Opera software recently announced that their web browser, Opera, is available for free download. Previously the free version of Opera was advertising-enabled and a small registration fee was payable to remove the ads. With this announcement Opera will be available without advertising, free of charge, putting it on the same cost footing as Firefox, Mozilla and Netscape. Opera is a small, fast, standards-compliant web browser that includes a number of useful features including tabbed browsing.

Still on the topic of web browsers, over 95 million copies of Firefox have been downloaded, more than 25 million in three months. Firefox is an off-shoot of the Mozilla browser project and provides several features not found in Internet Explorer including tabbed browsing, RSS feeds, pop-up blocks and enhanced privacy and security.

Web link: www.getfirefox.com

StarOffice 8

Sun Microsystems has announced the release of StarOffice 8, the long-anticipated new version of its cross-platform office suite. New features include an interface re-design to align the product more closely with Microsoft Office, enhanced compatibility with Microsoft Office file formats, a new database component called Base, adoption of the OpenDocument format and enhanced PDF document creation capability. Initial reviews are very favourable, although some compatibility issues remain with Microsoft Office files. StarOffice is based on the OpenOffice.org project and is available from Sun at a price significantly less than Microsoft Office. For those that are prepared to wait, OpenOffice.org version 2 should be released soon and will be free of charge.

Studio 8

Macromedia has announced the release of Studio 8, its excellent suite of products for professional web designers and developers. The suite includes updated versions of Dreamweaver Flash Pro, Fireworks, Contribute and Flash Paper. In related news, Adobe has received shareholder approval for its takeover of Macromedia. The future of the combined companies’ product line has not been announced.

Vista

Microsoft has released a beta (pre-release testing) version of the next release of Windows, to be known as Vista. The final product will not be released until at least mid-2006, but developers and testers have been invited to put the beta version through its paces and report any bugs back to Microsoft. It is likely that several more beta versions will be released before the final product appears on the shelves. A beta version of Office 12 is also expected to be available shortly, although the final product won’t be released for another 12 months.

Microsoft has also revealed that there will be a Service Pack 3 for Windows XP, but that it won’t be released until after Windows Vista arrives next year.

Web link: www.microsoft.com/windowsvista

PaintShop Pro

PaintShop Pro has reached version X (10). From lowly shareware beginnings, PaintShop Pro provides advanced image manipulation tools and PhotoShop compatibility at a fraction of the Adobe product’s price. PaintShop Pro’s interface has been redesigned to make it easier to use.