Opera Software has launched a new web-based email service that includes many features from the company’s acquisition of web-based email provider Fastmail.fm. Starting today anyone with a My Opera, Opera Link or Opera Unite account will have access to an @myopera.com email address using the same user name and password through the site https://mail.opera.com/ -- and anyone who doesn't currently have an Opera account can get one from there.

The interface is really clean and has been optimized for use on any device, whether you prefer to access your email from a mobile phone, a tablet with touch interface or a desktop computer. This is the first public beta release of My Opera Mail and as such you can expect a limited feature set and the occasional bug here and there. Like most modern webmail services, My Opera Mail makes extensive use of AJAX to speed up the entire experience and also mimics Gmail by implementing a "Conversation view" where all messages in a thread are grouped together in a single page.


Overall the service seems snappy and well designed -- based on a few minutes of testing, mind you. I doubt there's much room for another competitor in the webmail market and My Opera Mail doesn't bring a lot to the table for people to switch over from another service they've probably been using for years. Then again, given the low profile launch, perhaps the goal is not to have a Gmail killer but rather expand on the features offered to Opera's smallish but loyal fan base.