I am using the free version. Would it be worth it to upgrade to the one without ads? What other additional features are there? Thanks.
No other options. Just gets rid of the banner ad.
The banner ads don’t bother me so much. I pay the $39 because I love the browser.
Before spending the money, I’d make sure I can’t get the same functionality from Mozilla (www.mozilla.org), which is completely free. I’ve heard everything Opera does can be done with Mozilla, as long as you install the proper extensions.
You should look at plain old Netscape 7.1 at:
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp
(big download so you need a highspeed connection or two bucks for the CD).
It’s free and has no ads. Also has a foolproof pop-up blocker (haven’t seen one since I installed it), decent spam filter (gets about 90%), and an adequate email program built in.
You know…all that stuff that IE doesn’t have. 
FYI, Netscape 7.1 was based on Mozilla 1.4. Mozilla now is at version 1.6, so it has more features/bug fixes.
Firebird and Mozilla, with extensions, do have the same features as Opera. I know this is hard for people to believe, but even though the Mozilla browsers have incorporated or mimiced all of Opera’s features, some people like Opera enough to pay for it.
There is something smoother about Opera. The Mozilla browsers are good. I don’t deny that. But there is something smoother about Opera and it’s skins.
So, even though the same features are in Mozilla browsers and even though some sites don’t display correctly when using Opera and even though the other browsers are free - even though all that is true I am still willing to pay $39 for Opera.
What I’m saying is it ain’t all about the funcitonality, Revtim. I’ve used Mozilla browsers. I like them. I’ve used Opera. Love, love, love my Opera browser.
See the difference?
So, freakstasy, if you like Opera enough to keep using it even though the paid option has no special extra features and there are several (free) options that provide the same functionality, you might think about supporting Opera with your $39 payment. Or keep using the free version if the ads don’t bother you and you don’t have the $39 to spare.
I’ve been using Opera for some time now and I like it pretty well. I used to love it, but lately, it’ll be loading a page and then, out of the blue, I get a pop-up that says there’s been some kind of error and that Opera will have to be closed. You know the one, where asks you if you want to send a report to Microsoft or not (although Opera is not a Microsoft product, which was a big part of its initial appeal to me).
I like Mozilla’s Firefox (née Firebird) browser and it seems to me that it’s noticeably faster than any other browser I’ve used, even Opera.
The one thing that keeps me from just uninstalling Opera and using Firebird exclusively is that you can have several tabbed pages open in Opera, close the program, and turn off your computer and the next time you open Opera, it has saved all of your pages just as if you’d never closed it. As far as I can tell, Firebird can’t do that. If it can or if another Mozilla browser can, will somebody please let me know?
As far as paying for Opera, it does get rid of the ad banner, which increases your viewing space in the browser window. If you have a smaller screen, that might be an advantage.
It can with this extension.