Now available for GNU/Linux, macOS, and Microsoft Windows

Nov 22, 2016 08:01 GMT  ·  By

Today, November 22, 2016, Softpedia was informed by Vivaldi Technologies about the availability of the Vivaldi 1.5 cross-platform and free web browser for GNU/Linux, macOS, and Microsoft Windows operating systems.

Vivaldi is known for being designed with the power user in mind, and it appears to be the most customizable web browser ever made. While it's not yet an Open Source product, it's based on the most recent Chromium open-source web browser. With Vivaldi 1.5, the company has raised the bar to a new level of customization.

Vivaldi 1.5 is now the world's first web browser capable of controlling Philips Hue smart lights. The Softpedia team has had the privilege to test the new Philips Hue Theme Integration feature, which currently works only with RGB bulbs, as it changes their color depending on the website you visit (check out the video below to see it in action).

"This is just a first step for us but imagine a world where you get notified of a new email or web notification through a light bulb," explains CEO Jon von Tetzchner. "Vivaldi is all about customization and flexibility. Integrating with IoT devices like Philips Hue makes it possible for Vivaldi to adapt to you and your everyday life."

Support for dragging tabs between windows, note taking improvements

If Philips Hue lights are not your thing, you should be excited to learn that Vivaldi 1.5 introduces a highly requested feature, namely tab dragging. This means that you'll be able to finally drag tabs, as well as tab stacks and tab selections between windows. Additionally, you can now create folders of tabs through the tab stacking feature.

Among other noteworthy improvements, we can mention that Vivaldi 1.5 brings better readability with a new Reader View button for quick access to the built-in reader mode, improved note taking abilities with the implementation of automatic screenshots in notes, as well as delta updates for Windows users with slow Internet connections.

Under the hood, Vivaldi 1.5 uses an improved engine based on Chromium 54.0, adds proprietary media support for playing H.264 and MP3 streams on OpenSuSE Linux, introduces more address bar and performance improvements, and includes Chromecast support. Download Vivaldi 1.5 for GNU/Linux, macOS, and Microsoft Windows.