Opera's former chief launches a web browser for power users
For a while, Opera was a power user's web browser -- what you chose when other apps just didn't have the right mix of clever tricks and shortcuts. The company's switch to Google-based tech dropped some of those features, however, leaving you in an uncomfortable spot if you were a fan of the old interface. Thankfully, you're not out of luck. Vivaldi, a company co-founded by Opera's ex-CEO, is launching its own browser to appeal to a more demanding crowd. You'll still get Opera mainstays like the Speed Dial page (for fast access to pages you like), but you'll also get customizable keyboard shortcuts, tab stacks and page-specific notes. There are a few nice touches, too, such as a navigation bar that changes color to match the theme of the site you're visiting.
The browser is available now in technical preview form for Linux, Mac and Windows. There are mobile versions on the way, too, although Vivaldi isn't ready to share more details just yet. It's worth giving the fledgling browser a try, although there's no doubt that it faces an uphill battle. Vivaldi is largely catering to a subset of the Opera audience, which is already pretty small (1.4 percent of desktop use). It'll have to do a lot if it's going to be popular enough to rival Opera's share of the web world, let alone big-name browsers like Chrome and Firefox.
