Opera 7.03 marks momentum in higher education

Top Universities Changing to Opera’s Internet Experience

Oslo, Norway – March 13, 2003

Launched at EDUCAUSE on Oct. 1, 2002, the Opera for Higher Education Program, enabling schools to register multiple licenses at a fraction of the regular price, has become a success for Opera Software. Universities are signing up at an impressive rate, with some of the world’s most renowned institutions for higher learning leading the pack. With the improved language support in Opera 7.03 for Windows released today, they can look forward to numerous language version releases in the weeks to come, with German and Japanese out today.

Some of Opera’s more well-known educational partners now include The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center, the University of Illinois in the United States; the University Of Darmstad and the University of Cologne, both in Germany; and the University of Cardiff, Wales.

The recent deployment of over 40,000 licenses by the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign proves that “Opera’s reception in the educational community has been absolutely fabulous,” says Mary Lambert, product line manager desktop. “Many institutions are relieved to finally be able to deploy a good browser alternative campus-wide.”

Opera’s cross-platform availability and host of accessibility features, combined with strong IMAP support, a pop-up killer, and support for multiple users provides Opera with strong competitive advantages. In addition to supporting all the necessary Web technologies, Opera has also incorporated increased support for major e- learning solutions in Opera 7. Opera 7.03 for Windows released today strengthens the language support in Opera 7.

Opera is available for free in an ad-supported version, but universities and colleges can register and enjoy the browser ad-free for as little as USD 1 per license compared to the USD 39 regular license price. Since its inception, Opera has offered students licenses for a specially discounted USD 20 price when they register the browser for their own personal use.

Universities interested in the Opera for Higher Education program, can click to Opera Higher Education Program or just e-mail education@opera.com directly for more information.