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Opera 11.60 Adds Speed-Dial, Stars Button, HTML5 Parsing

The surprisingly feature-packed yet lightweight Nordic browser also speeds up secure connections and updates its mail client.

December 6, 2011

Opera has long been the most innovative Web browser you've never used. It pioneered many features that are now considered basic elements of a browser—tabs, built-in search, and page zooming, just to name three.

On Tuesday, Opera unveiled Opera 11.60 together with a typically whimsical press release about its latest version. "Almost 50% of the world’s population has never tried a new browser — people in your own town, maybe even someone you know," it notes.

Opera then followed up with a lengthy car analogy, claiming that you work with your browser more than with your car, and noting that the Opera browser is like a "potent, yet comfortable, four-by-four" that's "sleek and stylish, and with no CO2 emissions whatsoever."

As for what's actually new in Opera 11.60, a four-point list sums it up neatly:

1. Like it? Star it: Add your favorite sites to your Speed Dial by clicking the new Star button.

2. You’ve got a new mail... client: Opera’s email client has been redesigned to keep with the company’s featherweight design aesthetic.

3. Better compatibility for the Web: Opera includes the new HTML5 parsing algorithm which helps unify code discrepancies among browsers.

4. Secure pages, faster: New network code establishes secure connections smarter, thus boosting speed on SSL sites.

For a closer look at everything that makes Opera unique, and something that you should consider using, read PCMag.com's full review of the Opera browser. You can test it out for yourself by downloading it from www.opera.com. Opera has also posted an amusing video that doesn't actually have a whole lot to do with the browser, but may give you a taste of Norwegian humor.

For more from Michael, follow him on Twitter @mikemuch.