MS Technology Vocabulary Opera

Caroline Walsh

January 2009

Computer 7-4

OPERA

Opera is a web browser and Internet suite developed by the Opera Software company.

Opera handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, online chatting, and reading web feeds. Opera is offered free of charge for personal computers and mobile phones, but for other devices it must be paid for. Features of Opera include tabbed browsing and page zooming. Its security features include and malware protection, strong protection when browsing secure web sites, and the ability to easily delete private data such as cookies and browsing history just by clicking a button.

Opera runs on a variety of personal computer operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris. Though evaluations of Opera have been largely positive, Opera has captured only a fraction of the worldwide personal computer market. It is currently the fifth most widely used web browser for personal computers, behind Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome.

Opera has a stronger market share, however, on mobile devices such as mobile phones, smartphones, and personal digital assistants. In fact, approximately 40 million mobile phones have shipped with Opera pre-installed. Furthermore, Opera is the only commercial web browser available for the Nintendo DS and Wii gaming systems.

HISTORY

Opera began in 1994 as a research project at Telenor, the largest Norwegian telecommunications company. In 1995, it branched out into a separate company named Opera Software ASA. Opera was first released publicly with version 2.0 in 1996, which only ran on Microsoft Windows.

1994: Started

1995: Branched off from Telenor

1997: First Opera Released

2001 May: Symbian partnership started

2001 Oct.: Canal partner ship started

2002 Sep.: First Asian Opera

2004 Mar.: First listed on stock exchange

2005 Dec.: 250,000 My Opera users

2006: Opera on Nintendo DS

2006 Aug.: Opera on Sony mylo

2006 Dec: Opera for Wii

2008 Jun: Opera 9.5 Released

2008 Jul.: Ask.com Search added

2008 Jul.: Meridian partner ship

Contact Information

HQ address

Waldemar Thranes gate 98 NO-0175 Oslo Norway

Postal enquiries

P. O. Box 2648 St Hanshaugen NO-0131 Oslo Norway

Telephone

+47 24 16 40 00 Fax +47 24 16 40 01

Founders

Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner (CEO) Geir Ivarsoey

Line of business

Browser maker for PC/Desktop, Mobile phones, PDAs, Devices

Employees

510 per March 2008 Satellite offices

USA, Sweden, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Poland, Czech Republic and Taiwan.

Tag line

Simply the Best Internet Experience on Any Device