Opera, a Norwegian firm, makes browsers for devices ranging from the PC to mobile phones and games consoles. It released an incremental version, 9.6, for the desktop last Wednesday, prompting a million downloads in a day. Version 10 will be more significant, according to the company's web evangelist, Bruce Lawson.

Speaking to ZDNet.co.uk on Monday, Lawson said Opera 9.6 had performance improvements, but conceded that many users, especially of Apple, found the browser unpleasant on the eye.

"There's been a lot of criticism from some quarters that Opera on the desktop looks a bit shite, especially on the Mac," Lawson said. "I personally feel it feels busier than it is. [In Opera 10] the whole look and feel are being seen to — it's what our customers are looking for. If we want it to be a tool, it's got to be pleasing to work with."

Lawson said the firm had hired the British designer Jon Hicks to rework Opera's user interface and "make it look prettier". Hicks is best known for having created the Firefox logo.

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