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Posted by: Christian J Jan 27 2015, 06:35 PM

Haven't tried myself yet, apparently it's based on Chromium but meant to look like classic Opera12.

Download: https://vivaldi.com/
Forum: https://vivaldi.net/en-US/forum/vivaldi-browser

Posted by: Christian J Jan 27 2015, 08:22 PM

Now I've tested. Doesn't look or behave like Opera12 at all, more like what I've read about Opera/Blink. Not many preferences to change, the only one related to privacy/security is cookie settings. Just like SRWare Iron (and Chrome itself I assume), it makes lots of background connections to various Google servers.

Posted by: Frederiek Jan 28 2015, 05:24 AM

Looking at their story, they created Opera in the first place, or at least so it seems. But since Opera changed its direction, they start to create this new browser.

I didn't d/l it, and even less if it makes connections to Google. That's why I immediately ditched Chrome.

In the nearby future, we'll also a new browser by MS, to come with Windows 10.

Posted by: Christian J Jan 28 2015, 06:38 AM

That's why I don't understand, this Vivaldi seems more similar to Opera's current (bad) direction than anything else.

Posted by: Frederiek Jan 28 2015, 05:02 PM

I don't even know which (bad or not) direction. All I know is that Opera changed their browser engine some time ago. I believe before it was webkit.

Anyway, these guys surely are yet at the start of their new project. Maybe, it just has to mature further, before saying anything for certain about their efforts up to now.

Posted by: Christian J Jan 28 2015, 06:30 PM

While the classic Opera12 (with the Presto engine) was a swiss army knife of (more or less useful) options, tools and features, the new Opera15 seems more limited than even an ordinary browser. Apparently it still doesn't have added back a bookmark menu: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_of_the_Opera_web_browser#Bookmarks

Posted by: Darin McGrew Jan 30 2015, 03:54 AM

I've been using other browsers for years, but when I used Opera, I used it for two reasons: its small memory footprint that allowed it to work well on older systems (why I started using it) and its wide assortment of features and options that gave me control over the way web pages displayed and functioned (why I kept using it).

I stopped using it when I started using cloud-based services that didn't work with it.

Posted by: pandy Jan 30 2015, 09:11 AM

I wonder if Opera isn't the greatest disappointment in browser history. It started so grandly and all of us probably had great hopes for it. They had the most devoted user base ever. So devoted in fact that it made me shun from it. Then came all the changes to functionality that got too bothersome to keep up with. And then they dropped the whole thing. The devoted users must have screamed at the top of their lungs. One day I'll check out the list archive.

Second place is probably when Netscape closed down. Not everyone was sorry about that though.

Posted by: Christian J Jan 30 2015, 10:56 AM

There was a lot of complaints in Opera's own forums, but not as much as one would think, considering how rabid the Opera fans used to be. Maybe most of them had already switched to Firefox, or maybe lots of forum threads got deleted. OTOH I didn't see much screaming on other sites either.

Posted by: Christian J Jan 30 2015, 11:01 AM

I avoid such services at all cost, so I can keep using it for trusted sites.

Alas even (classic) Opera's web page functionality features are becoming dated. For example, you can't actually disable iframes (just hide them), and you must allow javascript to use extensions.

Posted by: Christian J Apr 7 2016, 01:16 PM

Seems the Vivaldi browser has improved as lot since last year. Now it supports several of the Classic Opera features, such as the wonderful keyboard arrow navigation. I think browser extensions can take care of most things that are still missing from Classic Opera, but I haven't done much testing yet.

It's still Chrome-based, which means it makes background connections to Google domains like gstatic.com and gvt1.com. When first started after installation, my packet sniffer found 37(!) such connections, both from vivaldi.exe itself and Window's own svchost service. Subsequent restarts only make a few, though.

Posted by: pandy Apr 7 2016, 02:28 PM

And we used to call MS the evil empire. Sheesh.

Posted by: Christian J Apr 7 2016, 03:24 PM

It would be interesting to know what all the connections are used for, and what data they send to Google (it's encrypted, and while it seems possible to decrypt, doing so might compromise your security, IIRC).

MS is doing its best to be evil with the Windows 10 spamming, BTW.

Posted by: pandy Apr 7 2016, 07:04 PM

Windows 10 spamming? You mean like ads? I seldome notice these things.

I remember when Chrome was fairly new and I tried it out. I had this old noisy drive as D for my documents and a new and silent drive as C for programs. Installed Chrome on my C drive and my D drive started to squeak like crazy and didn't stop until I had removed Chrome. So what was it/they doing with my D drive?

Posted by: Christian J Apr 7 2016, 08:37 PM

Haven't you heard? Read the whole "Distribution practices" section, it just gets worse and worse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_10#Distribution_practices


Maybe it was a bug, I don't think Google is that open with its snooping (yet).

Posted by: pandy Apr 7 2016, 10:13 PM

No, I hadn't heard that.

Posted by: pandy Apr 8 2016, 04:18 PM

Things are scary sometimes. Just got one of those "Do you know xxx" emails from Facebook. I just have a fake account there with my spam email addie and I'm logged in maybe twice a year. Thing is they were asking if I know Darin McGrew. I thought heck, at last they've got it right, but no, judging from the picture it was the wrong guy. Still, that name isn't that common, so it's still odd, me thinks.

Posted by: Christian J Apr 8 2016, 06:43 PM

As one moderator to another, I think you're going off-topic now. I have a theory about Darin, but maybe we shouldn't discuss it in public.

Posted by: pandy Apr 8 2016, 09:47 PM

I'm not! It's all about spam advertising and spying on us, isn't it?

A theory about Darin sounds titillating. Let's discuss it!

Posted by: Darin McGrew Apr 9 2016, 10:14 PM

Huh... I've never seen another person with the same name as me before. I've almost never seen another person with the same last name who wasn't related to me. I'll send my FB URL privately, in case you're curious.

Posted by: pandy Jun 8 2016, 08:34 AM

I just got one more of these. Have gotten maybe 5 or 6 in total now. It's the wrong Darin all right, by why do they connect me with any Darin at all? I use an gmail address for the forum here, but I didn't use that address for my fake facebook account, but that too is a gmail address. Is that it? Google can easily see that the same person, or at least the same computer, uses both accounts. Do they scan our contacts? I guess they do, but how does Facebook get hold of that information? I don't see another way they could make the connection between Darin and I and they did, even if they got the wrong Darin.

Posted by: pandy Jul 18 2016, 03:03 PM

OK, now I'm scared. As I've mentioned I have a totally fake facebook account, not a letter is true. I use it maybe twice a year, tops. Have never written a word on the site, neither in my profile nor in comments on other people's pages. First this thing with the wrong Darin. That was spooky enough. Today I get yet another of there "Do you know nnn" emails. They list three persons, persons I knew a long time ago. Classmates from primary school. I haven't had any contact with any of them after that time. I haven't written about these people anywhere, I haven't googled them, I haven't even thought about them. How the heck do they do it?