Opera Next Makes its Debut on Windows, Mac

Opera has built a new Web browser from the ground up, and it's available now on Windows and Mac. The new Opera, which the organization is calling Next, its channel for what used to be known as "beta," was built from scratch, it claims. What has resulted is a much cleaner interface and a host of features that Opera says, will make it easier for users to find contents.

The big change is that Opera has replaced its proprietary engine Presto with the Chromium engine. That will allow the company's browser to load more quickly and handle slow network connections more effectively.

Aside from that, the new Opera comes with an improved Speed Dial feature that lets users bundle shortcuts into folders based on their type. A new Discover feature automatically feeds content to users, based on their interests. Stash, another new feature, lets users save Web sites to compare at a later point. Thanks to the Chromium engine, the address bar also doubles as a search bar.