opera 7.10 for linux beta...

Norway's alternative browser firm Opera Software on Friday released two new upgrade versions -- Opera 7.10 for Windows and Opera 7.10 for Linux Beta -- that promise navigation via new "FastForward" and "Rewind" buttons on the toolbar.

The Opera 7 browser, which has been dogged by security issues in recent months, has also been fitted with new features like Notes and Slideshow to speed up browser-based research and the viewing of photo files.

Adding to the power browsing capabilities in earlier beta releases, the company said the two new "FastForward" and "Rewind" buttons would allow the user to "sit back and let the browser anticipate where they would like to go next." The two new buttons are illustrated by two arrows each, either going back or forward.

The "Slideshow" addition displays photo files on the Web in slideshow format and can be personalized by users to view a full-screen on a black background via a presentation tool called "OperaShow".

To speed up researching, Opera has added "Notes" to allow users to jot down a note in conjunction with a Web page. The note can then be dragged to an e-mail or stored for future reference.

Also new in the Opera 7.10 releases is "Cookie Manager" which lets users keep track of cookies in the browser.

Opera has been busy adding user-friendly quirks as part of its strategy to grab market share from Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Netscape and Mozilla browsers. Both new releases will feature Opera 7's "Wand" password manager, the M2 e-mail and news client and quirks like mouse gestures, keyboard shortcuts, Hotclick translation, zooming and integrated search.

The company has also speeded up the development of the Opera for Linux beta, moving from Opera 6.12 to Opera 7.10 to bring it closer to the Windows version. The latest Opera for Linux release will add, for the first time, the M2 e-mail client and the accompanying spam filter, POP3, IMAP,and ESMTP support.

"Thanks to the interoperability of the Opera core, the Opera 7.10 for Windows and Linux browser versions we are releasing today have the same features," says Jon S. von Tetzchner.

"In the future, the Opera browser will look increasingly the same across the different platforms thanks to this interoperability, so that users, schools, universities and businesses who truly want to be cross-platform can enjoy the same Opera features on all major operating systems."