Opera Software Opera 8

Opera has always concentrated on new features that soon seem indispens­able (it was the first browser to support tabbed windows, for example). Similarly, mouse gestures - move through pages by holding down the right key and moving your pointer left or right - soon become second nature. The interface has had a major overhaul, other new features include the Fit-to-window option (to avoid horizontal scrolling), and better support for removing pop-ups (no longer all-or-nothing as with SP2's amendments to Internet Explorer). You also get voice control.

In the past, Opera had much difficulty rendering certain Web pages. While this may be the fault of developers, it was still a nuisance. A development that's not new to version 8 but works well in this release is that the browser can now "spoof" itself as Internet Explorer (or Firefox) and this works quite well.

Opera is fast and secure, instantly rendering pages that can take a few seconds in other applications. The options to delete private data are much better than Internet Explorer and clicking on the padlock icon for secure sites provides information about who operates the security certificate for them.

Opera 8 is a slick and fully featured browser, but Opera is the only browser to make you use either a version with advertisements or pay for an ad-free version. In general, those adverts are easy to ignore if you don't want to shell out.