FYI, Opera 9 has now been release. I am using it now and it is quite fast and "smooth". You can download it from http://www.opera.com/index.dml
Opera 9 Seems To Be Good Read This Article Somewhere: Opera Browser ASA has launched the final of their highly anticipated Opera 9 release. It is available in as many as 25 languages for Windows, Mac, Linux and other platforms. The company claims that this new release would enable the users to access, share and use online content by including innovative widgets. In addition, Opera 9 also brings in support for the BitTorrent technology. Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software spoke about this new release: “For Opera 9, we worked hard to push the limits of what people expect from a Web browser, with increased speed, new Web standards support and innovative features such as widgets and BitTorrent. Even though we shaped this browser for the Web’s future, we have the powerful features people want and need for their surfing today. I truly feel Opera 9 has something for everyone.†The new update also makes it easier for web users to add their choice of search engines to the browser’s search tab. And it continues to innovate browsing with its already extensive feature set which makes internet browsing a breeze. Checkout: Opera 9
I loved the features of Operas 7.03 beta, but it became to fluffy in the 7.50 version so I switched over to firefox. Will test this tough and see if there are any good improvents.