Few Days ago Opera has released the beta version of its latest browser, promising faster speeds, new tabs and auto update features.

The Opera 10 beta is available as a free download for Windows and Mac and operating systems.

The most intriguing new feature is Opera Turbo, a compression technology which Opera claims will “unclog” connections to help boost speeds - promising three to four times faster downloads for slower connections, such as those capped by ISPs or on busy Wi-Fi. Indeed, Opera goes so far as to claim “broadband-like speeds on dial-up.” Even without Turbo mode, Opera claims the latest version is 40 per cent faster than version 9.6.

Tabbed browsing has also been tweaked. The tab bar is now not only resizeable, but a double click will preview a full image of all open tabs.

The upgrade is not just a technology revamp, but a visual facelift too. Opera had designer Jon Hicks clean up the browser interface.

Jon von Tetzchner, chief executive at Opera Software, said in a statement: “We have more surprises on the way, but when you try the features, enjoy the accelerated performance and get a glimpse at our shiny new wrapping, I think Opera 10 beta will excite both long-time users and those new to Opera.”

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