OStatic

Though the Opera browser isn't open source, it's free and its new server-in-a-browser feature, Unite, is really making significant inroads toward online collaboration. If Chrome and Firefox are to keep their edge over Opera, their development teams had better sit up and take notice.

Opera's Unite technology lets users run chat rooms, host Web sites, and share files that even people not using Opera can access. The interaction is all done via a central Opera Unite server ? Opera Unite uses a proxy between the server and its clients (found at operaunite.com) to avoid the need for any special firewall configuration, writes the development team. Unite launched today with six features but is calling on the Opera community to design and create any new services they'd like to see available.

Read on to have a look at what Opera unite can already do and why Google and Mozilla haven't cornered the market on browsers just yet.

With Google Chrome nipping at the heels of other open source browsers, it's not surprising to see developers ramping up efforts to get a new version of Opera out the door. Version 10.00 Beta 1 of Opera was released last week with a bunch of nifty new features, upgrades, and performance improvements. Though Opera is most notable for its snappy mobile browser, its new desktop version is nothing to sneeze at.

After months of waiting, Linux (and Mac) users woke to the happy news this morning that Google is inching ever closer to a usable version of its Chrome Web browser for Linux. Usable is the keyword here because the new developer version Google released last night is anything but. At least it gives us a peek, though, at what to expect when the much-anticipated browser is finally ready for prime time.?

The Flock browser is one of those things you either get right away or scratch your head and wonder why anyone would use it. It's not as visually clean as other browsers, but if you're steeped in social media or crazy about Flickr and YouTube then you'll love Flock the second you fire it up. It's also just the answer if you're tired of juggling dozens of apps, tabs, or windows to keep track of what's happening on Twitter and Facebook while watching a video of a cat playing piano and flipping through pictures of penguins.