Cast your mind back to the mid-2000s (if you can). You might have browsed the web using Internet Explorer, the precursor to Microsoft Edge, or Mozilla Firefox, or maybe even an early version of Apple’s Safari. There was also a slim chance you used Opera, the browser developed by the Norwegian company of the same name. Like Firefox, Opera has continued to exist in the years since – in fact, it’s just a few months shy of its 30th anniversary – but its mainstream presence waned in the age of Safari-Chrome domination.

Instead of attempting to topple the big two with more of the same, Opera has spent more effort in recent years focusing on special interest audiences, such as its highly customisable browser called Opera GX geared towards gaming and esports. Now, the company has launched Opera Air – nothing to do with Macbooks, though it’s available on both Mac and PC. It has been described as ‘the first browser with mindfulness at its core’, which might sound like another niche USP if it weren’t for the fact that its potential customer base of frazzled, perennially online users is enormous.

“We saw that people are spending more time on their computers, and while this is supposed to make people more productive, it can also add to the many distractions around them,” Opera’s senior director of product, Mohamed Salah Mourad, tells CR. “Once we realised this, we started to look for ways to bring some calm back into our digital lives and make people feel better while they’re browsing the web.