Opera 9 joins the party

With most of the browser buzz surrounding Microsoft’s upcoming Internet Explorer 7 and first public versions of Firefox 2.0, it’s easy to miss the launch party of a browser with the third largest market share. Opera Software today released the download of the final version of Opera 9, which still comes in a compact package (4.6 MB), but offers a range of new features.

Especially noteworthy is the integrated support for Bittorrent-based file sharing, a configurable content blocker as well a capability to fine tune certain preferences - such as pop-up or cookie blocking - to specific web sites. Opera 9 also comes with a thumbnail preview of browser tabs, a feature to customize web search and support for Opera’s widgets - web applications that run on the desktop.

Opera 9 is available as a free download for Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris.