Opera launches Next, the Chromium-based browser for Windows & Mac

Opera has just opened for download a new browser called Next, based on the Chromium browser, Google’s open-source version of Chrome.

“Completely rethinking a browser in today’s competitive market is a big thing,” said the company’s desktop software SVP, Krystian Kolondra, in a statement on the news.

“Our new browser is more beautiful and allows users to harness the massive amount of web content they are faced with today. Give it a try and discover something completely new.”

Like other modern browsers, Opera Next features an omnibar for search and URLs in the same field. The Opera shortcuts homepage has been refreshed, and the browser has a new bookmarking feature called Stash and a news reader called Discover.

And of course, what would a total technical and product overhaul be without a new UI design, too?

Here’s what it all looks like:

The browser maker had to cut 90 jobs earlier this year to make room for WebKit technologies (and get rid of people who had previously built careers on Opera’s proprietary rendering tech, Presto).

Now, Opera says it will also be ditching WebKit to support Blink, Google’s newer Chrome rendering engine project.

Image credit: San Francisco Opera