Opera Software ASA on Wednesday released the latest version of its Web browser, redoing its user interface, expanding its e-mail features and adding support for chat and RSS feeds.
Opera 7.50, which went into beta last month, marks the first release in which the company has synced its browser releases across all operating systems. The move is particularly significant for Mac OS X users, since Operas releases of its browser for the Mac had lagged behind versions for Windows and Linux.
Opera Mail, the e-mail client built into the browser, now features faster search of e-mail, a new spellchecker and support for reading Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, the Oslo, Norway, company announced. RSS is a form of Extensible Markup Language syndication popular among Webloggers and Web publishers.
The new browser also sports a redesigned user interface, which includes smaller buttons and a panel selector across the left sides of the browser for quick access to top browser functions. From the panel selector, users can access bookmarks, notes, the Opera Mail client and the new chat feature. Opera added a chat client into 7.50, which supports Internet Relay Chat.
Opera 7.50 is available for $39 without advertising or for free with ads included. The browser runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris.