Opera 9.5 will boast performance increases, and is more than twice as fast as version 9.2 when rendering JavaScript and HTML as well as featuring anti-malware blocking, bookmark synchronization between devices and an improved search function built into the address bar.

And coming out the same day as Firefox 3.0, Opera 9.5 sports Opera Link, offering integrated synchronization of bookmarks and other notes between multiple machines, as well as between the desktop version of the browser and Opera Mini, the edition scaled for mobile phones.

And even though it has a tiny share of the desktop browser market, Opera is the leading browser on mobile phones, including handsets such as HTC's Touch Diamond and most of Nokia's line.

Other new apps in version 9.5 include an anti-hack tool and a beefed-up address bar.

According to data from metrics firm Net Applications, Opera accounted for .07 per cent of all browsers, putting it a distant fourth after Microsoft Corp. 's Internet Explorer (73.8 per cent), Firefox (18.4 per cent) and Apple Safari (6.3 per cent).

But at the same time, Opera has grown by some 43 per cent in the last 12 months, according to Net Applications' numbers.