Opera became the browser power users and mobile pioneers reached for when IEInternet Explorer — Microsoft's browser that dominated the web in the 1990s and 2000s. and NetscapeA commercial web browser company — Navigator defined the early consumer web. felt bloated. It pioneered features later copied everywhere: tabbed browsing, mouse gestures, built-in pop-up blocking, and a small install size for slow connections and early smartphones.

Opera proved independent browsers could survive and innovate outside the NetscapeA commercial web browser company — Navigator defined the early consumer web.–MicrosoftThe software giant behind Windows, Office, Azure, and Xbox — founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. duopoly.

Its experiments with tabs, compression, and mobile browsing influenced SafariApple's web browser — built on WebKit for macOS, iOS, and iPadOS., FirefoxMozilla's open-source browser — championed web standards and challenged Internet Explorer's dominance., and ChromeGoogle's web browser — built on Chromium and the most widely used browser worldwide..