Opera Gives Away Browser to Schools

Citing the need for secure browsing in educational institutions, Opera Software has announced that it will give away licenses for its flagship browser to universities. The effort is designed to help schools move away from Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which has been plagued with a constant stream of vulnerabilities.

Opera says it can fully customize its browser for a school's needs, including using the school colors and mascot in the interface. Schools can also insert news and other announcements in the browser's communication banner.

"Opera is the ideal browser for the university environment," said Opera Software CEO Jon von Tetzchner. "Opera's user-friendly features, accessibility options for the disabled, and cross-platform and customization capabilities make life easier for students to manage their various study needs."

Some universities, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard and Oxford University have already provided Opera for their students. Opera faces added competition now that many schools have begun promoting Mozilla based Firefox, already free for all users, to their students.

Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox says that Opera's new approach is a good way to get in the door. "The security hook is a smart marketing gimmick for high ed, where students might not exercise the safest surfing habits."

"At the same time, extended features like RSS and IRC make lots of sense for students," Wilcox told BetaNews. "And what they get for free today they might pay for tomorrow. Internet Explorer or Firefox may be giveaways, but Opera runs a you-get-what-you-pay-for operation."