To create your own extensions, you need basic web development skills, which includes some grasp of HTML/XML. Documentation for developing Speed Dial extensions is available here. If you don’t feel up to it, you can simply download Speed Dial extensions from Opera’s extensions catalogue.
The other improvement of note is password synchronization, which can now be done securely through Opera Link. This means that your passwords (as well as bookmarks, Speed Dial, search engine preferences, typed browser history and notes) can be synced across several Opera installs.
You can download Opera Swordfish beta here.