Didgets
Book keeps you in tune with Opera browser

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

"Opera 5.x Book: Browsing the Web with Speed and Style" (No Starch Press, May 2001, $29.95) was written by J.S. Lyster about this highly rated alternative to Netscape and Internet Explorer.

The guidebook is sold in bookstores and online (www.nostarch.com); Amazon.com has it for a discount price of $23.96. This includes the CD-ROM containing most versions of the program; the Macintosh version came out too late for the book but is available free, along with the other versions, from the software publisher's Web site (www.opera.com). However, the site balked at letting us download it. Perhaps our Mac-loving readers will have better luck.

The book will enlighten primarily the Windows users of Opera. In nearly 300 pages, it breaks down every menu, every icon, every variation for the way the Web site displays, every advantage over the "big guys." For example, Opera makes it easier to view multiple sites at once than either Netscape or IE does.

It's doubtful that many will want to spend this much time in browser study. Still, it's great to have the choice.