Opera Web Browser now freeware September 21
While I believe in the power of the philosophy of open-source software, Opera is one of those non-free applications that has demonstrated an Apple-like innovation e.g it was one of the first to introduce the concept of single window, multiple sites browsing, the precursor to the Mozilla tabbed browsing experience.
From its onset, it brought sanity to the 10+MB downloads of competing IE and Netscape browsers with its small by comparison 3-4MB download (can’t remember exactly which it was), a great turn-on for those of us with only simple dial-up connections at the time.
So it’s great to hear that they have now released the “AdBanner-free” version of their Internet browser as freeware. While in my little experience with the most recent incarnations I still wouldn’t trade my Firefox for it, and it does give trouble rendering SOME sites that utilise heavy client side scripting, its integrated RSS newsreader is one of several features good browser designers should look at for future development. I look forward to the new age of browser wars, may the best browser win!