Opera browser 11.50.1074

Opera is a wonderfully operational Web browser, email client and IRC chat client solution. The Web browser features: tabbed browsing, pop-up blocker, content blocker, integrated search including 8 search engines plus Google Groups and News, "find in page" and Opera support.

Browsing is now faster due to its new rendering engine, keyboard shortcuts, mouse gestures, window management, the new thumbnail preview option (on mouse over the selected tab, a thumbnail of the website will appear on display). You can also edit site preferences with a right click and block pop-ups or block cookies for selected sites. By toggling the F11 key you can switch to full screen mode.

Browsing is also more fun if you use the widgets (downloadable at widgets.opera.com) The security section has been improved: Opera displays security information inside the address bar, located next to the padlock icon that indicates the level of security present on a site. Opera 9 also provides protection against phishing attacks and automatically checks for security updates. Encryption: Opera supports 256 bit encryption algorithms, SSL version 3 and TLS 1.0 and 1.1

A very interesting feature is Voice: Opera is the first browser to prepare for a future of Web sites offering interactive, voice-enabled shopping and booking systems. You can browse the Web using spoken commands, such as "Opera next link", "Opera back", or "Opera speak". The latter command will make Opera read Web page content and e-mail messages to you aloud, adding usability as either a screen reader or advanced dictionary. A headset with a microphone is required to use Voice.

Opera includes a revolutionary e-mail client, with support for POP3, IMAP, (E)SMTP, RSS (RDF Site Summary and Really Simple Syndication), Atom and NNTP newsfeed reader. Opera mail client provides access to multiple POP and IMAP accounts as well as RSS feeds. Other Opera 9 email features are the inbuilt Spell checker which checks your spelling as you type and the inbuilt junk mail filter which protect you from spam. Other interesting features are the support for SSL/TLS connections, can be configured to prefer plain text, not download inline images. A "quick reply" feature lets you compose and send a reply without opening a separate compose window.

Another smart feature is Opera's integration of RSS feeds in the email interface, which makes it convenient and efficient to browse news sites and blogs. Opera features also a IRC chat client, so that you can chat and share files with your friends around the world. Customization is also a key feature in Opera: you can choose from a variety of skins, customize your toolbars and menus using drag-and-drop and change languages on the fly, since Opera is translated into several languages.

Pluses: Download manager included with Resume options in case the program has been terminated without prior notice. A BitTorrent download client is included, so all you need to do is click the torrent link and the download will start automatically.

As for Web development, Opera currently supports CSS 2.1, XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.01, WML 2.0, ECMAScript, DOM 2 and SVG 1.1 basic. You can validate HTML code for web pages and you can display pages in small screen mode in order to see how will they appear on small mobile devices using Opera.

A very useful improvement in Opera is the possibility to be run in "Kiosk mode": If you set Opera to be your default Web browser, disable the Wand (password manager) and run Opera with command line options, you will be able to run Opera in a restricted access mode: locked on full screen mode, Ctrl+ESC and Alt+Tab key combinations are disabled, submit buttons are disabled to prevent file upload, etc. The "Kiosk mode"is very useful for public use workstations, such as information points or even in office environments.
Opera 9 is a free, very competitive product on the market which integrates email with Web browsing or chat, a all-in-one software which supports Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/3/XP, Mac OS X, Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris.

Drawbacks / flaws:

In conclusion: Complex and compact, beautifully designed and integrated, Opera is an innovative Web browsing solution and more which is meant to increase operations' speed and efficiency.

version reviewed: 9.62