Latest Opera browser '50 per cent faster'

The browsers Speed Dial feature gives users fast access to their favourite sites

Opera Software has released the final version of its 10.60 browser and claims that the “fastest browser on Earth” is now 50 per cent quicker than its previous release.

Opera attributes its increased speed in part to its Opera Turbo feature, which compresses data travelling over internet connections by up to a factor of two or more.

The new browser also offers improved features. Its ‘AppCache’ allows users to run web-based applications such as word processors and spreadsheets without an internet connection.

Opera has included a Speed Dial feature to quickly connect users to their favourite sites, and built-in video playback that lets consumers view video within the browser.

Search enhancements include instant search suggestions when using sites such as Wikipedia, and a greater choice of search engines included in the browser.

Opera claims to have 120 million active users connecting to the web using PCs, mobile phones and other networked devices.

Latest monthly statistics from Net Applications, which aggregates data from 40,000 web site worldwide, showed that in June Opera was the fifth most popular browser, with a 2.93 per cent market share for Opera and Opera Mini combined.

The same statistics show that Opera’s popularity has remained steady for the first half of this year, consistently hovering around the three per cent mark.

Its nearest rivals are Safari and Google’s Chrome, which in June had a 4.85 per cent and 7.24 per cent share of the market respectively. Opera still has a long way to go if it wants to rival the dominant browser - last month Internet Explorer had a 60.32 per cent market share.