Opera Software released a test update to its Web browser for Windows and Linux, and pledged to continue developing its Mac version.

The Oslo, Norway-based company, which commands only a sliver of market share but has gained some prominence for surviving first Netscape's and then Microsoft's stranglehold on the market, released a test, or beta, version of Opera 7.1 with new features that it said would speed surfing and ease customization.

Opera typically releases its Mac version separately and later than its other browsers, but this time the delay was ominous to Mac users.

That's because in January, after Apple computer released a beta version of its own browser, Safari, Opera threatened to halt development of its Mac product and urged Apple to prevent that cessation by licensing Opera's code. Apple on Monday updated its test version of Safari.

"The Mac platform may not be viable for us any longer," said Jon von Tetzchner, chief executive of privately held Opera, at the time.

Apple subsequently characterized Opera's remarks as "sour grapes."

Tetzchner on Monday said Opera had decided to stick with the Mac after all, citing new ease of development for multiple platforms with the company's rewritten browser code base, and what he called market demand for the Mac product.

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