To find out how to enable the power user mode, scroll down. Opera Software launched the first Chromium-based version of the company's web browser back in the beginning of July 2013. The release caused quite the controversy, with many existing Opera users being disappointed by the lack of features of which some had been a part of the browser for more than a decade before.

The company promised to address several of the issues in time, and to keep an eye on the old branch of the browser for the time being until the new Opera would make a solid foundation for all users of the browser.

Several distribution channels were created to provide interested user, developers and testers with access to browser features that were not yet ready for prime time.

The company has released four new major versions of Opera in the meantime, with Opera 19 released to the Developer channel ten days ago.

Today's update of that channel brings a new feature to the browser: the task manager. To load it, you first need to enable the Developer Tools menu with a click on the Opera button and the selection of More Tools > Enable Developer Tools.

It is then possible to launch the Task Manager from the Developer Tools menu.

The program looks and feels identical to the Chrome Task Manager, with two core differences. First, you cannot use Shift-Esc or any other keyboard shortcut to launch it in Opera.

Second, the Stats for Nerds link is not available that leads to the browser's About memory page.

The changelog lists all other changes in the release. It lists many stability improvements as well as a couple of site-specific fixes. This includes a fix for YouTube not working in the browser's Off-Road Mode, or a bug that caused Opera Turbo (Off-Road Mode) to fail to load websites.

The settings page has seen a couple of changes. Probably the most important change here is the ability to change the number of columns on Opera's Speed Dial page, and also a new power user setting to hide the search box on the start page, according to the change log.

Power User Mode

I could not find the power user settings in Opera even though the change log was making a reference to it.

The change I'm talking about is the following one:

DNA-12667 Settings | Power-user: Hide search box in the start page

To enable the power user mode press the following key combination while you are on the settings page: Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right b a

If done right, the following overlay screen should appear.

Super user permission enabling rights

You have activated the Super user permission enabling rights. Congratulations! A brief warning before proceeding: These settings are hidden for a reason. They can severely mess up the browser and we can take no responsibility for the stability or performance of the product after proceeding.

Click on the I understand, proceed button to enable the mode.

The "Hide the search box in Speed Dial" preference is then listed under Start Page on the settings page. Here you can also enable "Always show power user settings".

According to Opera Software, more options will be added for power users in the future.

Linux?

Opera 19 is still only available for Windows and Mac systems, so that Linux users still have to wait for the first build for their system. Opera has not released any information in regards to this, and it is not clear when the first Linux builds will become available.

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