Author Topic: Vivaldi, the new Web browser for power users (Read 47185 times)

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #25 on:** March 16, 2015, 12:05 PM »

I just glanced at it ... still too minimalist. It's rapidly becoming for me that Palemoon is the browser to beat, and once you have something that works, other newcomers stack against it.

Renegade · « **Reply #26 on:** March 16, 2015, 06:56 PM »

I just glanced at it ... still too minimalist. It's rapidly becoming for me that Palemoon is the browser to beat, and once you have something that works, other newcomers stack against it.
-TaoPhoenix (March 16, 2015, 12:05 PM)

How is Palemoon for CPU usage? I find that Firefox is simply a CPU hog and untenable for me, so I only use it very rarely.

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #27 on:** March 16, 2015, 07:18 PM »

I just glanced at it ... still too minimalist. It's rapidly becoming for me that Palemoon is the browser to beat, and once you have something that works, other newcomers stack against it.
-TaoPhoenix (March 16, 2015, 12:05 PM)

How is Palemoon for CPU usage? I find that Firefox is simply a CPU hog and untenable for me, so I only use it very rarely.
-Renegade (March 16, 2015, 06:56 PM)

Heh just for you Renny, I'll put a little rhetorical spin on this one!

By using Trandesk (Only at DonationCoder.com!) as an example of a desktop splitter, I have Task Manager permanently running with that little green CPU usage indicator.

In horribly unscientific fashion, I can't do cross browser tests because the other ones are all tainted with that hijacker thing and I can't bring myself to do the work to ferret it out.

Meanwhile, back under the Pale Moon light, (which was the only browser that didn't get eaten by that thing!), an important case is if you browse flash streamer sites because then it does get dragged down by plugin container and related stuff.

Meanwhile the rest of the time it doesn't seem to use too much, except erratically when scrolling some pages. I think some of that can be mitigated the more blockers you have, but it's not clear.

Mouser, maybe you want to split this off and do a Pale Moon thread?

Then Renny you can give me a couple of sites that are among the reasons you don't like "FF Branded" and I can review them. When it's not annoying Skwire, my machine is just middle line 1st gen Kentsfield quad core with 2Gb ram, aka not a gaming screamer to skew the results.

(What? You think my DeLorean with a flux capacitor is what's making it so fast?! hehe)

allen · « **Reply #28 on:** May 28, 2015, 09:51 PM »

...Vivaldi is getting better. Still not my main browser, but it's fairly usable; perhaps even promising. Not entirely intuitive but it's possible to install Chrome extensions. That helps.

Deozaan · « **Reply #29 on:** May 28, 2015, 11:31 PM »

I remember when Chrome first came out, I wasn't very impressed by it. But after a while it showed significant improvement and I gradually made the shift from Firefox to Chrome as my primary browser.

Back when Google Chrome launched, I downloaded the beta, played with it for a few minutes and promptly uninstalled it. Dismissing it as pointless and redundant (not to mention not nearly as good as Firefox).

Recently I found out my brother uses Chrome and I asked him why and he mentioned a couple of things that got me interested in trying it again: It launches faster than Firefox and each tab runs in its own process so if one tab crashes it doesn't bring down the entire browser.
-Deozaan (July 14, 2009, 08:35 PM)

Maybe Vivaldi will follow a similar pattern.

allen · « **Reply #30 on:** May 29, 2015, 08:35 AM »

I remember when Chrome first came out, I wasn't very impressed by it. But after a while it showed significant improvement and I gradually made the shift from Firefox to Chrome as my primary browser.

Maybe Vivaldi will follow a similar pattern.
-Deozaan (May 28, 2015, 11:31 PM)

I had a pretty similar experience with Chrome. Vivaldi also has its roots in old Opera going for it.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #31 on:** June 05, 2015, 02:08 PM »

Speaking of Chrome.. I'm trying out the 64 bit version now. Loading FastDial etc..

So far it seems fairly spiffy.

xtabber · « **Reply #32 on:** April 06, 2016, 10:25 AM »

Vivaldi seems to have finally emerged from beta today with Vivaldi.1.0.435.40.

It has some nice features, but is missing some very important ones. Among other things, it provides almost no privacy options beyond clearing cookies. Unlike the Chromium based Opera browser, there is no setting to clear cookies on exit or any means for managing cookie policy exceptions by site. That makes it a non-starter for me.

Update: the Vanilla Cookie Manager extension (from the Chrome store) provides the functionality I need for managing cookies on a site specific basis, although it doesn't clear automatically on exiting the browser.

nite_monkey · « **Reply #33 on:** April 06, 2016, 08:27 PM »

I just installed it, and for me, it isn't usable. I have three monitors, and like to drag a tab from one monitor to the next. In Chrome, FF, and IE, I could have multiple tabs open in one browser window, and then drag one of those tabs to another monitor, and it would just move over there. with Vivaldi, the only way I have found that I can drag a tab to one of my other monitors, is by right clicking on it, and selecting move to new windows. However, when I do that, it reloads the tab. This isn't not good when I am watching a Youtube video, and want to move it to a different monitor so that I can have the video play in the background and focus on something else, because it will just restart the video.

Edvard · « **Reply #34 on:** April 09, 2016, 03:30 PM »

Well, I must say that opening the thing is much faster. The Vivaldi beta took forever to open. Also, it looks like they removed the 'Email' link from the left-hand toolbar. I wonder if they're abandoning the browser+email approach that made Opera unique, or if they figure most email is browser-based anyway, so...

It has some nice features, but is missing some very important ones. Among other things, it provides almost no privacy options beyond clearing cookies. Unlike the Chromium based Opera browser, there is no setting to clear cookies on exit or any means for managing cookie policy exceptions by site.
-xtabber (April 06, 2016, 10:25 AM)

Lack of policy exceptions per site is rather annoying, but if enough users poke at the devs with requests for it, I bet it will happen. Clearing cookies on exit: it looks like there's a setting for 'Accept Cookies -> Session Only'. I tried it, and it works as it says, just don't leave the setting to open tabs from your last session, or you'll get back all the cookies from the last site you were at.

with Vivaldi, the only way I have found that I can drag a tab to one of my other monitors, is by right clicking on it, and selecting move to new windows. However, when I do that, it reloads the tab. This isn't not good
-nite_monkey (April 06, 2016, 08:27 PM)

I don't habitually snap off tabs, but it's useful when I need it. Yep, this is annoying.

I also can't watch embedded videos on many sites, which is even more annoying. So, as promising as Vivaldi is, I agree it still falls just a bit short at the moment. I will still keep an eye on it, and turn in bug reports as they are called for.

tomos · « **Reply #35 on:** April 19, 2016, 11:35 AM »

it looks like they removed the 'Email' link from the left-hand toolbar. I wonder if they're abandoning the browser+email approach that made Opera unique, or if they figure most email is browser-based anyway, so...
-Edvard (April 09, 2016, 03:30 PM)

from ghacks:

Vivaldi Technologies has big plans for the browser. Jon von Tetzchner had this to say about the future of the browser.

"Moving forward we will continue to focus on end user requests. As part of that we will be providing a full mail client. Advanced Internet users continue to use many mail accounts and we feel that there is a significant hole in the market there. But generally we will continue to improve and innovate, based on end user demand and requirements."

[my emphasis]

MilesAhead · « **Reply #36 on:** May 13, 2016, 02:38 PM »

I cannot find a guide to clicks for the Fast Dial. Right click gives me the menu so I can open, open in background tab, open in foreground tab. But there is no info how to do it with mouse clicks directly.. sans menu.

By experimentation I have it, left click replaces start page with the site clicked. Control left click opens sit in new Window. Shift left click opens site in new background tab.

But I have not hit on the combination to open the site in a new foreground tab. I tried Alt click, control shift click, shift alt click etc..

Only the tedious right click then left click on Open in New Foreground Tab seems to do it. Anyone know the secret?

Edit: Shift Middle Click seems to do it.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #37 on:** May 14, 2016, 07:49 AM »

This sure has its quirks.

Bookmarks Bar, folder, no "open all in tabs"

In page search I backspace out from the end of the search string, it activates the back button and closes the browser altogether. Really weird. That's the type of thing I would expect to get in Netscape 1.0.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #38 on:** May 17, 2016, 08:30 AM »

I recommend using the 32 bit snapshot. You can search using the address line, hit alt enter, to get results in a new foreground tab. Also when opening multiple tabs in the background, the tabs fill with data. The page is still blank when you first switch to the tab. But since the data is already downloaded the fill is snappy.

Now I have to decide if I want to keep the SearchBar extension I added. I like the idea of it. But it does seem a bit flaky. It looks like they are getting there though. If only they would supply command line switch documentation and/or settings we want but they don't think we need.

Edit: For those considering trying the snapshot, I installed to a different folder so as not to overwrite the 64 bit stable I already had. When the snapshot came up it picked up my dials, bookmarks and extensions.

Edit2: This does react to the chromium command line switch "--renderer-process-limit"
I have tried various settings from --renderer-process-limit=4 to =10 It seems like for 4 tabs or so it is pretty spiffy. But trying to open 8 tabs really bogs it. Of course I am only on a Laptop with 4 GB ram. Your mileage may vary. At least on my system running more that 4 or 5 tabs I am probably in a more stable situation using Firefox. It will be interesting to see where Vivaldi is in 6 months.

Edit3: The consensus on the Vivaldi for Windows Forum is that the lastest snapshot is flaky and slow. They say backing off to the previous snapshot is a very good idea. I am downloading it now.

tomos · « **Reply #39 on:** May 17, 2016, 10:35 AM »

^ following with interest

MilesAhead · « **Reply #40 on:** May 17, 2016, 10:44 AM »

^ following with interest
-tomos (May 17, 2016, 10:35 AM)

I have the previous snapshot on now. Annoyingly it makes you uninstall any newer version before it will let you install it. A snapshot should go on like Firefox Nightly to a different folder etc.. But at least it picks up settings extensions and bookmarks if you don't delete your data during the uninstall.

It seems a bit better but nothing really satisfying. I don't know if it is the new engines or what. It just seems like scrolling is awfully sticky no matter what browser I use.

I suspect that they would run somewhat smoother if I did not have RollbackRX installed. But even so it just seems weird. I seem to remember dial-up with my 56K external USR modem being smoother than this.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #41 on:** May 17, 2016, 05:21 PM »

The main stumbling block so far is trying to show favicons in the bookmarks. There is no equivalent of the Firefox Favicon Reload to automate loading them up. And messing with the bookmark sync online stuff is a nightmare. Usually you end up with duplicated bookmarks galore.

In the old days when a browser used a single exe file and loaded in a few seconds my bv.exe browser visit could brute force it with most any browser just by launching the url to open the default browser. After loading 10 tabs it would kill the exe, and run 10 more until it exhausted the bookmarks.html file. Now browsers weigh 10 tons and take over a minute to come up. Also they are multi-exe so killing one exe doesn't set it up to reopen clean again.

I hate it when a simple problem has no simple solution just because the application in question is a tower of kludge. Seems like all the browsers now are a house of cards. They jitter, quiver, hang and do everything but run steady.

Tuxman · « **Reply #42 on:** May 17, 2016, 05:29 PM »

- oops. I should learn to read. -

MilesAhead · « **Reply #43 on:** May 21, 2016, 07:54 AM »

After playing around with this for a bit I found a few things that are deal breakers for me:

Even syncing with Xmarks bookmark sync, which will sync without dupes in the lastest snapshot, will not sync the favicons. Some may see this as a quibble but I like having the favicons and being able to refresh them without spending a couple of days doing it. I have over 250 bookmarks. Perhaps half of those are in the Bookmarks Bar folder structure. It just makes it easier to see what is what with the icons.

On startup, whether opening to a blank page or to a Speed Dial there seems to be a hesitation before it will accept input. This is the main reason I cannot tolerate Firefox as my goto browser anymore. Firefox is even worse with a 20 to 30 second lag before I can type into the address bar.

The forum moderators use condescension when they cannot defend the product with rational argument. I have no need to waste my time snit picking with those who want to impart spin to the issues.

-------------

What I have found is that the SlimJet Portable browser I have been using as a backup browser has qualities that have come to the fore recently:

1) Xmarks bookmark sync or importing a bookmarks.html from Firefox seems to get the favicons without making it a life's work.

2) I notice that even though I have it set to start with Fast Dial rather than a blank page, when I open the browser via clicking the link or by launching a url, the dial does not hamper the browser loading. It snaps right up there and will accept a url typed into the address bar.

3) The auto check for updates seems to work even though this is the portable version of the browser. Edit: maybe because it is a major version update it did no sense 10.0.1.0 update available yesterday.

4) I signed up for the SlimJet Forum. But I just checked and clicking Browse Your Posts shows a total of 0. So I haven't had to badger anyone over there to get something working.

I like using Firefox and am used to it. But the performance issues are so annoying now that I have to relegate it to backup browser status. Unless they break it, SlimJet seems to be one of the more well thought out chrome implementations.

The UI was kind of appealing but I have uninstalled Vivaldi as just not being close to ready for prime time.

Clairvaux · « **Reply #44 on:** July 12, 2016, 02:25 PM »

My personal path, though the years, was IE > Maxthon > Opera (former generation) > Firefox.

The browser I preferred was Maxthon. It's the only one which gave me this feeling, which is the nirvana of software :

You never ask yourself how to do things, because it's obvious.
When you try to do something extra, you discover that the developers had thought about it before, and they implemented it exactly the way you had imagined it.
When you explore new features, you discover that you had actually wanted them all the time, but did not know about it.
Oh, and your screen looks nice. Beauty is important. Men work and play better when doing it in a beautiful environment.

Currently, I use Firefox, but I don't like it. So I installed Vivaldi and had a quick tour. Honestly, I can't see the point. It hints at being a power user browser, it's supposed to consider people as adults instead of toddlers that can't be trusted with too many options, but where's the beef ? What's different from other browsers ?

OK, its slightly better (but less pretty) than current-generation Opera, which is for babies anyway. But how is it more powerful than Firefox ? Maxthon was much more impressive 10 years ago.

brahman · « **Reply #45 on:** July 13, 2016, 10:48 AM »

I actually like Vivaldi and have been using it as my backup pretty much since it was in alpha. I think it has come a long way and I like the concept. I am still sometimes using the old pre Chrome Opera but it is not working that well anymore.

Two things that I cannot figure out:

1.)I have my windows taskbar on top and on autohide. Vivaldi is the only app that when I move the mouse cursor up, won't let the taskbar come out of hiding.

2.) I want to start a new tab when I put in a new url, but it always overwrites the tab which is already open. At least with the old opera I could do a Ctrl-Enter and it would open the URL in a new tab, but in Vivaldi I could find no option for it.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #46 on:** July 13, 2016, 05:49 PM »

I actually like Vivaldi and have been using it as my backup pretty much since it was in alpha. I think it has come a long way and I like the concept. I am still sometimes using the old pre Chrome Opera but it is not working that well anymore.

-brahman (July 13, 2016, 10:48 AM)

I still have Opera x64 v. 12.x installed. Sometimes it plays flash video better than all my other new browsers, slimjet, firefox etc..

2.) I want to start a new tab when I put in a new url, but it always overwrites the tab which is already open. At least with the old opera I could do a Ctrl-Enter and it would open the URL in a new tab, but in Vivaldi I could find no option for it.

Have you tried Alt Enter? Most browsers now seem to open a new tab from the addressbar with that shortcut. I don't have Vivaldi on my machine to try any of the key combinations. I am struck now at how slowly all the browsers come up. The only one I have that snaps open is SlimJet. I remember what a dog Netscape 7.x was when it was first released. The thing that made me try to live with Vivaldi was the fast startup. But there were just too many frustrations for me to deal with.

On the Taskbar thing are you running Vivaldi maximized? You might try sizing it to leave a small gap at the top so that the desktop can sense the mouseover. I don't know if it will make a difference. It is just a guess.

brahman · « **Reply #47 on:** July 13, 2016, 07:28 PM »

Thank you, MilesAhead.

Both of your tips were a winner.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #48 on:** July 14, 2016, 07:35 AM »

Thank you, MilesAhead.

Both of your tips were a winner.
-brahman (July 13, 2016, 07:28 PM)

Glad they worked out.

tomos · « **Reply #49 on:** February 09, 2017, 10:02 AM »

Featured on Gizmo's techsupportalert today, (with very little info)

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