Question about Opera

Do you have to pay for Opera? I see that there are free downloads available at their website, but there is also a "buy" section. Is it a trial download?

the free version has a small ad across the top.

I used to use opera 7, then went to firefox 1.0, and now I'm using Opera 8 Beta because it's quite a bit faster than the other two.

Is the ad just pimping the browser or is it a rotating type ad? Just curious, because I saw a recent review on many of the latest browsers and I see that the Opera 8 beta1 is pretty fast like you are saying, and I am thinking of trying it out instead of FF.

uh i don't know.... I only saw it for about 30 seconds before I registered it, so I don't remember how big it was. Just download it and see if its annoying, or if it's good enough to pay for.

Sweet, thanks. Last question for you, I see this in the buy page of their website:

Opera 7 for Desktop
Makes the Web work for You

One license is valid for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP,
Mac, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, OS/2 and Psion.

Opera 7 includes a FREE upgrade to the next Opera version!

Price: USD 39

I guess you bought Opera 7 and you will get the official Opera 8 for free, or do they count the Opera 8 beta as the next version?

I think both versions use the same registration key.

Thanks!