Just moments before Mozilla releases firefox 3.0 final, Opera surprises us all with the 9.5 final version which includes major updates to the desktop version of the Opera browser. This could be a pain in the ass for the firefox 3.0 and the their Guinness World Record. Besides the final version of firefox3 will be released leaving about 80% of its bugs untouched as most of you must had heard the news. 

So far I am surprisingly impressed with the new opera 9.5 for its blazing performance and the intuitive interface. 

Here is my first hands-on discovery:

1. Opera Link synchronizes your bookmarks, Speed Dial, and notes between Opera on different computers, and even links to Opera Mini on your mobile.
2. Enhanced address bar searches your entire browsing history, including the contents of each page.
3. Security enhancements: malware protection, improved fraud protection, and support for Extended Validation SSL Certificates.
4. More than 2x faster than Opera 9.2 in rendering JavaScript and HTML
5. Much faster start up time.
6. Opera Dragonfly, the long-awaited tools for web developers is now available.
7. Love the New skin inspired but I think the tabs closing button is abit smaller.

8. The built-in E-mail client handles 6 e-mail accounts. (It does this better than some programs intended to do only that).

9. Opera 9.5 uses way less memory than Firefox 3.

10. Better than i expected. :) you should try too.

I’ve customized its UI to fit my needs and taste. It’s never needed to quit Opera now. :) Low memory footprint and robust against all major threats you can ever imagine.

Although I had been using opera since 2003, I always use Mozilla firefox, IE (and now Safari too) as my secondary browsers just to experience the differences and trust me I feel much alive with opera. Opera from far is just the fastest and the most secure.

Experience it yourself:
Downloaded Opera 9.5>>
Downloaded the 6MB USB portable version from HERE>>