Opera introduces Bundled VPN - an Overview
Using VPNs has been the necessity of the hour these days. They help you shield your browsing details from your WiFi hotspot provider, or your ISP. It could be much helpful when you are dealing with sensitive information. But, then again – choosing a good VPN service provider can be another pain in the neck. It would be a good idea if your browser itself provides you the VPN services. That is exactly what Opera has done. It offers you a bundled VPN service. More on that in the following paragraphs.
VPNs or Virtual Private Networks are used to hide your location. Though we may say, the VPNs let you have enhanced privacy – yet the basic reason we all use VPNs is to bypass the content restrictions. Many websites serve content based on geographical location of the visitor. To view the content that is not meant for your location, you always have used VPNs. To achieve this, you have so far installed third party VPN Clients or had to opt for a specific browser that has this feature built within it. We never saw this option in any mainstream browsers so far. Opera has decided to change all that.
Yes, you heard it right! Opera is offering the VPN service built within its browser. Let us get into the finer details in this article. What is the free VPN on Opera?
The option of toggling to a VPN has been made available on the developer version of the Opera Browser. The latest Opera Developer version 38 comes with a native support for VPN.
Opera Software had acquired the VPN service, SurfEasy in March last. It has now built the service within its browser. The bundled VPN service will let your browsing sessions on public WiFi be safer. It will also let you bypass the restrictions imposed on certain services by the local governments. Once you enable it, it will assign a Virtual IP address to your connection and thus your browsing will remain difficult to track. How to enable the VPN service on Opera?
Well, the best part with the bundled VPN on Opera is it's free availability. Most of the VPN clients currently available are subscription based. Of course, they come with free variants, but those free versions stay quite limited with the functionality.
That would not be the case with the offering from Opera. It does not need any software to be downloaded. Nor does it need any setup or configuration. You just hit a toggle switch, and you are good to go. But yes, you have to enable it from within the browser to start with.
To enable it, you need to follow the below mentioned steps - 
That does it, you have successfully enabled the free VPN service on your Opera browser.
The above procedure is for Windows and Linux based systems. If you are on Mac, follow the steps below –
Once the VPN service is enabled, you will get a button on the address field of your browser. Clicking on it will let you choose your location. The button will also let you check whether your virtual IP address is exposed to a third party. The service lets you choose between only four locations as of now – US, Canada, the Netherlands and Germany, More locations will be available once the service comes out of beta.
The bundled VPN service free and unlimited. You need not worry once you enable the service on your browser.
Like Krystian Kolondra, SVP, Opera says, " Users want to be anonymous, they want privacy from ads, there are a lot of reasons why they should be using a VPN….. no additional download or extensions from an unknown third-party provider are necessary"
We are well aware of the fact that you can set up a VPN of your own using your favourite service provider. But, that is what only a few advanced users are able to achieve. For a person who has not much of an expertise in the complex procedure involved in setting up the VPNs, Opera's offering is indeed a great blessing in disguise. The service is bundled within the browser which will not need any administrative rights on your PC. The out of the box nature of the service makes it equally suitable for both novices and advanced users alike. 
It offers you a wide range of benefits that can be enlisted as below - Future Plans
Well, Opera seems to have many plans in place to make it a success with smartphones as well. However, the ecosystem on a smartphone is completely different from the one on a PC or laptop. Most of the internet activity on your PC happens on your browser. So, using a browser bundled VPN will suffice most of the requirements of a secure VPN. On a mobile phone, you have several apps installed which have access to internet on their own. Thus, the Opera browsers on smartphones will not have VPN bundled into them.
Instead, Opera has planned an Opera VPN App for smartphones. Kolondra says, " Opera VPN application… which will take care of all of your apps…. so it makes sense to protect everything with the VPN"
The feature of bundled VPN will be available only through the Developer version of the Opera browser right now. The supported locations currently are Canada, US, the Netherlands and Germany. More locations have been planned and will be in place soon. The feature which is currently in beta, will be released on the regular stable version of Opera browser once it comes out of beta. The feature can now be enabled from Settings menu where it is somewhat hidden. Once available on the stable version, you may be able to see it as a One Click option like the Opera Turbo under Opera menu.And finally….
There are many reasons you would wish to use a VPN service. Opera should be hailed for thinking ahead of the competitors. In fact, it has always been ahead of its times. Bundled VPN will be much helpful for those who want secure browsing with least efforts. If you are one of them, you can go and download the latest version of Developer variant of the Opera browser and enjoy the benefits of the free VPN.
Download link: https://www.opera.com/developer
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