Mastodawn

1/2

I really love using #ZenBrowser as my daily #WebBrowser. I generally prefer the #Gecko engine over #Chromium. I love the way it will let you select specific web elements when you take a snapshot and the built-in PDF reader is much more powerful than the default Chromium one. I find the text easier to read and the visuals are crisper. The design is more modern and there are little effects that are quite attractive.

There are a few things I wish it did better. I've gotten spoiled by #Vivaldi browser's copying an address from the address bar but strips out tracking parameters (the "?" and everything to the right in the address bar). It also can lag behind releases of #Firefox, which can make it more vulnerable.

2/2

I keep #Vivaldi as my #2 browser, for when #ZenBrowser is lagging a bit in updates. And there are the occasional sites that don't work well on a #Gecko browser.

Vivaldi does have a ton of built-in features that are great. I love the notes that sync across my account and the speed dial keeps important links visible and accessible. Sites load quickly, it can be snappy. I have it on #Android, along with #Waterfox as my two mobile browsers.

But Vivaldi's interface also feels more dated to me. It's less attractive and less slick. The screen capture tool is good, but could be better. The mail and RSS reader is serviceable, but doesn't handle some of my accounts very well and isn't as robust as a dedicated program like #Thunderbird.

Cristian Rasch 🇦🇷 🇺🇾Mar 12

@cynical13 I use the same setup on both desktop and mobile, except that my main daily driver is #librewolf instead of #zenbrowser as there are currently no Zen features that I need for my workflow as a #WebDev.
The best feature of both browser for me these days is their #NOAI policies.

Zen has made the same #NoAI promise, which is a huge plus for me. I have #LibreWolf on my machines, but I don't use it as often.

Glad to see I'm not the only one enjoying options from both browser architectures.

Jake in the desert Mar 12

@cynical13 @cristianrasch I was messing around with Vivaldi and of course Librewolf, I need to try Zen. That's next.

@jake4480 @cristianrasch

My absolute favorite feature is opening a web page at a glance, basically overlaying the page over an already open tab to preview a page, without losing focus of the original page beneath. Then you can close the page with a quick press of the ESC key. Really speeds up some of my searches for work.

Jake in the desert Mar 12

@cynical13 @cristianrasch woww that's an amazing feature

@jake4480 @cristianrasch

I wish I could pull the best bits of Vivaldi and Zen together into a single browser.

Jake in the desert Mar 12

@cynical13 @cristianrasch oh wow. Now THERE'S a project. hahaha

@jake4480 @cristianrasch

Well above MY skill set, sadly.

Jake in the desert Mar 12

@cynical13 @cristianrasch oh, same. But we should put this out there somehow haha

@jake4480 @cristianrasch

I'm thinking I'd have more luck getting it pulled into Zen or a third project. I haven't had much luck with things on the Vivaldi forum...

Cristian Rasch 🇦🇷 🇺🇾Mar 12

@cynical13 @jake4480 That's a good shout! My cross-platform way of achieving basically the same thing is by leveraging the awesome Vimium web extension (available on both browsers) while setting browser.tabs.loadDivertedInBackground and {browser.tabs.insertAfterCurrent,insertRelatedAfterCurrent} to true for Firefox. That way, I can easily open links in a background tab by pressing a few keys on my keyboard.

@cristianrasch @jake4480

That's awesome! It constantly amazes me how many ways there are to accomplish the same goal.

Catweazle Mar 12

@cynical13, the Vivaldi Interface is just as you want it. You can modify everything of the UI to your like, more as in any other existing browser, from the aspect of an old IE to the one of an futuristic alien dashboard. That the UI of Vivald is outdated is certainly wrong, it is it maybe in it's default aspect after downloading it.

Apart, yes, Zen is also a great browser, I use it as second.

Yes, I am aware that it is very customizable. I do not stray far from the defaults. I am not interested in straying far from the defaults. I'm not the kind of person who wants to spend a lot of time getting a browser to where I want it to be to be to be functional and I have zero interest in adjusting CSS code to get really tricky with things.

So yes, the default is uninspiring and since that's how I chose to engage with the browser, that's an issue for me.

I find it to be the best of the Chromium options for my uses, and I keep it because it's useful, not because it's my favorite user experience.

Catweazle Mar 12

@cynical13, well, to adjust the UI to your like in Vivaldi, you don't need CSS or any other script (I never used it), you can do it all in the settings or directly dragging the elements where you want or hiding which you don't want or use. You can use even your own icons. That is precisely what Vivaldi makes different from all other browsers out there.
Using CSS mods is naturally possible if you want some special effects or features, but not really needed.

@Catweazle I did qualify that it's a personal impression, and only that. And I've used the browser for years now. I personally feel the way I feel. That shouldn't change how you interact with it or you're personal judgement.

Catweazle Mar 12

@cynical13, I dont judge your use of Vivaldi, I only said that it is wrong that Vivaldi has an outdated UI, this depends only on the settings if it has an outdated UI or not. If you don't use it, it's not fair to complain about the UI

Being able to move items around the screen makes it adaptable and customizable. But I don't find them to be as sharp or look as good as items in other browsers. That's all. I find that Zen has nicer animations and looks crisper. Yes, Vivaldi has the greater customization but I don't think that it has the small additions that make it stand out. *shrug*