Today, the Opera desktop team has “confirmed” that Opera Extensions will be a feature of Opera 11, the alpha of which will soon be available for early adopters.
New Opera users, especially the ones who migrate from the world of Firefox and sea of extensions, are easily put-off by the lack of support for third party plug-ins in Opera. Bringing in extensions, the Norwegian company hopes to retain new users and stir up the browser market once again.
What are Opera Extensions?
Extensions in Opera is a way for you to easily add new functionality to your Opera browser experience. Developers can easily create extensions using open standards (HTML5, CSS, JavaScript) and supported APIs.
Extensions will be based on the W3C Widget specifications and this is being considered for an Open Standard effort.
Will Opera Extensions be similar to extensions in other browsers?
Yes, Opera Extensions will be similar in some ways and we have tried to make it easy to port extensions from certain browsers.
We are committed to open web standards and this is an important part of our strategy, so if you find us deviating from other solutions out there, this might be why.
What does an extension look like?
Some extensions have user interface elements, but not all. An extension can for example add a button next to the Google Search field with a popup menu when you click on it. Other extensions don't have user interfaces at all, but run in the background.
How will I install Opera Extensions?
Once you have Opera 11 installed you can click on an extension and a small Install-window will appear. Click 'Install' and you're done. You can also drag and drop an extension onto Opera Desktop if you have an extension stored on your computer.
What kind of APIs will you support?
With the first iteration of Opera Extensions we are focusing on open web standards and 'getting it right'. Our alpha release supports injectable JavaScript, callouts, certain UI items and a basic Tabs and Windows API.
How can I get Opera Extensions?
Opera Extensions is not available yet. Once Opera 11 is out, you will be able to fully enjoy and use Opera Extensions.
Where can I find developer information on extensions?
Once Opera 11 Alpha is out, you will be able to find all the information you need to develop and publish extensions on our developer site Dev Opera.
Where can I find Opera 11?
Opera 11 Alpha will be made available soon at http://www.opera.com/browser/next/.
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