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The latest version of the Opera web browser has emerged from beta, bringing BitTorrent support, RSS feedreading, content blocking, widgets, and tab previews to its millions of users.

Users of the Opera browser have enjoyed a few features that just haven't made it into Microsoft's Internet Explorer until recently.

Tabbed browsing? Opera has had that for a while, and now includes tab previews triggered by mousing over the tab to view a small snapshot of the page.

Feedreader support? Opera has one built in, and very effectively updates feeds while allowing for new ones to be added and other removed as needed.

Content blocking, BitTorrent functionality, and gesture and voice support for the browser all come in Opera. Firefox can block content and provide BitTorrent access as well, but requires extensions to do so while Opera offers them natively.

Using Opera also allows the user to chuckle heartily at IE security alerts. Opera has likely benefited from security through obscurity, as the Mac operating system has done so for a long time. But having conversed with one of Opera's excellent engineers as well as CEO Jon S. von Tetzchner, it's hard to imagine any future issue with Opera lasting for very long.

Security figures prominently in Opera's browser. Popup blocking and the security bar in Opera help mitigate a lot of the existing threats on the Internet. Von Tetzchner said in a statement that Opera had "worked hard to push the limits of what people expect from a Web browser."

Opera definitely merits attention from Internet users. On Windows, Opera is a small 6.2MB download, installs quickly, and speeds along like a downhill skier. It's worth anyone's look, with a price point of free and support for Mac, Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, and other systems available.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.