Norway-based company Opera Software has brought its VPN feature to the masses with the release of Opera 40 desktop browser for Mac.
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“If people knew how the internet truly works, I believe they all would use a VPN”, said Krystian Kolondra, SVP of Opera browser for desktops, in a blog post.
The only real difference between Opera’s VPN and that of more traditional services, is that it only offers five locations to pick from, so it’s not quite as versatile. The addition of free, built-in VPN tool makes Opera the first internet browser to remove geo-barriers of the internet, without having to install any third-party extensions. There are plenty of VPN services out there, some of which are free, and some of which require users to pay a subscription.
“We know that people are concerned about their privacy online and that the interest for VPN is increasing”. The VPN was first unveiled back in April as a beta feature in the developer version, but now, it seems, it’s ready for prime time.
One of the benefits of using a VPN, apart from trying to skate around geofenced content, is to protect your privacy.
The browser VPN feature – powered by Opera subsidiary, SurfEasy – utilizes a secure 256-bit AES encrypted connection to the VPN virtual locations and is a no-log service, which means neither Opera nor SurfEasy will store any information about a user’s browsing history. Opera wants to address this problem by integrating built-in free and unlimited VPN in its desktop browser.
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Other new features in the updated browser include Chromecast support, automatic battery saving for unplugged laptops and support for RSS feeds with the newsreader feature. To access blocked websites, users install browser plug-ins and third-party software, and majority don’t work as efficiently as they claim.
