With the debut of version 5, Opera can finally compete on equal footing with the "Big Two" in terms of features, speed, and price. That's right, we said price. For the first time, Opera is offered as an ad-supported freeware release, which means you can surf the Web for free as long as you like; you just have to be willing to put up with a small advertising banner. Those who would prefer to surf without the browser banner can purchase the commercial edition of Opera 5 for $39.
Aside from the new "Sponsored Mode", major new additions and feature enhancements in Opera 5 include:
· An integrated Instant Messaging client for sending and receiving IMs, · An integrated search tool that resides in each browser window, · Support for new JavaScript versions, · Improved memory usage throughout the client, · Enhanced accessibility to different Web sites, and · Improved mail stability.
A press release with additional information for Opera 5 is available from the Opera Web site.
