Opera 33.0

Opera is, without a doubt, one of the major players in the game of browsers. It's reliable, functional, has developer support and regular updates and can satisfy the needs of users more than most of its competitors. But being good is nothing without growth, and Opera is, luckily, always wiling to grow.

Everyone probably recognizes the Opera browser - it has that solid reliable look thanks to the design choices. The interface is inviting and easy to use, if not for a couple of elements like the sub-menus that appear to be a bit on the small side. Functionality is at its best, with fast loading times, seamless integration with the operating system and extensive ways to adjust or edit the browser pages.

What I especially like about Opera is that it's ready to make the most of what Internet connection it has to work with. It loads incredibly fast by comparison with other browsers and really neatly displays all the elements of any site without slowing down. In my book, this is the highest praise imaginable for a browser. But wait, it gets better.

Not only does Opera work well, but it also provides a ton of additional features that make users even more comfortable. I'm not even talking about an extensive bookmark system, which, by the way, received an interesting upgrade recently allowing for visual bookmarking in the form of a series of thumbnails, or the ever-extending customization options. I'm not even talking about flawless support for numerous extensions, which is a given for a major browser. No, I'm talking about things like the Turbo mode that makes Opera speed up loading times. It's available by default, a rare thing for a browser.

Another rare thing is the Speed Dial, a feature many competitors emulate, that allows Opera to provide quick access to pages and sites users visit most often. Password synchronization sparing you the logging in routine also helps.

Opera is also one of the safest browsers to use. It works well with antiviruses and has some safety and security features of its own. Private browsing, for example, protects your personal data, and in the new versions it is combined with the Surf Easy feature that is basically a VPN download service that also bypasses regional content restrictions. With a combination of those elements Opera effectively masks your presence on the Web and lets you navigate with easy not worrying about being exposed.

I could sing praises to Opera all day, but you probably know how good it is without me. It's safe, fast and reliable. Some minor design decisions may annoy some people, but functionality more than makes up for it. And newer features, like Discover, expand the usefulness even more. You now have a real news feed in your browser in the language you set up. If this is not an awesome browser, I don't know what is.

J

James Lynch

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