Presto

Presto was a proprietary web rendering and layout engine developed by Norwegian software company Opera Software. First released publicly as part of Opera 7 in January 2003, it powered the company’s desktop browser and a range of mobile and device-oriented browser products for roughly a decade. It was not a stand-alone browser or a separate operating company: it was a core technology within Opera’s browser business, and its development and distribution were controlled by Opera Software. The engine’s job was to interpret web documents and styles and render them for users. Opera introduced it alongside Opera 7 as a new technical foundation with support for technologies including the Document Object Model, CSS, ECMAScript, HTML, and Wireless Markup Language. Opera promoted Presto’s ability to update documents dynamically and to support standards-based web content. Its associated Small-Screen Rendering technology could reformat pages for narrow mobile displays, an important feature as web use expanded beyond desktop computers. Presto should not be confused with Opera’s JavaScript engines: the browser’s scripting technology had separate names and implementations, including Linear B in early Opera 7 and Carakan in later releases. Presto’s role grew beyond the desktop browser through Opera’s licensing and device partnerships. Opera offered browser technology for embedding in other products and platforms, and announced licensing arrangements with companies including Adobe. Opera technology was incorporated into Adobe Creative Suite 2 for web-authoring and content-preview tasks. The browser also appeared on Nintendo handheld consoles and the Wii, where the software was adapted to different screens, controls, and hardware constraints. Opera’s device business promoted the engine as a way to bring web browsing and web-based interfaces to televisions, set-top boxes, portable media players, and other connected devices. Opera Mini and Opera Mobile were part of the wider Opera browser portfolio, though their exact processing and delivery arrangements differed by product and generation. Presto was updated through successive releases, with Opera’s archived version history identifying the engine in versions of Opera 7 through the Opera 12 generation. Version 2.12 appeared in Opera 12.15, released in April 2013. That year Opera announced a strategic shift away from maintaining its own engine for most of its upcoming desktop and smartphone browsers, first describing a move toward WebKit and Chromium and then releasing its Chromium-based Opera 15 browser using Blink. The transition ended Presto’s role in Opera’s main browser line. Opera’s legacy Presto-based software continued to exist as old releases, but the engine was no longer the foundation for the company’s new mainstream browser development. Presto’s significance lies in its combination of browser-engine development and commercial deployment across distinct device categories. It gave Opera control over rendering behavior and enabled the company to offer a consistent browser technology platform to partners, while also requiring Opera to maintain its own implementation as web standards and devices evolved. Its history reflects both the opportunities and costs of a proprietary engine strategy: product differentiation and licensing reach on one side, and the engineering demands of keeping an independent engine competitive on the other. Presto is therefore best described as a discontinued Opera technology brand, rather than an active browser, a German company, or an independent software vendor.

Presto emerged from Opera Software’s work to develop and control its own web-browser technology. Opera 7, released on January 28, 2003, was the first public browser release to identify Presto as its rendering engine. The launch represented a new technical generation for Opera: the browser introduced a redesigned foundation alongside a separate JavaScript engine, Linear B. Opera’s release announcement described support for DOM Level 2, CSS, ECMAScript, HTML, and WML, among other web technologies. Presto’s function was to interpret and lay out web content; the related JavaScript execution component was a distinct part of the browser stack. Opera described the new engine as capable of changing documents dynamically through DOM, and later emphasized further performance and standards work. Small-Screen Rendering (SSR), another part of Opera’s browser technology offering, reformatted web pages to fit narrow displays. The aim was practical as well as technical: the same core browsing technology could be adapted to desktop computers, mobile phones, handheld devices, and embedded environments. Opera’s approach made it possible to develop browser products for platforms with different screen sizes, processors, memory capacities, and methods of input. A key strand of Presto’s history was licensing. In September 2003, Opera announced an agreement with Adobe to include Opera’s rendering engine in future Adobe products. The company presented the engine as cross-platform and standards-compliant, and highlighted SSR as a way for designers to preview content for different screens. In 2005, Opera announced that its technology had been integrated into Adobe Creative Suite 2, where it supported content manipulation and web-page previews in components including GoLive and Photoshop. Opera also identified other companies in the mobile and software industries as partners or licensees of its browser solutions. These partnerships made the engine a component in a broader technology business rather than merely an internal feature of Opera’s desktop browser. The company pursued a related strategy in consumer electronics. Opera’s browser technology was adapted for Nintendo’s handheld systems and home console. Nintendo DS Browser, announced in 2006, was designed around a two-screen interface, stylus navigation, and the hardware constraints of a portable gaming device. Opera’s announcements described tailored rendering modes and a browser based on the same core as the desktop product. Opera also announced a partnership to bring browsing to Nintendo Wii, whose controller offered a different way to navigate web pages from a television. Subsequent products and demonstrations showed Opera browser technology on devices such as set-top boxes, portable media players, and connected televisions. These deployments illustrated the company’s claim that it could provide a browser suited to a range of devices and input methods. Across the desktop product line, Presto was updated through many releases. Opera’s archived history lists versions of the engine alongside Opera browser versions, documenting changes in the engine over time. Presto 1.0 was identified with early Opera 7 releases; later versions advanced through numbered revisions, including Presto 2.6 in the Opera 10 period and Presto 2.12 in Opera 12.15, released on April 4, 2013. The engine was used for about ten years in the company’s mainstream browser range, although specific product and device releases did not all share the same release schedule or capabilities. In February 2013, Opera announced a gradual move to WebKit and Chromium for most upcoming desktop and smartphone browsers. The decision changed the company’s engine strategy: instead of continuing to develop Presto as the foundation for its principal new browsers, Opera would build on external browser-engine projects. Opera 15, released later that year, marked the new Chromium-based desktop direction, and Opera subsequently introduced a devices SDK using Chromium/Blink. Presto therefore became legacy technology rather than a continuing platform for Opera’s new mainstream browsers. Opera’s own security notice in 2017 referred to a snapshot of Presto code that had been used in its browsers through 2013 and stated that the company had moved to Blink/Chromium. The engine’s historical importance comes from Opera’s attempt to compete through an independently developed browser stack and deploy that stack across consumer software and devices. Its strengths included an integrated rendering platform, mobile-oriented adaptation, and the ability to license browser technology to partners. Its discontinuation reflected a strategic shift in how Opera sourced its browser engine, not the creation of a separate Presto company. Presto is now a discontinued product technology associated with Opera Software, with its active development period ending when Opera transitioned its primary browser products to Chromium-based technology.

• 2013

  Opera announces a move away from Presto

  [8]Opera announces transition to WebKit and Chromiumpress.opera.com

  Opera announced that most upcoming desktop and smartphone browser releases would transition to WebKit and Chromium, ending Presto’s role as the foundation for its main new browser line.

• 2013

  Opera Devices SDK moves to Chromium/Blink

  [9]Opera Devices SDK based on Chromium/Blinkpress.opera.com

  Opera introduced a devices SDK based on Chromium/Blink, confirming the direction of its device-browser technology after the Presto transition.

• 2007

  Browser technology shown across connected devices

  [12]Browser technology shown across connected devicespress.opera.com

  Opera presented browser implementations for devices including televisions, set-top boxes, handheld products, and gaming consoles.

• 2006

  Nintendo DS Browser announced

  [4]Opera browser for Nintendo DS announcementpress.opera.com

  Opera and Nintendo announced a handheld browser designed for the DS’s dual screens, stylus, and hardware limitations.

• 2006

  Nintendo Wii browser partnership announced

  [5]Opera partners with Nintendo for Wii browserpress.opera.com

  Opera announced that its browser would be available for Nintendo Wii, taking its device-browser technology to a living-room gaming console.

• 2006

  Nintendo DS Browser launches in Japan

  [6]Nintendo DS Browser launch in Japanpress.opera.com

  The Opera-powered Nintendo DS Browser became available in Japan, with display modes adapted to the handheld’s screens and touch controls.

• 2005

  Opera technology integrated into Adobe Creative Suite 2

  [3]Opera integrated with Adobe Creative Suite 2press.opera.com

  Opera announced that its browser technology was being used in Adobe Creative Suite 2 for web-content workflows and small-screen previews.

• 2003

  Presto debuts in Opera 7

  [1]Opera 7 launch announcement: Faster, smaller, smarterpress.opera.com

  Opera 7 introduced Presto as Opera Software’s new rendering engine, with support for major web document and scripting technologies of the period.

• 2003

  Adobe licensing agreement announced

  [2]Opera announces strategic licensing agreement with Adobepress.opera.com

  Opera announced an agreement for Adobe to include its rendering engine in future products, extending its use beyond Opera’s own browser.

A proprietary, standards-oriented browser engine developed in-house by Opera Software. Opera positioned it as a cross-platform technology for desktop browsing, mobile-screen adaptation, and browser implementations on consumer devices.

• Browser rendering engine · 2003

  Presto rendering engine

  Opera Software’s proprietary engine for interpreting and rendering web pages. First publicly identified in Opera 7, it supported technologies including DOM, CSS, ECMAScript, HTML, and WML. It was developed as a component of Opera browser products rather than as a stand-alone consumer browser.

• Mobile web rendering technology

  Opera Small-Screen Rendering

  Opera’s small-screen technology reformatted web pages for narrow displays such as those on phones and handheld devices. It was promoted for mobile browsing and for letting web designers preview how pages could appear on smaller screens. It was part of Opera’s wider browser technology offering, not a separate successor engine.

• Embedded browser technology · 2003

  Opera browser technology for devices

  Opera licensed and adapted browser technology for devices beyond conventional desktop computers. Announced implementations and deployments included handheld gaming systems, home consoles, connected televisions, set-top boxes, and portable media players. Device versions were tailored to their hardware, display, and input methods.

• 2013

  Transition Opera’s main browser line away from PrestoStrategy

  Background

  Opera announced that most upcoming smartphone and computer browser versions would use WebKit and Chromium rather than continue to rely on its proprietary rendering engine.

  Action taken

  Opera began transitioning its mainstream browser development to the new engine strategy. Its subsequent devices SDK announcement described a Chromium/Blink-based implementation.

  Aftermath

  Presto ceased to be the foundation for Opera’s new principal browser releases and became legacy technology associated with earlier Opera versions.

  Source

• 2020.09.08

  Reported2020.09.08

  UP Express announces new PRESTO fare machines[13]多伦多机场快线宣布升级PRESTO刷卡机epochtimes.com

  UP Express announced that it would introduce upgraded PRESTO fare machines in the coming weeks, with additional payment options and accessibility features.

Read more

1. 1Opera 7 launch announcement: Faster, smaller, smarterpress.opera.com
2. 2Opera announces strategic licensing agreement with Adobepress.opera.com
3. 3Opera integrated with Adobe Creative Suite 2press.opera.com
4. 4Opera browser for Nintendo DS announcementpress.opera.com
5. 5Opera partners with Nintendo for Wii browserpress.opera.com
6. 6Nintendo DS Browser launch in Japanpress.opera.com
7. 7Opera archived version historyhelp.opera.com
8. 8Opera announces transition to WebKit and Chromiumpress.opera.com
9. 9Opera Devices SDK based on Chromium/Blinkpress.opera.com
10. 10Opera Security: legacy Presto source-code appearanceblogs.opera.com
11. 11Opera headquarters contact informationopera.com
12. 12Browser technology shown across connected devicespress.opera.com
13. 13多伦多机场快线宣布升级PRESTO刷卡机epochtimes.com