Written by Peter Murphy on Thursday, June 18, 2009

Free For All: Opera Mobile 9.7 Beta


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Okay, I’ve been a fan of Opera on Windows Mobile, since I got my first WinMo device. So the recent news of a new beta for Opera Mobile, meant I had to give it a try. I did so with a modicum of trepidation, as I’m still running an old Tilt. Wondering what the changes would mean for what is now an underpowered device, meant backup and throw caution to the wind.

I suppose I should say that I’ve been using the 9.5 beta as my primary browser, so what changes are evident?

Well not a lot actually. Most of what’s happened with this update is definitely behind the scenes, or back end improvements. Does it though enhance, the user experience? Well most definitely!

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The only obvious change, is an addition of an option in the settings. Enable Opera Turbo? If you’ve ever used Opera Mini, or Skyfire Browser, this will make sense to you. With Turbo enabled you are downloading a compressed version of the website you want to look at. Thus it is quicker to load, and leaves a lot less data cached on your device.

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Truth is it’s lightning fast, and the total experience is a lot like Skyfire, The problem is that when you have Turbo enabled it disables all of the great features that Opera Mobile 9.5 brought with it. If you want this version to remember passwords for your favourite sites, you have to disable the Turbo feature. Once you’ve logged in to all of your most visited sites, and saved the passwords, you can re-enable Turbo and you are set to go.

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All in all, it feels like a lot smoother, and speedier Browser, and it is better looking than the 9.5 Beta. This is probably the best browser you are going to get for free, that will work on older devices, so give it a try. It’s well worth it!

There’s more information, and technical stuff at Opera’s Site!

Download Link

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Related posts:

  1. Opera Mobile 9.7 Beta, Press Release!
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  3. Opera Mobile 10 And Opera Mini 5 Out Of Beta
  4. Opera Mini 4.2 beta released!
  5. Opera 8.65 BETA for Windows Mobile 5.0 Released (for real this time)

More in Free For All | 5 Comments


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5 Comments

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knaak
Jun 18, 2009

How does this work? I have opera pre installed on my touch HD

Can I install this version and subsequently the gold version free of charge?


Clinton Fitch
Jun 18, 2009

Peter, great summary on Opera 9.7. I’ve been playing with it as well and have enjoyed it.

A question related to knaak’s above: Have you figured out a way to make the 9.7 version your default browser instead of the one pre-installed by HTC? I’ve been messing with it but can’t seem to put my hand on the right knob to turn. Was curious if you have been able to get it to play nice? :-)

Clinton


dgduris
Jun 18, 2009

Clint,

On my Fuze, I just clicked the “Default Browser” option under “Advanced”

I thought I might have to go uncheck same in the AT&T version I have installed on the phone (beta is on the card) but I didn’t and the beta is opening by default when I click links in things like SMSs.

Cheers!

dgduris


Peter Murphy
Jun 19, 2009

Clinton, I just installed it to card and by default it comes up in the settings with the set Opera as Default checked. It did ask during install if I wanted to remove the previous version, and I chose not to. If I use 9.5 it comes up as the default browser, when I use 9.7 for a while it comes back as the default browser.

Knaak, There’s no reason why you can’t install this version of Opera as far as I know. Also see dgduris’s reply above!

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