Most of the opinions I've read about Opera, seem to say that it's not really a browser for beginners.

I've been introduced to the Opera browser thanks to the Open university course that I am doing. Although I am doing a computer course, I do not consider myself a computer expert by any stretch of the imagination. I can Navigate my way round the Internet (as long as what I want shows itself in a search engine!), and I can just about download a file from the internet - but that's where my expertise ends.

However someone pointed me in the direction of Opera, so I took the plunge and downloaded it a couple of days ago (the free version).

Well, what can i say - it's not going to change my life, but I would definately recommend having a go with it!

It does seem faster than Internet Explorer and definately faster than navigator.

The mouse controls are excellent and seem to give you a lot more 'freedom' for page control.

The ability to store bookmarks or favourites is much more organised than IE, with the folders you can create then sub-divide.

Email can be accessed from within the page, without having to open a seperate application.

The tutorial/instructions are clear and easy to read, making it usable for the majority of people, especially if they've used IE or netscape.

The novelty has certainly not worn off yet! I will be using opera for the forseeable, I may interchange it with IE but I doubt I will be using Netscape for a while.

Go on give it a go!