What made me finally switch to Vivaldi as my default Linux web browser

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

ZDNET key takeaways

• Vivaldi has the right combination of features for my default.
• It's been a slow burn, but everything finally came together.
• You can enjoy these features on Linux, MacOS, and Windows.

Vivaldi is one of those web browsers that I hadn't given much attention to over the years. It always reminded me of my favorite browser, Opera, but with a bit of extra bloat and an aesthetic that didn't quite live up to the considerable standards I'd long ago set.

Vivaldi included so many features that it was almost dizzying. At some point, I concluded that all those features crowded the UI, making it difficult to navigate. In my world, I need efficiency. On top of that, the theming engine had fallen so far behind the likes of Opera and Zen Browser that I couldn't convince myself to use it with any regularity.

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Some might say I place too high a value on aesthetics, but if I have to stare at something all day, I want it to at least look pleasant and blend in with the rest of the desktop environment theme I've spent time perfecting, especially on Linux.

Gradually, however, Vivaldi caught my attention. The developers added features and cleaned up the UI, and I no longer felt I could ignore it. And then last week, I decided to spend a day with Vivaldi to see if it had become a viable option.

Needless to say, what I saw caught me off guard -- and by the end of the day, I decided to set Vivaldi as my default on Linux.

This is a big deal for me, because I'm rather finicky about my web browser. Until now, only three browsers had achieved "default" status over the past half-decade, one of which is no longer available (remember when The Browser Company was relevant because of Arc browser?) and the other two (Opera and Zen Browser) still lurk below the surface, waiting for their moment to once again rise to the top.

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Okay, enough of the chit-chat. What caused me to switch to Vivaldi?

It starts with the UI

A good UI can make or break a web browser. I realize that most users recognize the Chrome interface and are content with it. Me? One of my mantras is "Contentment is the enemy of art," and I've lived by that for decades.

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I don't want to be content. I want to be challenged, and I want something special to come from the challenge -- and I believe that's what happened with Vivaldi. During my testing period, I realized the UI could be tidied to hide features I don't need, while still making them easily accessible. With a couple of clicks, I could have a Vivaldi UI that was minimal and efficient.

Consider what the Vivaldi UI can look like with nearly everything in view, which is to say busy.

That's busy, and I don't even have all of the features added.

Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET

Hide those toolbars and status bars, and shrink the tab bar, and you wind up with a beautifully minimal UI that doesn't get in your way. At the same time, you can always reveal the sidebar to access all the features by clicking the icon near the top-left corner (to the right of the Vivaldi dropdown).

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In the end, I wound up with a browser UI that made me feel right at home. Couple that with the new Vivaldi theming engine, and I was able to get the browser to blend in perfectly with my desktop theme.

To take this approach even further, you can enable UI Auto-Hide and select which components hide automatically. This step gives you a seriously minimal look and feel.

And you thought your browser was minimal.

Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET

Now that's a browser UI I can enjoy.

One little tip: when using a very minimal UI, you can cycle through open tabs with Ctrl+Tab to move forward and Ctrl+Shift+Tab to cycle backward.

Finally, there's Tab Tiling, a feature I had no idea that I desperately needed until I gave it another chance. With Tab Tiling, I can have two sites open in the same tab, making it easier for me to interact with both. 

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For example, I can write an article and then enter it into the CMS from the same tab. That's handy.

Tab Tiling is far more useful than I ever thought. 

Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET

Proton VPN

Next, there's the included support for Proton VPN. I happen to have a Proton account, so I could already access the VPN, but if you create a Vivaldi account (for syncing), you get access to the basic Proton VPN (which includes limited servers and speeds). That's a great feature, and enabling the VPN is just a matter of clicking the VPN button to the right of the address bar.

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Given the rise of attacks on our privacy and security, I've found a VPN is essential. And yes, I understand that several browsers now include VPN access, but I'm a fan of Proton, so easy access to that service helped tip me over.

Start Page Widgets

Most people probably ignore the browser Start Page, but with Vivaldi, I've found I can add specific widgets to make it useful.

I've added Weather, Sticky Notes, Privacy Statistics, and a web page (for quick access to news). Those four widgets alone never fail to call my attention to the start page.

A good start page can be very helpful.

Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET

All of these features come together to make for an irresistible web browser for my Linux desktops. I would highly recommend you give Vivaldi a go. Try customizing the browser until it fits your needs perfectly and see if you no longer want to go back to your previous, boring default.