Seek and You Shall Find (a new browser): Vivaldi

Vivaldi. Wow. Does the world really need another browser? Not for me to say, but it seems like there are so many browsers out there that the market has evolved into one of a niche product. 

Vivaldi is being marketed as a browser for the “power user.” You know, the person who wants to be in control of their experience and customize it to their liking. I’m not necessarily sure that type of segment exists any more. And if it does, it really narrows the scope of who Vivaldi is being marketed for, because Vivaldi boasts many features the average user is unlikely to need or even be aware of. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

What’s old is new again

Vivaldi works on Windows, OS X, and Linux (there are even .deb and .rpm downloads available for easy installation on Linux). Vivaldi is being touted as “a brand new Web browser that wants to bring back all the old features of Opera 12 and then some.”

That didn’t mean anything to me until I checked out Opera 12 and discovered that O12 was yet another browser that was being bandied about as fast, smart and unique. Vivaldi takes the Opera 12 template and looks to improve on it. Which is not that difficult as it is produced by the same group of people.

Customize, customize, customize

The big selling point of Vivaldi is customizing it the way you want it. For example, the Vivaldi web browser lets you do things your way by adapting to you and not the other way around. You prefer the browser tabs placed at the bottom or on the side of the window? You prefer a different address bar location? You can customize all your preferences be it your keyboard shortcuts, mouse gestures, appearance and so on. I’m thinking maybe you can do that with Chrome, Yahoo or MSN but it’s all about variety I guess.

What is cool is that Vivaldi allows you to take notes and add screen shots of web pages while browsing, store attachments and add URL’s to easily organize and locate it later. Seriously, it’s the one that jumped out at me. As my memory gets worse with the passage of time it’s nice to know that I can see what the heck it is I saved to my favorites.

And a whole lot more

Based on my free download I will give Vivaldi an A for effort. Like a lot of new sheriffs that ride into town, the big V is going to need time to catch on. I’m not completely enamored with it. I mean, I like Google Chrome and I even enjoy going back to Yahoo every now and again. Vivaldi for its part offers users email, bookmarks and special navigation. Not to mention multi-computer synch capabilities. There’s also a split-screen mode that I am impressed with.

According to Opera Software co-founder and former CEO Jon von Tetzchner, “The browser we once loved has changed its direction. Sadly, it is no longer serving its community of users and contributors: who helped build the browser in the first place. So we came to a natural conclusion: we must make a new browser. A browser for ourselves and for our friends. A browser that is fast, but also a browser that is rich in functionality, highly flexible and puts the user first.

Kind of like being invited to private party. I hope they have onion dip.

#Vivaldi