorta looks like an old custom XP theme I had before my switch to OS X. Obviously does not fit OS X. Maybe Linux? I dunno. It's just...ick.

paul said 6:47PM on 6-06-2008

Blah. Why is it so huge? Toolbars should take up less space, not more.

James said 10:39PM on 6-06-2008

I tried it today: You can't use it with the new Yahoo webmail, you can't use it with anything but the "basic" version of AOL mail, and you can't use it with Windows Live Hotmail (only the classic version). So if you use any of these services, Opera 9.5 would prove a problem.

Quikboy said 8:51AM on 6-07-2008

Much better. Still prefer IE7 in terms of better layout, but Opera is looking real good. I use Opera, and can't stand the look, and the skins didn't help much to cover this.

Kenofthedead said 8:51AM on 6-07-2008

I don't even use the Tab bar anymore, I just use the Right Click and middle mouse scroll to go between them.

sarfaraz said 3:04PM on 6-07-2008

can i get opera 9.5 free of cost from this site.....How??????

Hylic said 11:58PM on 6-07-2008

The Opera Desktop version is free, while Opera Mobile is not

you can download the latest snapshot release from

http://my.opera.com/desktopteam/blog/

Sarah said 10:50AM on 6-10-2008

Is Opera the browser that will let me download torrents without a third party application like Limewire?

Hylic said 8:04AM on 6-11-2008

I'm not sure if its the only one that does that, but yes you can download torrents with opera directly without a seperate program.

Jean Pierre Matulampaka said 11:17AM on 6-10-2008

Si possible de m'informer des vos logiciels

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