Surf The Web With Opera

If you're reading this post, it's highly likely you're currently using either Internet Explorer or Firefox to do so.

A few of you Mac users may be browsing with Safari and an even smaller minority could be on Flock (hopefully based on my earlier review), but for the majority of online users the choice of browser doesn't expand past these four.

I use Flock regularly at work and at home because I like the way it integrates with social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter. But sometimes.....well sometimes I just want to surf the Web as fast as possible and with as few distractions as possible. And for those days, I power-up the relative social outcast in the Web browser field - Opera.

I'll never fully understand why Opera hasn't become a major player in the Web browser market. It's available for both Mac and PC, is extremely stable and solid and most importantly - lightning fast.

Opera has all the features needed to go toe-to-toe with the browser big boys (think tabbed browsing, customizable search bar, a handy quick-launch panel called Speed Dial to gracefully access your favorite sites) but it's speed at loading sites is what really sets its apart.

The browser feels lightweight and trim and on my MacBook it loads pages in a heartbeat. So even though Opera perhaps doesn't enjoy the press it deserves, it's something that's well worth checking out - especially if you're looking for a fast and simple Web browsing experience.