Tested: Five Web browsers you've never heard of

Version tested: 10 beta 2
Operating systems: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
Javascript benchmark: 3,817ms (Average)
Acid3 results: 100/100
Homepage: http://www.opera.com

You didn't think we'd let Opera off the hook did you? A whopping zero per cent of you use Opera to browse CNET UK (no really -- our internal stats told us so), which makes it as much an underdog as the rest, even if you might have at least heard of it (a version of it's on your Wii after all, and maybe your DSi and your smartphone, too).

Having said that, it's the best underdog by about, oh we don't know, maybe a thousand miles? Opera 10 has some useful features, such as a tabbed-browsing mode that uses Web-page thumbnails instead of text, and Opera Turbo, which compresses pages before sending them down your Interweb pipe, making slow connections feel significantly faster. And it's features like these that set Opera apart from every other browser in this feature.

It's also neat for syncing up bookmarks between home, work and laptop computers. Opera Link is a feature that keeps a central record of bookmarks you make as you browse. So, if you add CNET UK's excellent forums to your favourites at work, it'll be right there in your favourites on your computer at home. (The X-marks add-on for Firefox does the same job.)

It's reasonably fast, well-designed and pleasant to use, and to quote our previous definitive review: "It's a much better browser than Internet Explorer, and we're considering it an essential install on our laptops for times when connections are flaky and painfully slow. And that, ladies and gents, is an achievement no other browser has yet garnered."

'Nuff said. But if 'nuff hasn't been said for you, don't miss our complete, detailed feature about Opera 10 to learn about a bunch of other features we didn't have time to mention here.