Part II: Opera, Opera GX, and Vivaldi
Alright guys, welcome back! I hope you read my previous article we talked about Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox. I hope you are excited to have a look at the next browsers. So, without further ado, let’s get into it!
Opera and Opera GX
Ah Opera. That red ring has become quite familiar over the years. Its first public browser was released in 1996 as Opera 2.0 (1.0 was then known as MultiTorg Opera), before even Mozilla was released. The browser has gone quite far to satisfy the needs of its customers. In recent times, however, its second browser, Opera GX, has been gaining a very large consumer base. Hailed as the first browser built for gamers, the superior performance of Opera GX has gathered fans across the globe.
As you can see in the images above, both Opera browsers feature the sidebar, which is one of the most captivating features of the browsers. On the sidebar, you can pin apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Instagram, Twitter and more! On Opera GX, these apps are also supported in addition to some popular gaming apps like Discord and Twitch. Both browsers also have an in-built snapshot feature which you can use to capture the browser screen. You can use this feature by clicking on the camera button at the right of the address bar. Opera also has this feature called workspaces — you can separate the browser into different workspaces for different functions. You can keep a workspace for school, for home, for friends, etc. This feature is similar to the Windows multiple desktop feature, but is restricted to the browser only.
Both browsers also feature something known as My Flow. As opposed to other browsers, you can sync your information across multiple devices by using this My Flow feature. Click on the arrow on the sidebar and you should see an image like this:
As you can see, it’s as easy as scanning a QR code and you can sync your work across devices! Both browsers also have an in-built music player using which you can play songs from Apple Music, Gaana, Spotify and YouTube Music. It really is quite brilliant.
These are the features that can be found on both browsers. However, Opera GX features a few more things! Tailored to meet the needs of gamers, Opera GX features the latest games that will be released on all gaming platforms, on its home page. It also has these special features known as GX control and GX cleaner. Both of these were introduced to speed up the browsers performance. On GX control, you can monitor and control how much RAM and CPU the browser takes up. This is a feature that has never been seen before on any other browser. You can open GX control by clicking on the timer button on the sidebar.
GX cleaner can speed up the browser by clearing up many things on your browser. This has three levels: Minimum, Medium and Maximum. The GX cleaner can clear your cache, cookies, tabs, browsing history, downloads, and unused sidebar icons. This will help speed up the browser performance a lot. You can access the GX cleaner by clicking on the broom icon on the sidebar.
Like all browsers, Opera and Opera GX feature private windows which you can access by right clicking their icons on the taskbar and selecting ‘New Private Window’.
Both browsers also feature an in-built Opera VPN (Virtual Private Network) to prevent third parties from tracking you. You can enable the VPN by clicking the three bars at the top right and selecting VPN. It will redirect you to Opera or Opera GX’s settings page where you can toggle the VPN on.
Both browsers also feature a built-in ad blocker and tracker blocker which keeps your activity on the web private. This coupled with the Opera VPN makes the Opera browsers two of the most private browsers ever. These two are enabled by default but you can enable or disable them by going to Settings. Click on the three bars at the top right and scroll down to ‘Go to full browser settings’. Once you reach there, the first thing you will see is the ad and tracker blockers which you can toggle on or off.
The Opera browsers have a lot of features but there is still one more major feature left! Both browsers feature something they call a Crypto Wallet. This wallet allows you to make payments using cryptocurrency. It connects to your phone to verify every transaction. You have enable the Crypto Wallet by going to settings and typing ‘Crypto Wallet’ then toggling the correct option on.
The features of both Opera and Opera GX are endless and they would server as brilliant alternatives to Chrome. Both browsers, particularly Opera GX, are pulling many users from across the globe to use them. The Opera VPN feature is one of the features that has gained a lot of popularity due to the extensive privacy that it provides. It will not be a surprise if one of these browsers lead the browser charts in the future.
Vivaldi
Vivaldi is one of the big browsers that is slowly gaining popularity. It has grown so much that it has recently replaced Firefox and has become the default browser on Monjaro Linux Cinnamon.
Vivaldi gives you options. It allows you to choose how much of the browser you want: essentials, classic, or fully loaded. Like Opera, Vivaldi also features a sidebar but with much more features. You can add any website to the sidebar simply by clicking the add icon on the sidebar and entering the web address of the website. Vivaldi calls these as web panels. The GIF below shows you how to add a web panel:
As you can see, any site can be added as a web panel to the sidebar. This is a brilliant feature and as you will later see, it forms the basis of the Sidekick browser. Like all of the other browsers except Chrome, Vivaldi also has a built-in ad and tracker blocker. Click on the shield icon on the address bar and select ‘Manage Default Settings’. You will be redirected to a page where you can choose what sort of privacy you want.
Like Opera, Vivaldi also has a built-in snapshot feature which you can use by clicking the camera icon at the bottom of the screen. What is really interesting is that Vivaldi is extremely similar to Opera, except for the fact that Opera has a built-in VPN. Vivaldi also features a Page Tiling feature which you can use to view multiple tabs at the same time, on the same window. This is a very useful feature that is unique to Vivaldi. Sidekick also has this page tiling feature, but like I said, Vivaldi gives you options. You can choose what way you want to tile your tabs!
When multiple tabs are open, click on the rectangle icon next to the camera icon at the bottom of the screen and choose how you want to tile the tabs. This is a wonderful feature on Vivaldi. As I had mentioned under Google Chrome, Vivaldi also has tab groups. However, they have a different look as compared to Chrome. This is because Vivaldi had introduced this feature before Chrome so they did not use the same framework Chrome did. They do not even call it Tab Groups! Instead, they call it ‘Stacking Tabs’. Right click on the tab and choose the ‘Stack Tabs by Host’ options. You can also just drag the tabs onto each other to stack them. You can also access the recently closed tabs by clicking on the trash button at the top of the screen.
The Vivaldi sidebar features many apps like mail, calendar and contacts. These are extremely useful apps and help improve productivity as they are right there when you need them. The ability to add any website as a web panel also makes Vivaldi truly special. What’s more, if you need to take a break but you are constantly disturbed by what’s happening on your browser, Vivaldi allows you to literally pause your work and go focus somewhere else. Click on the pause button at the bottom left and your work will be paused.
Like always, Vivaldi also has an incognito window. Right click the icon on the taskbar and select ‘New private window’. You will see a window like below:
Well, that’s Vivaldi! Loads of brilliant features in a nice browser. It is a nice alternative to Chrome and I would recommend that you have a look at it.
Download Vivaldi here.
That's it for this article! In the next article, we will be having a look at some new and brilliant browsers: Brave and Sidekick.
Comments