Opera 11.62 Maintenance and Security Update Is Out

Norwegian browser maker Opera Software has just released version 11.62 of Opera to the general public. The release is an update to the current stable channel of the browser replacing Opera 11.61 in the process. The web browser update has been released for all supported operating systems, that is Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and various Linux distributions. Existing Opera users can check internally for updates if the update has not been picked up yet by the browser. This is done with a click on the Opera button, and the selection of Help > Check for Updates.

It my take some time before the update may be recognized by the browser. In this case, a download from the official Opera website is an option.

 

Opera 11.62 is a security and stability update for the web browser, which makes it a recommended upgrade for all users of previous Opera versions. The changelog lists five security issues that have been fixed in the new version, including two that could trick users into executing downloads.

The remaining changes are mostly crash and bug fixes. The Windows changelog alone lists more than 20 fixes, including a fix for a WebM decoder freeze in the browser, a fix for scrolling problems in Facebook Chat, and a crash fix when navigating the message list in Opera Mail.

When you look into the future, you will see Opera 12.00 looming at the horizon. This version will introduce major new features, including a upgrade to Opera’s core rendering engine Presto, support for HTML5 and CSS3 features that are not supported yet by the browser, and out of process plugins for 64-bit versions of the Internet browser.

Snapshot builds of Opera 12 are regularly posted on the Opera Desktop Team blog for all supported operating system. These snapshots are test versions that should not be installed in productive environments.

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Asa Dotzler Recommends Opera For Firefox 3.6 Users Who Don’t Want To Upgrade

If you are a Firefox 3.6 user you know by now that support for that branch of the web browser will end on April 24, 2012.  As it stands now, Firefox 3.6.28, released on March 14, is likely the last version of Firefox 3.6. Mozilla will not update the version of the browser again unless a major security or stability issue forces them to.

With Firefox 3.6 out of the picture, Firefox users still using the branch are asked by Mozilla to either update to the current stable version of the browser, which is Firefox 11 at the time of writing, or the Firefox Extended Support Release. The latter has been specifically designed for organizations as a way to lessen the impact of Mozilla’s new rapid release process on the company’s IT department.

What about Firefox users who do not want to upgrade their browser to a newer supported version? Asa Dotzler, product director for the Firefox desktop browser, suggests the following.

Happy to try to answer any questions you have. Oh, and if you’re a Windows 2000 user and you simply cannot upgrade your PC to a more modern Windows version, I’m sure the good folks over at Opera will be happy to help you out. Moving to Opera means you’ll not only get continued security updates, but you’ll also be able to enjoy a modern browser experience.

You may ask yourself why he is only referring to Windows 2000 users in the paragraph above. The reason for him doing so is that Mozilla decided to discontinue support for Windows 2000 starting with the release of Firefox 13 in June 2012.

We’d also like to take this opportunity to announce that our minimum supported Windows version will change from Windows 2000 to Windows XP SP2 in Firefox 13. We never change minimum requirements lightly, but this support change allows us to significantly improve Firefox performance on Windows by using a more modern build system. Windows XP users are advised to update to the latest service pack, and Windows 2000 users should consider upgrading ahead of the June release of Firefox 13.

What he does not take into account is users who do not want to switch to newer versions of the browser despite the fact that they could.

 The majority of users sticking with Firefox 3 at the moment are likely not satisfied with     the development of the browser, and not limited by their systems.

It is interesting that Asa Dotzler recommends Opera. Many users would have probably guessed that Chrome was was a more likely candidate, but like Firefox will soon do, Chrome is not supporting any Windows operating system before Windows XP SP2. Users working with Windows XP and newer systems on the other hand can switch to Google Chrome instead, which the majority that do not upgrade the Firefox browser will probably do.

There you have it. If you are still running Firefox 3, you are asked to update the browser to a newer version, or switch to Opera. Which will it be for you?

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YouTube AdsFree For Opera Removes Advertisement On YouTube

Google in recent years has started to add advertisement to the popular video hosting platform YouTube. Ads on YouTube nowadays come in a variety of ways, from sponsored channels to banner ads or in-video advertisement. The video hosting site currently supports two different kinds of in-video ads. First a video ad before the actual video requested by the user, and then ad overlays when the requested video is playing on the screen.

These ads either benefit YouTube and Google completely, or if revenue sharing is enabled, the original uploader of the video as well.

A percentage of the site’s user base may prefer to bypass ads to fully enjoy the contents without overlay images being displayed to them while the video is playing.

YouTube AdsFree is an Opera extension that removes the majority of ads on YouTube. The latest version of the extension blocks the ad servers so that the ads cannot be displayed anymore on the screen. The description lists popup ads as the main ad form that gets blocked. These are the overlay ads when you start watching the videos.

 

The extension furthermore blocks full window ads and promoted ads on YouTube and on websites who have embedded the videos. There is also an option available to remove branded banners, for instance on the VEVO channel, from being displayed on YouTube.

It is not really clear if the ad blocker covers 100% of ads, or if some ad forms remain on the site. While I personally have not seen any video ads before the actual video, it could be that these ads are still shown on YouTube.

Opera users who would like to try out YouTube AdsFree can install the latest version of the extension on the Opera Extensions website.

If you are not using Opera as your main browser, you may be interested in this guide that explains how to skip ads on YouTube.