Long before Firefox made its mark, there was a serious alternative to the Microsoft Web browser monopoly. Opera originally existed in a paid-for version, or one with advertising splattered around the browsing window. Fortunately those days are long gone, and what's evolved is another smart, slimline browser that shouldn't be overlooked.

The latest version, Opera 9, is very savvy from the off at knowing which boxes to tick. The installation is smooth, the initial download is comparably compact and it's a smart browser to quickly get down to work with.

Its main working screen is uncluttered and it's an easy program to get around. It's even got a neat idea or two clear from the off - double arrow navigation, for instance, takes you the 'next' or 'previous' links on a page (for example, when tracking through search results pages), and there's an intriguing menu item called Widgets that just calls out to be clicked.

Widgets are Opera's way of handling small add-on programs. These might be a small applet to give you direct news feeds, little games, an on-screen ruler or calculator, that kind of thing. At the time of writing there are just over 800 to pick from, and that hints straight away at a problem that faces Opera.

Because if you contrast that with the number of extensions available for Firefox, there really is no contest. For instance, a quick check of Mozilla.com found 127 extensions for Firefox covering blogging alone, 122 for news readers and 206 dedicated to entertainment. Granted, quantity isn't everything, but there are simply far more enthusiasts dedicated to Firefox, and the rate and quality of add-ons is developing at a rate that Opera can't match.

There are further features to the browser, including the option to employ built-in BitTorrent support, but this didn't really work as well as a separate client in our view. Many will find it useful that such support is built into the browser, however, and it's feature we'd like to see developed further.

Interestingly, Opera prominently promotes the versions of its browser for mobile phones and other assorted devices (including the Nintendo DS), and you can't help feeling that, as the main desktop browser is going to struggle to find any kind of niche, these markets are where Opera will ultimately be doing the bulk of its business.

While Opera is a very good browser in its own right, though, the rug has clearly been pulled from under its proverbial feet by Firefox, which is in some respects a better and slightly more stable alternative. There's not much in it, granted, but enough to make Opera more the browser you admire and like a lot, rather than the one you actually use.