So it seems like the rumours were actually right after all and not as wrong as I thought It’s good that Opera has bought itself into line with all other major browsers by being free and ad-free. I strongly recommend anyone using Opera 8.0 upgrades to 8.5 as 8.0 can be considered adware (shows adverts) and spyware (sends Google the URL of every page you visit)

Opera 8.5 Changelog – seems like there isn’t much more than removal of adverts, security patches and the addition of a Greasemonkey-like feature. I presume it also identifies as Opera by default now.

Download it at the new Apple-esque Opera homepage.