Opera Takes Wraps Off New Browser

Opera Software this week released the latest version of
its Web browser which features Java support and a variety of other new
features.

Opera 3.50’s 32-bit version for Windows 95 and NT allows Web surfers to
view Java documents after installing a Java plug-in. Opera admits that the
current installation process for the plug-in is tedious, but said Sun
Microsystems Inc. has assured the company that the next version of its
Java
plug-in will install along with the browser.

The latest version is also the first commercial browser to support the
Transport Layer Security 1.0 protocol. Currently, few Web servers support
the new protocol. Opera also supports the Secure Sockets Layer encryption
technology commonly found in browsers today.

Opera 3.50 now supports cascading style sheets and allows Web developers to
preview a document in a variety of modes before actually uploading their
pages to a server. Other improvements include an option to turn off table
support, a new file transfer window and the ability to specify the way
buttons appear in the browser.

The upgrade is free to registered users of Opera 3 and later.