Opera has certainly been in the news a lot lately. And why not, esspecially with their new Opera 8 Web browser currently being used in beta. With the final release of the Web browser scheduled for early 2005, the new browser is sure to wow folks with its inclusion of basic speach recognition skills.

Opera Software Thursday launched the beta of its next browser for Windows, temporarily dubbing the new software Opera 8.

The final, which is scheduled for release in early 2005, has not yet been given an official name, said Opera executives.

Sporting a simpler user interface — perhaps in the hopes of competing with Mozilla’s Firefox, which has blown by Opera to become the one major rival for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer — and a slew of new features, Opera 8 can be downloaded from the Oslo, Norway-based company’s Web site. Currently, the beta is available only for Windows systems.