Browser Maker Opera Converts to WebKit

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It’s a frustrating situation that everyone encounters: a website doesn’t render correctly on your smartphone or tablet. But while it’s tempting to blame whomever coded the website, the real blame often lies with the web browser. With that in mind, browser maker Opera—which boasts 300 million users worldwide—is following the likes of Google and Apple and embracing rendering engine WebKit in an effort to encourage users to adopt its platform.
For those unaware of what the change means for them, here’s a little primer: web browsers rely on rendering engines to translate code into the visual text and display what you see on your desktop, tablet or smartphone. And until now, Opera has relied on its own Presto rendering engine for its browsers.

What does this mean for users? For one, the majority of web site developers design just for WebKit, so there will naturally be fewer problems with compatibility across devices. And by switching to WebKit Opera is guaranteed to increase competition, hopefully driving more users to their platform. Lastly, as many web design experts agree, WebKit is already the go-to rendering engine for mobile thanks to support from Apple, Google and the Blackberry family of phones.

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