Opera Fast Forwards its new browser

 

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By Alun Williams

Posted on 28 Jan 2003 at 12:14

Opera Software has finished polishing the new version of its desktop browser - Opera 7.

The Norwegian company describes version 7 as a substantial upgrade, with the browser being rewritten from the rendering engine up. New features include a Fast Forward button for multiple page documents and the Wand for managing single click log-ins for password-protected sites.

'More and more users realize that the Web can be a faster, more productive tool than the limited options presented to them by Microsoft's Internet Explorer,' asserts the CEO at Opera Software, Jon S. von Tetzchner. 'Opera 7 provides the latest and finest in browser technology to all Web users, offering millions of new users a better Internet experience.'

As usual with Opera, there is a free-version, which is ad-sponsored, or you can pay $39 to buy the full version online.

As well a new rendering engine and email client, Opera 7 sees support for small-screen rendering (SSR) so that developers can easily test how their pages would look on smaller mobile devices. There is also one-click login to password protected sites - via The Wand feature - and Fast Forward support where Opera tries to detect the most likely 'next page' link, changing the Forward button to Fast Forward. The aim is to simplify navigation in multi-page documents.

Other new features include a one-click installation of skins, improved bookmark and history management, and 3D buttons.

You can download Opera 7 for Windows from Opera.com. If you opt to include Java the download for Opera 7 weighs in at 12.6 MB, without Java it takes 3.2Mb (the same as version 6).

Other platforms than Windows will be supported eventually, but don't hold your breath for a Mac version. In the wake of Apple's own browser, Safari, Opera has questioned whether supporting the Mac market is worthwhile.