the Vivaldi browser

… continues to impress.

My last article on the subject is dated 10.aug.2017, when Vivaldi was just another new Chromium based browser in a sea of browsers based on the same engine. After having used Vivaldi up to and including ver: 3.3.2022.45, time has come to write some more about this browser. Vivaldi has really grown over the years, and has turned into something quite unique.

By now this capable piece of software has taken the place as main browser on my devices, and has served me well over the last couple of years. Chances are Vivaldi will keep the lead position for the foreseeable future, based mainly on how its interface and options work for me.
In the “privacy” and “security” departments Vivaldi is as close to perfect for the job as they come these days, which is very much appreciated at my end.

others have noticed too…

Vivaldi bucks the browser trend by absolutely stuffing in features and customization options that power users will love. — Forbes: Google Chrome: Three Rival Browsers That Put It To Shame

Couldn't have said it better myself. I have found Vivaldi to fit the bill better than any of the other browsers I have tested in later years, and being stuffed with options most certainly hasn't hurt its standing.
In daily use Vivaldi reminds me quite a bit of the discontinued Opera on Presto, which isn't surprising since the CEO behind Vivaldi was behind Opera too back when that browser worked its way past the pack.

By now Vivaldi is so customizable that it for the most part satisfy all my needs in a browser, and the team behind it keeps on developing and adding potentially useful options to it. Makes it easy to stick with it, and see where it goes.

Pity some browsers have no choice but to sail under “false flags” to avoid being blocked/locked out from sites that have unjust and unfounded browser preferences built in. Browser sniffing does no good these days…

NB: some browsers have userAgent strings which identify them as other browsers: examples are Brave (all versions) & Vivaldi (version 2.10+). Browser News

relaxed on the subject…

I am pretty relaxed about what browser to use, as long as it fulfills my needs and does not force me to do things in ways that do not suit me. I have my habits, and need a whole bunch of seriously good reasons if I am to change any of them.

Being insensitive to trends as well as trendsetters, “brand names” and “popularity” are totally irrelevant parameters when I'm in search of software and/or hardware for my own use.

With Vivaldi it is “so far so good” in nearly all departments, and that will do for me until it's no longer true. Not many browsers have come that far over the years, and only a selected few have stayed there for long.

sincerely georg; sign

Hageland 15.sep.2020
last rev: 15.sep.2020

too many browsers on the market?

I see no problem in having quite a few more browsers coming up from behind, as some of the older ones seem to have settled and are not bringing much new to the table as they continue to release new versions with minor bugfixes.

There are so many factors at play that there most likely won't ever be a single “best” browser – or any other complex piece of software, at least not for more than a short while until the others catch up and pass. But, as long as vendors keep competing and pushing each other, we, the users, will be the winners. When they stagnate we lose.

we're all surfing…

Everyone who have ever surfed the web with a graphic browser, can handle Vivaldi. Despite its many options it is as easy and intuitive as any other browser.
Extensions? What do you need? screenshot 1

Expect most extensions to be superfluous since Vivaldi has their functionality built in.

Repeating what is presented on the Vivaldi site is not my style, so I'll just advice anyone in need of a browser for power users, or who are just curious, to go check it out.

Screenshot shows Vivaldi on my main laptop, with lots of on-line and local tabs open.
Typical situation at my end, as I write this article while checking up on news, weather, social sites, and read through a dozen or so articles on various subjects of interest that I ran into earlier. I have yet to overload or slow it significantly down by having too many tabs and tab-stacks open.

web design…

In this department Vivaldi fits right in with my routines, whether it is design experimentation, or writing articles like this. Smooth transitions to and from the very basic tools I use to create and manipulate code and graphics, to evaluation of design details on and off line.

Rendering differences are not much of an issue since so many browsers are built around the Chromium rendering engine.

They share the same bugs and weaknesses, deviating only some by which version of Chromium, and other basic software, each browser has been updated to run on/with at any given time.
Over time the spread may become wider, as not all future additions and upgrades of the Chromium engine developed by one team may be adopted by all the other teams.