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The most intriguing feature of the new release is the low bandwidth mode for Opera Mail, which will ensure IMAP users only download new messages, removing attachments unless otherwise specified.

POP users, meanwhile, will only see the first 100 lines of new emails messages. The feature is designed to appeal to people on heavily throttled or slow connections.

Opera mail now also features a handy Follow/Ignore feature, which allows you to blacklist certain contacts so their emails are never downloaded, but also specify important contacts to their emails are highlighted when they arrive.

RSS feeds can now be previewed before users subscribe to them, while the Opera Link feature has been bolstered to synch search engine preferences and notes across multiple versions of the browser on different machines.

As usual, Opera claims the latest version of the browser is more responsive than its predecessor.

Opera 9.6 is available here on PC, Mac and Linux.