Opera Software today permanently removed the ad banner and licensing fee from its award-winning Web browser. The ad-free, full-featured Opera browser is now available for download - completely free of charge – at http://www.opera.com.

"Today we invite the entire Internet community to use Opera and experience Web browsing as it should be," said Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. "Removing the ad banner and licensing fee will encourage many new users to discover the speed, security and unmatched usability of the Opera browser."

Opera was previously available free of charge with an ad banner. Users had the option of paying a licensing fee to remove the ad banner and receive premium support.

"Opera fans around the globe made this day possible," said von Tetzchner. "As we grow our userbase, our mission and our promise remain steadfast: we will always offer the best Internet experience to our users - on any device. Today this mission gains new ground."

Link (http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2005/09/20/)

One the best, if not the best, and fastest browser around. For those who were hesitant to fully try it before because of the license or ad, this may be the best time. Opera is the fastest browser I've use. It looks neat and clean, the skin and appearances is fully customizable (I manage to get more viewing screen than IE even with tabs); password manager so it'd be faster to spam the boards; great security; seems more stable than Mozilla; and much more. One of the few problems is I occasionally run with some problems with some sites. But hopefully, the app would be wider spread. :)

Here is (http://img302.imageshack.us/img302/3567/opera2vg.jpg) my basic for the curious bunch.

.Z

Plz note that my opinion is base on my own experience with the program (duh!).