Vivaldi browser for Windows 10 - yay or nay?

Self | 5/7/2021 | Self

[CatOwner]

Been using Firefox since v0.8. I was using Opera as a backup browser, but since the *forced* upgrade to Windows 10 20H2, I've noted a background process for Opera that I cannot disable. At least permanently. I find it annoying the number of "assistant" startup processes being forced by applications in Windows 10. Oh sure, you can try and disable them, but they just come back.

[CatOwner]

For this and other reasons, I want to replace Opera with Vivaldi as my backup browser and maybe to replace Firefox. I attempted to use Brave recently, but like in the past, I get annoyed with its interface. I don't know why. The fact that I couldn't remove "Crypto Wallet" from the Brave menu bar pissed me off. So, I was curious what Freepers thought of Vivaldi.

[Fai Mao]

Get the Dissenter version of Brave from Gab.com It has the crypto wallet stuff removed.

[sauropod]

I like Brave. It’s a good browser.

[Bikkuri]

Opera is owned and run by China...

[Viking2002]

Go into msconfig.exe and disable Opera in your startup processes. That’ll shut it up.

[UnwashedPeasant]

I like Brave, but I think the built-in ad blocker sometimes stops pages from loading right.

[vpintheak]

BRAVE.

[TChad]

Vivaldi vs. FF:

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/vivaldi-vs-firefox-a-users-perspective/

[TomGuy]

I have been using Vivaldi on Win7 and Linux for a while. I like that it allows showing multiple windows.

It does seem to have a problem of ‘growing’ the longer it is open. Closing tabs seems to only close them cosmetically; they seem to still be open in the background until the browser is closed.

Otherwise, I like it.

[CatOwner]

Opera is owned and run by China...

Another reason to drop Opera. Thankfully, I don't use Opera for critical account logins. It is usually for webpages that for one reason or another Firefox barks at.

[stylin19a]

been using it for a long time. It’s owned by the original Opera guys...which I used even longer until they went chromium and sold to the Chinese.

I has the look and feel of old Opera...it also is a chromium based browser

What I don’t like is, when you close the last tab it shuts down rather go to a speed dial page or home page.
(They may have fixed that, I don’t know)
I am using some extension or app that takes it back to the speed dial page.

I started using Opera again as a backup browser - seems really fast.

[CatOwner]

At least until the next update. And even then, it will sometimes magically turn itself back on. And if the Opera Assistant keeps getting turned back on, what else is there in the background with it? As I said, I don’t do critical account logins with the backup browser.

[Cedar]

I still use Windows 7 on one computer, wired to my secured router. Do you think 7 is pretty safe even though Microsoft dropped support?

[CatOwner]

What I don’t like is, when you close the last tab it shuts down rather go to a speed dial page or home page.

Given how I have Firefox set up, it does the same thing, so not a show-stopper for me.

I do like the interface with Opera. I just think some activity is happening in the background with that browser, regardless of "disabling" assistant processes.

[Dr. Sivana]

I have used Vivaldi. I like it because it allows using a real menu bar instead of a hamburger.

[TomGuy]

Do you think 7 is pretty safe even though Microsoft dropped support?

I still use Win7 on both laptop and desktop. I will continue until the machines die. I have Win10 on a tablet and hate it.

I have another laptop and have been using Linux Mint Cinnamon -- just upgraded to 20.1. I am liking it more and more.

I do tend to visit the same set of websites and have never had a problem with security issues.

[TomGuy]

What I don’t like is, when you close the last tab it shuts down rather go to a speed dial page or home page.

Vivaldi allows you to select keeping the window (browser) open when the last tab is closed. It is under Settings >> Tabs >> Tab Handling.

[stylin19a]

>>What I don’t like is, when you close the last tab it shuts down rather go to a speed dial page or home page.
(They may have fixed that, I don’t know)<<

They did fix it to what looks like an option: "keep window open when last tab is closed"

I haven't played with all the options...
good luck

[Cedar]

Thanks, I really like Windows 7.

[daniel1212]

Along with up-to-date browsers like Vivaldi (you can hack it to get multiple tab rows ) and Firefox Quantum portable (so you can also use legacy Firefox and Waterfox classic (most FF legacy extns work) then I use two profiles of Firefox ESR 59.

For unlike legacy Firefox ESR 59.9 with Tab Mix Plus and a few other extensions. which enabled more key customization than the whole of Edge, which the below critique is aimed at, other browsers of the engines suffer from missing most of the following features that legacy Firefox with extensions provided, such as, :

1. You cannot make it show multiple tab rows (though besides Vivaldi you can with
   Quantum but it takes one [1]of the hacks. And unless the latter is a portable version, it cannot run concurrently with FF ESR since it will basically take it over).

2. You cannot adjust max or min tab width. And the more you open the thinner they get, and all look the same. (except the active tab has an close

3. You cannot close a non-active tab by just placing your cursor on it the top right
   to get a X to click on (so unless you activate it, you need to R. click on it and hit close tab).

4. You cannot enable different colored tabs as with the legacy Colorful Tabs extension (NOT the one in Quantum).
   

5. You cannot choose to open links in other installed browsers via right click.

6. You cannot toggle btwn the most recently accessed tabs using the Ctrl+Tab switch (and its Alt+Tab alternative messes up switching btwn applications).

7. Edge has a very poor spell checker and the dictionary is hard to find in the drive even if you could edit it (as you can with that of Firefox).

8. You cannot create more than one profile (as far as i know).

9. I know no extension that saves your text box posts such as this, like the Lazarus legacy FF extension did/does.

10. MS does not make it easy to set another browser as the default one for all html documents and links (details too long for here).

11. There is no option to keep the Find/Search bar open across tabs (handy in searches), meaning you need to do the search new for every tab.

12. There is no option via right click on a tab to choose “Copy link.”

Since MS writes the software for Windows, than it ought to be able to create a real "utility truck" browser - and which I am sure would become a classic for "power users" - rather than just another minimalist Chrome clone.

However, although using the same engine as Chrome Vivaldi has more options,