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Vivaldi 4.0

vivaldi.com

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Re: Vivaldi 4.0

#231
post #219

I'm not seeing this exact question answered elsewhere, but since Vivaldi is based on Chromium, does it have any code that randomly reaches out to remote servers (including but not limited to Google) aside from, of course, those which are requested by web page content?

Almost (1) all of it got removed or has option to disable, altho not always clearly explained (2).

(1) it touches Vivaldi server on startup.

(2) "Google Service DNS to help resolve navigational errors" equals https://medium.com/cloud-security/google-chrome-dns-security...

Re: Vivaldi 4.0

#232
post #167
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s weird how this cycles. Firebird/Firefox was originally an amazingly light browser (discounting some niche Linux ones that embedded Gecko). Then it got huge, and Chrome was amazing. And it seemed impossible for FF to be able to work out the technical debt. Now Chrome often makes the fan kick in on my MBP and Firefox is lighter again in CPU and memory. I think Safari is probably best in this regard on this machine…

> I think Safari is probably best in this regard on this machine, but I just don’t enjoy using it Safari always gives me the feeling of being too basic. The extension ecosystem is very small, and settings panels try their hardest not to actually give you any options beyond the essential ones. It's a browser for people who endure the web, not enjoy it.

I don't think your last sentence is a particularly generous summation. :)

Maybe I'm an anomaly in the HN crowd, but I never really got into extensions even when I was using Firefox or Chrome as a daily driver. I have an extension for 1Password, an extension for a read-it-later service (for years Instapaper, lately GoodLinks), and somewhat grudgingly, an ad blocker. And sometimes a user style sheet extension. I've tried other extensions at various points and they've never really stuck, not even the "vertical tab" style extensions that I want to love but always find ugly and distracting. (OmniWeb, RIP, is the only browser I ever used that had what I thought was a great implementation of this.)

And I use Chrome daily at work now, because there are a few internal sites that require it (and one that inexplicably requires IE 10, which Chrome turns out to be better at faking than Safari), and... it's fine? But it feels just a little slower, it's harder on the battery, and there's very little about it that I miss when I'm back in Safari on my personal Mac. Maybe if I was deep into web development again, this would change, since Safari's dev tools always seem to be a few steps behind Chrome's. Maybe there's some magic can't-live-without extension I could find on Chrome or Firefox that would sway me to stick with one for the long haul. But for years, I've enjoyed the web, and I've enjoyed it on Safari. [shrug emoji]

Re: Vivaldi 4.0

#233
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean "on top of web techs"? Aren't all browsers web techs...??

The Opera UI was built using Qt widgets. So native, C++ code. The Vivaldi UI is built using React, I think. Native UIs are much faster than web UIs, for example.

doesn't this also apply to Firefox?

Re: Vivaldi 4.0

#234
post #3

Vivaldi Mail? That took a while :-D Vivaldi is developed by a team created by the former Opera founder and CEO. Vivaldi kind of tries to re-create the spirit of Opera, but I think it's going to be too hard to do it. For those who didn't use it, Opera was first a paid browser (which limited its reach), then an ad-supported browser (which again limited its reach). It then finally became a free browser but by then it wa…

paid => ads => free. How is a 'free browser' supposed to pay its developers?

They licensed the browser for devices like set-top boxes and similar devices. There was also money coming from Google (for using it as a default search engine). I guess they had also some business model built around Opera Mini and relations with mobile providers.

Re: Vivaldi 4.0

#236
post #3

Vivaldi Mail? That took a while :-D Vivaldi is developed by a team created by the former Opera founder and CEO. Vivaldi kind of tries to re-create the spirit of Opera, but I think it's going to be too hard to do it. For those who didn't use it, Opera was first a paid browser (which limited its reach), then an ad-supported browser (which again limited its reach). It then finally became a free browser but by then it wa…

> Opera was first a paid browser (which limited its reach)

I'd argue that this, in combination with easy availability of pirated serials (and the actual quality of the engine, of course), contributed to Opera popularity because "why use freeware when you can use premium software (which other people supposedly even pay for) for free".

I believe this works so if I were going to release a commercial app I would make sure to put some serials on pirate sites.

Even today, if you release a new Chromium-based browser, make it paid but easily piratable it probably is going to enjoy more popularity than if you release it for free.

Re: Vivaldi 4.0

#237
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Loved Opera back in the day. It had "page specific settings" that would let me allow to set HTTP/Socks5 proxies on a per-page setting - today you cannot even set a proxy anymore without changing your system settings (not browser settings). If anyone asks, I used this heavily to bypass country blocks/redirects on a per-page level and also with privoxy on some privacy invading sites.

> today you cannot even set a proxy anymore without changing your system settings (not browser settings). you can in firefox settings you can also do it in chrome with the cli parameter --proxy-server

> you can in firefox settings

Obviously a remnant from the Netscape codebase. They will fix it.

Re: Vivaldi 4.0

#238
post #3

Vivaldi Mail? That took a while :-D Vivaldi is developed by a team created by the former Opera founder and CEO. Vivaldi kind of tries to re-create the spirit of Opera, but I think it's going to be too hard to do it. For those who didn't use it, Opera was first a paid browser (which limited its reach), then an ad-supported browser (which again limited its reach). It then finally became a free browser but by then it wa…

> Unfortunately with HTML5 and the Chrome-ification of the web, it couldn't keep up :-(

One of the worst things to happen to the web was for Google to start pushing at a speed and scale only they could keep up with.

The web is theirs now.

Re: Vivaldi 4.0

#239
post #4

Off-topic, but: does anyone know how Vivaldi is funded? I tried looking for it for a bit, but couldn't find any income streams.

If it's free, then you're the product. Or will eventually be, plenty of projects have started out with good intentions and a noble cause only to be ultimately bought out, userbase and all. Creating something like Vivaldi 4.0 is not cheap, someone has poured cash in - who that is, I think the end-user should be entitled to know.

Re: Vivaldi 4.0

#240
post #215
post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vivaldi is exactly as slow or fast as any Chromium-based browser. A this point I've surrendered to the notion of the web never getting faster, but just eating away any efficiency gains in computing. I like Vivaldi for the feature set. It's rich enough for the regular power-user, but the presentation is straightforward enough that you don't feel like you need to pimp your browser like you would Emacs. I felt home with…

Fullscreen takes ~1 second in Vivaldi. Closing a Tab takes 300-1000ms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uCA2qIIG1M

You're absolutely right, the painting, or whatever you call that, of the UI elements of Vivaldi itself are definitely sluggish.

I was thinking of the normal in-page stuff. My apologies if I misled anyone.

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