Opera Software released a new version of its Internet browser Tuesday that the company claims is the fastest Windows-based platform for surfing the web. Called Opera 10.50, the free browser download now sports a sleek and refined design, together with new social-networking capabilities as well as a private browsing feature that hides all traces of the sites that users visit.
Opera hopes to capitalize on Microsoft’s new browser-choice screen for Windows, which gives European Union users the opportunity to switch from Internet Explorer to a rival platform. Implemented as part of Microsoft’s recent antitrust settlement with the European Commission, the new browser ballot is expected to be displayed on more than 100 million Windows machines in Europe between now and mid-May.
Opera 10.50 is the fastest browser in almost all speed tests, according to Opera Software CEO Lars Boilesen. “But more important than any speed test is the real-world speed during use,” Boilesen said. “We designed Opera 10.50 to be easy to use, while making our unique features stand out so you can get more out of the web.”
A Need For Speed
European users of Windows PCs with IE set as the default browser are being provided with a browser-choice screen designed to ensure competition, said EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia on Tuesday. The browser-choice screen, which is supposed to randomly rotate the order in which the choices are presented from one machine to the next, includes short descriptions of the major browsers from Apple, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla and Opera.
Microsoft’s short ballot description for IE emphasizes the browser’s leading marketplace ranking, while Apple stresses Safari’s innovation, and Mozilla cites security as Firefox’s top priority. By contrast, Google and Opera have elected to promote their speed.
Largely because of its superior speed, Google’s Chrome browser has made major market gains. According…