Aladdin gives Opera a ride

Opera Software has struck a deal with Aladdin Systems to boost distribution of Opera's browser and Aladdin's Stuffit compression software. Opera has gained a substantial user base in recent months as an alternative to Microsoft's market-dominating Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator, which some feel has stagnated since it was bought by AOL in late 1998.

Aladdin will offer Opera for download from its online store and for installation from its product CDs, the companies said. For its part, Opera will include Stuffit on the Opera CDs and promote the software in banner ads built into the browser.

Opera has become popular in part because it has aggressively pushed its browser into niches not covered by Internet Explorer, such as mobile devices that compete with Microsoft's and the Linux operating system, which competes with Microsoft's Windows. Aladdin also concentrates on a variety of platforms.

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