Opera 5 5.02

CNET editors' review

Reviewed by: CNET Staff

The premise of Opera has always been the same: Develop the fastest, smallest, and most full-featured browser available. Opera maintains the tradition with its latest version. Offering unprecedented speed and low memory usage, Opera is still embarrassing the big browsers by loading most Web pages in a fraction of the time they use.

In addition to fine-tuning speed and performance, the browser includes support for bidirectional languages such as Arabic and Hebrew, a slide-show feature for Web-based photos, and an option that allows users of the free, ad-sponsored version to receive either text-based ads served by Google or generic graphical ads. Other features sweeten the deal, such as spatial navigation, a built-in e-mail client with spam parameters, and IRC chat support. As always, Opera continues to offer good-quality encryption and other security measures.

Although Opera's default interface wastes space with redundant tools that visually overpower the browser window, it is wholly customizable. Skins let you change the browser's look to suit your preferences. Anyone looking at alternate browsers should check out Opera, the leader of the pack.

Publisher's description

From Opera Software :

Opera 5 is a fast, user-friendly, versatile Internet/intranet browser that also includes a newsreader. The keyboard plays an integral role in surfing, which can make moving around the Web easy and fast. You can run multiple windows, even at start-up, and special features are included for users with disabilities. Opera 5 supports CSS, Java (through the Sun Java plug-in--for the Java-bundled version click here), JavaScript SSL (128-bit), TLS (Transaction Layer Security), and more.

Other options include the ability to design your own look for the buttons in the program; file uploading support to be used with forms and mail; an option to turn off tables; advanced cookie filtering; and a host of other powerful features, including an email client enhancement, keyboard shortcuts, and more.

Opera 5 also features:

• Integrated search and Instant Messaging
• Support for new JavaScript versions
• Updated email support
• Improvements in memory usage
• Accessibility to different Web sites, and more

This update features improvements in radio button handling and an updated, more intuitive transfer window.

Note: The full version of Opera 5 is now available for free in an ad-sponsored version. Registered users will not see ads. The registration cost is $39. The upgrade from Opera 4.0 for Windows is free.

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