opera goes free

[Steve]

http://www.opera.com/

[Lucky]

cool but i use firefox

[Jeff]

What living said .

[Hellfighter]

Originally posted by Steve
http://www.opera.com/

i give it a try

woow the pages seem to load up a lot faster then before, and it don't try to highjack the browers at all, i seem to like this better then firefox.

have to wait to see if there any adware come with this for next day or two. but i like all the option in it.

[Trojan]

I tried it in 2000. I've since screwed up my Internet Explorer and now use Netscape.

[Hellfighter]

hey it even have a live chat option in it too cool.

i have to get a new head set with mic

wish i had a newer Sound card then this one i have now.
Creative SB live! Serials

[Steve]

i think Mike use Opera iirc, he might have some useful stuff to say abotu it.

i think it used to cost a small fee or free if you didnt mind the build in ads. i guess pressure from firefox has made them release it for free.

hopefully google will be releaseing a browser some time though. i cant believe they havent already to be honest.

[Hellfighter]

will here the inside scoop on it [REUTERS news'] :

Opera scraps browser ads
Tue Sep 20, 2005 9:37 AM ET
By James Kilner

OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian Web browser provider Opera Software has stopped charging users and ditched ads to focus on expanding its customer base and boosting revenue from Internet searches, it said on Tuesday.

The news sent its stock up more than 8 percent.

Scrapping banner ads and user fees, which accounted for 55 percent of desktop browser revenue in the first half, for a free service which pulls in cash from Internet searches using Google, Ebay.com and Amazon.com will hurt profits this year, Opera said.

"However, revenue in the long term is expected to increase as the ad-free browser is expected to significantly expand Opera's market share and the contract with Google provides more search revenue per user," Opera Software said in a statement.

By mid-session Opera shares had climbed 8.2 percent to an all-time high of 21 Norwegian crowns, before edging back slightly to 20.50 crowns, valuing the company at around $330 million.

About 20 million people use the Opera desktop browser worldwide, a figure it wants to triple, spokesman Tor Odland said.

The Oslo-based company launched its browser in 1996 to rival Microsoft's Explorer and America Online's Netscape Navigator. But as its larger rivals dominated the market, Opera switched focus to producing Web browsers for mobile phones.

Opera's stock has more than doubled this year, from 8.65 crowns on January 1, spurred partly by announcements of fresh deals with mobile handset makers to carry its browser.

In the second quarter, revenue from desktop operations fell to around 17 percent of total revenue. During the same period last year, desktop browsers accounted for around a third of revenue.

"We expected the licensing fee to increase but we have not seen it grow as much as we wanted," Odland said.

Opera will still charge for a 24-hour email support service.

Odland said an improved deal with Google would increase the revenue per Internet search for Opera, but he declined to give further details of the deal.

Analysts said the switch to focusing on growing user numbers made sense.

"They had very slow sales in desktop. Licensing income was expected to almost double and it didn't," Federick Lunde, analyst at Corporate Advice, said.

"They are realizing that they haven't got much to gain from desktop advertising and are focusing on the number of users instead."

He said he would reduce his earnings estimate for 2005 but the change would not affect earnings too heavily in the longer term.

source: http://today.reuters.com/PrinterFrie...T-OPERA-DC.XML

[Lakie]

yeah im a opera user, i bought it so i never had ads to begin with. Now ive used it i wouldnt use anything else...

[JonM]

Looks good but for now I'll stick with IE

[Erik]

Im going to IE once 7.0 is out. I use firefoz but IE 7.0 will have everything that both have and then some.

[SilentTrigger]

Use opera on and off, same with Mozilla

[DevilDog#1]

Last time I downloaded Opera I got hit by 25 spyware and viruses. Better off using FF or IE