BSI (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik), the German Federal Office for Information Security has recommended a switch away from Microsoft's Internet Explorer to alternative browsers like Opera. Earlier this year the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, made the same recommendation.

Opera is an alternative for Internet users looking for a better, faster browser packed with fresh features that provides a better Internet experience. New users will love Opera's fast, flexible browser, and will also discover Opera's radically different mail and news client, which includes many innovative and unique features to offer more intelligent mailing than other clients used today.

"All software has bugs, but there is no doubt that Microsoft's tight integration between browser and operating system, together with the implementation of technologies like ActiveX and Visual Basic, is a security hazard to all Microsoft users," says Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software ASA. "In Opera, worried Microsoft users will find better replacements for Internet Explorer and Outlook Express."

Opera 7.54 for Windows was released in German last week, and is available at www.opera.com.