Webware 100 winner: Opera

Site: Opera.com
Category: Browsing

Opera is one of the oldest browsers on the market. It's also made its way into all sorts of consumer electronics, including mobile phones, gaming portables, and even home video game consoles. Opera has combined many technological services into its desktop Web browser and is commonly regarded as the first to implement tabs for viewing multiple Web pages in the same window.

Opera also has a built-in BitTorrent client. Users who want to partake in the peer-to-peer file-sharing technology can do so while continuing their other browsing habits. There's also Speed Dial that gives people the chance to list as many as nine of their favorite sites, which show up as preview thumbnails on their browser's start page. Clicking them goes right to the site. It's essentially a page full of bookmarks, but it's quite pretty.

Opera's latest version includes an improved built-in mail client, as well as a new service called Opera Link that syncs up your bookmarks between your computer and your mobile phone without the need to use a third-party bookmarking service.