In a long predicted move, Norwegian based cross-platform browser Opera has announced the integration of BitTorrent support in thier upcoming version. The move is viewed as an attempt to bolster their flagging ratings in the ongoing browser wars.

Hailed as the first browser to offer tabbed viewing, an extremely popular feature of FireFox that is now planned for inclusion in IE7, the upcoming launch of Opera 9 features integrated support for BitTorrent file-sharing. In addition, it includes their version of the Mac OS X “widgets” – a means of creating customized viewing interfaces. BitTorrent is the trade mark of the company established by Bram Cohen, who first brought the bit torrent technology to file-sharing.

Thomas Ford of Opera said "People go online to do specific things and widgets allow them to get to the information they want immediately, rather than calling up Web pages...” He added "RSS feeds were just the beginning and there's a big push here at Opera into the broader Web applications space, with the browser becoming a platform for those applications."

Regarding the integration of BitTorrent, Ford said "We've had some feedback from people who ask why we're endorsing piracy of intellectual property, but we applaud what BitTorrent is doing to legitimize their service, especially since it's a file-sharing system that works so effectively." He went on to say "It's one of the most important file transfer protocols out there in terms of how it saves memory on the server side."

BitTorrent President, Ashwin Navin, declared that "By integrating the BitTorrent protocol, licensing the company's globally recognized trademark and collaborating with BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen, Opera is demonstrating leadership among Web browsers and consideration for the open source software ecosystem." Whilst the introduction of a new file-sharing protocol within a browser certainly amounts to a step forward, there are many who would liken tying this to a particular source of torrents as little better than integrating an iTunes or Napster button.

Opera was unresponsive to both Slyck's questions whether users would be restricted to only using BitTorrent.com as the source, and our invitation to comment further on their alliance with Bram Cohen’s company. However, we managed to download a copy of the technical preview (TP) version 9 which installed effortlessly on a clean PC.