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Opera claims the latest version of its desktop browser scores 100 out of 100 on the Acid3 test, which was created to assess whether browsers comply with a range of web standards around features such as rendering and Javascript.

In comparison Chrome 0.4 manages 79 out of 100, trailed by Firefox 3.0.4 with 71 and Internet Explorer 7, which hits a meagre 14, though IE8 is expected to improve things significantly when it launches.

Ultimately, the test hopes to encourage the creation of websites that don't need to be rejigged to accomodate an individual browser's foibles.

The other big announcement for Opera 10 is the introduction of the Presto 2.2 rendering engine, which will be the heart of all future Opera products, from desktop to mobile.

According to the company, Presto 2.2 is 30% faster than Presto 2.1 - the engine introduced in Opera 9.5.

Other features include a spell checker and auto updating. Other features are expected to be released with future builds.

The alpha is available for download here.