Aladdin plays role in Opera browser

Opera Software has struck a deal with Aladdin Systems to boost distribution of Opera's browser and Aladdin's Stuffit compression software. Aladdin will offer Opera for download from its online store and for installation from its product CDs, the companies said. For its part, Opera will include Stuffit on the Opera CDs and promote the software in banner ads built into the browser. Opera has gained a substantial user base in recent months as an alternative to Microsoft's market-dominating Internet Explorer and to Netscape Communicator. Opera has become popular partly because it has aggressively pushed its browser into niches not covered by IE, such as mobile devices that compete with Microsoft's and the Linux operating system, which competes with Microsoft's Windows. Aladdin concentrates on a variety of platforms. To read the full story, visit ZDNet U.K. Matthew Broersma reported from London.