While not yet a household name like Internet Explorer or Firefox, the beta 1 release of the Opera 9 browser is even more innovative than our current Editors' Choice browser Firefox 1.5. It puts Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 for XP SP2 beta to shame by being much more secure. Since November 2005, the current version, Opera 8.5, has been free to download.
Upon installation, Opera 9 beta 1 offers to import your current favorites from Netscape, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and previous versions of Opera. You can also import your current Real Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds and mail from previous versions of Opera. The basic interface differs little from that of other Internet browsers, although we miss the Favorites side panel in IE and the new Places side panel in Firefox 2 Alpha 1; instead, Opera uses a drop-down menu to display your bookmarks and opens a new tab to display your history. And while Firefox offers many extensions to customize its look and feel, Opera offers only a few skins, keyboard shortcuts, and panels (preset RSS feeds).
New in Opera 9 beta 1 are several unique features, such as built-in desktop widgets and BitTorrent media support, along with several features that current Firefox 1.5 and Internet Explorer 7 for XP SP2 beta will recognize, such as tabbed browsing, thumbnail previews, and a built-in pop-up blocker. Also see our slide show for a closer look at some of these features.
Widgets: Opera 9 beta 1 embraces AJAX technology by offering tiny applets with specific functionality, such as a currency converter. There's even a widget that displays the latest Slashdot posting on your browser screen. See all of the available widgets here.
BitTorrent support: Opera 9 beta 1 is the first mainstream browser to support automatic streaming of BitTorrent media, a technology that uses distributed file networks to speed the download of large video files. For example, using our work desktop connected to a high-speed network, we were able to download a half-hour television show in about three minutes.
Customize your default search engine: Like Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 for XP SP2 beta, Opera 9 beta 1 now allows you to choose your default favorite search engine.
Sessions: This feature in Opera 9 beta 1 will save, then reopen sets of frequently used tabs whenever you relaunch Opera. We like this time-saving feature.
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