The company believes that with the help of a global marketing campaign and a free, advertising-supported version of its new browser, Opera can become a formidable competitor. Opera plans to distribute version 5.0 of its browser on millions of CDs inside computer magazines around the world, through other software makers and on various Web sites. Targeted Ads Opera has added banner advertising to support its free browser, but claims the ads are low-key and unobtrusive. To maintain privacy, the company does not require users to give any personal information, though they will be asked to do so on a voluntary basis. The banner-sized ads are quite small and are downloaded into the browser only once a week, to be cached for later use.
Users can select from a number of advertising categories, if they wish.
The Opera browser alone is a mere 1.95 MB download, enabling it to be downloaded quickly. Adding Java requires a one-time 7 MB download. The browser also sports integrated news, mail, search functions and Instant Messaging. For faster browsing, images can be turned off with the touch of a key, and users can employ a high-quality zooming technique that allows them to zoom in on text or images up to 1,000 percent. Opera works well with older computers and systems, its designers say.