Presto

Presto is a web browser layout engine developed by Opera Software. It was first released in 2003 and was used in the Opera web browser until version 15, which switched to the Blink engine. Presto was designed to be a modular and flexible engine that could adapt to changing web standards and technologies. It was known for its speed, security, and support for advanced web features.

Purpose and Usage

The purpose of a web browser layout engine is to interpret and render web pages. When a user visits a website, the browser sends a request to the server for the page’s HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files. The layout engine then parses the HTML and CSS to determine how the page should be displayed and rendered. The JavaScript code is executed to add interactivity and dynamic content to the page.

Presto was designed to be lightweight and efficient, which made it well-suited for use on devices with limited resources, such as mobile phones and other embedded devices. It was also optimized to take advantage of hardware acceleration, which improved its performance on desktop computers.

Presto was known for its support of advanced web features, such as SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), CSS3 (Cascading Style Sheets), and ECMAScript 5 (the latest version of JavaScript at the time). It also included support for web technologies that were not yet widely adopted, such as HTML5, WebGL, and WebSockets.

Features

Presto had several notable features that set it apart from other web browser layout engines:

Multi-Column Layout

Presto included support for multi-column layouts, which allowed web designers to create newspaper-style columns on their pages. This was accomplished using the CSS3 column-count property, which specified the number of columns to be used. The column-width property could be used to specify the width of each column.

Opera Dragonfly

Opera Dragonfly was a built-in development tool that allowed web developers to inspect and debug web pages in real-time. It included features such as a JavaScript console, a DOM inspector, and a network profiler. Dragonfly was included with the Opera browser, which made it easy for developers to access and use.

Speed Dial

Speed Dial was a feature that allowed users to quickly access their favorite websites. When a new tab was opened, a grid of thumbnail images representing the user’s favorite sites was displayed. This made it easy to navigate to frequently visited sites without having to type in the URL each time.

Turbo Mode

Turbo Mode was a feature that was designed to speed up web browsing on slow or unreliable Internet connections. When enabled, Turbo Mode compressed web pages before sending them to the browser, which reduced the amount of data that needed to be downloaded. This made browsing faster and more responsive on connections with limited bandwidth.

Wand Password Manager

The Wand Password Manager was a tool that allowed users to store and manage their website passwords. It included features such as password generation, auto-filling of login forms, and the ability to sync passwords between multiple devices. The Wand was included with the Opera browser, which made it easy for users to access and use.

Standards

Presto was designed to support web standards and technologies as they evolved over time. It was known for its support of advanced web features, such as SVG, CSS3, and ECMAScript 5. Presto was also one of the first browser engines to support the Acid3 web standards test, which was developed to measure a browser’s compliance with web standards.

Presto was designed to be modular and flexible, which allowed it to adapt to changes in web standards and technologies. This meant that new features could be added to the engine as they were developed, without requiring a complete overhaul of the entire engine.

Adoption

Presto was used in the Opera web browser from 2003 until 2013, when Opera switched to the Blink engine. During its time as the layout engine for Opera, Presto gained a loyal following among web developers and power users who appreciated its speed, security, and support for advanced web features.

Presto was also used in other web browsers, such as the Nintendo Wii Internet Channel and the Nintendo DSi Browser. These devices were designed to be used on televisions and handheld gaming systems, which made Presto’s lightweight and efficient design a good fit.