Program information 
- Softonic Rating:
- License:
- Free
- Added:
- November 28, 2005
- Updated:
- June 12, 2008
- Publisher:
- Website
- File size:
- 15.6 MB
- Downloads:
- 1,975
“Surf the Internet in a safer, faster, and easier way”
Following the release of new versions of both Internet Explorer and Firefox, the infamous 'browser wars' are flaring up again. Despite both Firefox 1.5 and the Beta of IE7 making significant strides, it would be be foolish to think this was a two-horse race. While gaining a good reputation with geeks and power users, Opera has long been a bit-part player among the big boys of the browser world. However, if this preview release is anything to go by, the Norwegian-built browser could finally be ready to punch with the heavyweights.
Opera has been pioneering new ways of browsing the web for some time. It has had tabbed browsing since the days before tabbed browsing was cool and developed the innovative 'mouse gestures' control system, where you navigate through the web just by holding the mouse button and flicking your wrist. The developers even dabbled with a multi-pane interface for viewing several pages within one interface.
The good news is that Opera has lost none of its appetite for innovation, and version 9 is packed with new goodies that will have the programmers at Mozilla and Microsoft choking on their doughnuts. For starters the app runs much quicker than the previous release, making it arguably the quickest browser around (except perhaps for Safari) at rendering pages. Incredibly, despite this boost in performance, the program appears to use less memory than version 8.5, making it far less draining on system resources than Firefox and IE.
In terms of features Opera is the gift that keeps on giving. New to the program comes OSX Tiger-style 'widgets', allowing you to check news, convert currency, view the weather and so on through a series of draggable pop-ups which anchor themselves in front of the browser. Although there aren’t many widgets to choose from at present, this is sure to change once the tech-minded Opera fans start developing more.
Another great addition to Opera 9 is BitTorrent support, allowing you to download torrents directly within the browser – a feature that amazingly no one had thought of before. This system works very smoothly, which makes us wonder why RSS feed reading support in Opera is still so poor.
Among the other new treats within the program is a nifty new search feature which lets you add any search engine to the search bar in the main toolbar. This means you can instantly access searches within your favorite online destinations (Softonic, for instance).
Tabbed browsing remains, although some users may be annoyed to discover that Opera has added close tab buttons to the tabs themselves rather than as a separate button. Having said this, the new web page preview thumbnails that appear when you rollover a tab are a real masterstroke. Mouse gestures are still there too, along with the addition of Total Recall-style voice commands – another example of how cutting-edge this browser is.
Opera's developers have been keen to ramp up security features too, and although they aren't highly original, the new content blocking and pop-up blocking functions serve their purpose effectively. What's more, it's refreshing to see a browser that embraces the latest web standards so freely, with the latest release boasting support for CSS 2.1 and CSS 3 tags.
The browser is remarkably stable and is far better behaved than Internet Explorer 7. Combined with its speed, innovative features and standards support, Opera is undoubtedly web software's best-kept secret, and the final release may prove to be even better than Firefox. Don't say anything though, or everyone will want it.
Languages:
English
Recent changes in Opera:
- Introduced Opera Link
- Added Quick Find, an improved full text history search tool
- Speed Dial
- Added alternative tab-closing behaviors
- Content blocking improvements
- Keyboard Shortcut improvements
- Faster
- More secure
- Improved interface
OS requirements for Opera:
- OS: Mac OS X
Minimum requirements:
- Mac OS X 10.2 or later
- Highly customizable
- BitTorrent support
- Fast and secure
- Lack of RSS support
- Download manager is a little cumbersome
Featured program
Softonic gives special recognition to software of exceptionally high quality. More information
From the publisher of Opera
The most full-featured Internet power tool on the market, Opera includes pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, integrated searches, and advanced functions like Opera's groundbreaking E-mail program, RSS Newsfeeds and IRC chat. And because we know that our users have different needs, you can customize the look and content of your Opera browser with a few clicks of the mouse.
BitTorrent
You don't need a separate BitTorrent application to download large files. Simply click a torrent link and start the download.
Content blocker
Remove ads or images - it's up to you. Right-click (CTRL-click on the Mac) on the Web page and choose "Block content".
Add your favorite search engines
Right-click on the site's search field and select "Create search" from the menu.
Thumbnail preview
It is easy to have many tabs open at once in Opera. But exactly which tab had that video you wanted? Hover your mouse on any tab to see a thumbnail preview.
Site preferences
Want to view a site in a different way or deny certain cookies? Want to block pop-ups on certain sites only? Right click and select "Edit site preferences".
Widgets
Small Web applications (multimedia, newsfeeds, games and more) that make your desktop experience more fun. Use the Widgets menu to discover new widgets and access your favorites. Visit widgets.opera.com to learn more.
Improved rich text editing
Use advanced text editing features for today's most popular Web applications.
Transfer manager
View download progress and access all your downloads from one simple transfer manager window.
Tabbed browsing
Surf the Web easier and faster by opening multiple Web pages within the same application window.
Password manager
The password manager remembers your usernames and passwords so you will not have to.
Integrated search
Search Google, eBay, Amazon and more with our integrated search field. You can also search directly in the address field using keywords (for example "g" for Google).
Pop-up blocking
Opera lets you control whether to block all pop-ups, or open only the ones that you have requested.
Mouse gestures
Opera supports mouse gestures, allowing you to perform certain movements with the mouse to access commonly used features.
Fast Forward
Fast Forward will detect the most likely "next page" link and greatly simplify navigation in multi-page documents such as search results and image galleries.
Sessions
Save a collection of open tabs as a session, for later retrieval, or start with the pages you had open when Opera was last closed.
Quick preferences
Pressing F12 displays the 'Quick preferences' menu to easily switch settings such as pop-up and cookie preferences and more.
Notes
Notes can be kept in conjunction with a Web site you want to refer to later, or remind you of any particular information you may like to review again.
Voice
The voice feature allows you to control Opera's interface by talking and to have documents read aloud. Voice is currently offered in English and runs on Windows 2000 and XP.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts - like mouse gestures - make your browsing faster and more efficient. Read more about all the keyboard shortcuts in Opera.
Trash can
If you accidentally close a tab, you can retrieve it from the trash can. This also works for blocked pop-ups that you may want.
Security bar
Opera displays security information inside the address field. The padlock icon indicates the level of security present on a site.
Encryption
Opera supports Secure Socket Layer (SSL) version 3, and TLS 1.0 and 1.1. Opera supports 256-bit encryption, the strongest standard encryption for the Web.
Delete private data
You can clear the history and cache when exiting, to protect your privacy. Private data can easily be erased at any time by going to Tools > Delete private data.
Cookie control
You have detailed control of what cookies to accept and reject, including different setups for different servers.
Opera mail
Our built-in POP/IMAP E-mail client is a combined e-mail program, news reader, mailing list organizer and RSS/Atom newsfeed reader.
IRC chat
Communicate with people all over the world using Opera's IRC chat client. Chat privately or in rooms, or share files with your friends and family.
Drag and drop
Add, remove or rearrange buttons, search fields and toolbars. Go to Tools > Appearance.
Skins
Skins can give your browser the look you want. Make the browser your own by giving it the icons, colors and style of your choice.
Language
Opera is translated into a multitude of languages, and the language can be changed on the fly. Go to Preferences > General.
Zoom
You can zoom the contents of any Web page from 20%-1000% using the zoom dropdown or the + and - keys.
Text size and colors
You can change text size and color, link styling or background color to your liking in Preferences > Web pages.
User style sheets
Opera comes with a set of ready-made style sheets, including accessibility style.
Standards support
We take pride in supporting all major Web standards currently in use, including CSS 2.1, XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.01, WML 2.0, ECMAScript, DOM 2 and SVG 1.1 basic.
Small-screen mode
When displaying a page in small-screen mode (Shift+F11) you can see how it will look on a mobile phone or other small-screen device running Opera.
Validate code
You can validate the HTML code of any Web page by pressing Ctrl+Alt+V.
Toggle graphics and style sheets
Graphics and style sheets can be toggled on/off via our toolbars and shortcuts.
Info panel
The Info panel shows details about the currently open page such as MIME type, page size, character encoding and more.
Reload from cache
Edit the source of any open Web page and view the result instantly. Go to Tools > Advanced.
Full-screen mode
The F11 key toggles Opera's projection mode, using the whole screen for browsing and, if a projection style sheet is present, displays 'slides' suitable for presentation.
Kiosk mode
Opera supports kiosk mode - a lock-down mode in which the browser can be used for unattended computers in public places.
More Opera screenshots
Posts about Opera in our blog
- Opera 9.5 beta2 - the fastest web browser on the Net? by Francesca Migliorini
- Firefox 3 consumes less RAM than IE or Opera by Tom Clarke
- Reasons to get into Opera by Nicholas Mead
- First look at Opera 9.5 alpha (Kestrel) by Tom Clarke
- Opera takes control in console wars by James Thornton
Programs similar to Opera
Opera options
Reviews for Opera in other languages
Opera in other platforms
- Opera (Windows)
- Opera (Phones)
- Opera for Windows Mobile 2003 8.65 (Pocket PC)
- Opera for Windows Mobile 5 8.65 b (Pocket PC)
User Rating
12 ratings- Usability
- Stability
- Installation
- Functionality
- Appearance
