14 DAY TRIAL // The Vivaldi Internet browser has been updated to Technical Preview 4, which is now available for download and testing. Despite the boring version number, it's quite a big leap and lots of new features have landed.
We've covered the Vivaldi Internet browser right from the start. The first working version landed all the way back in January 2015, and the developers have made great progress since then. There is still a lot of work left to do and numerous features to implement, but from what we've seen so far, the makers of the browser want to provide a powerful alternative to Google Chrome and Opera.
The application is built by a former Opera founder and his team, and they are using Chromium as a base. This might seem odd since Opera is also using Chromium, but the two products are very different. In fact, they're just as different as Opera is from Google Chrome. These differences will only increase as time passes, especially with such big leaps as the update made today.
Vivaldi Technical Preview 4 is an important upgrade
"Of course, a browser has to be great out of the box. But today browsers tend to restrict options and confine you to more pre-determined and ‘locked’ settings in the name of simplicity. They want to protect you from the 'tyranny of choice.' But always telling people 'We know what’s best for you,' strikes me as another form of tyranny. When you choose Vivaldi, you take back the freedom of choice that other browsers want to restrict," wrote Von Tetzchner, the leader of the project.
According to the announcement, mouse gestures have been implemented by default (native and not with add-ons), as well as much better keyboard shortcuts and some support for Google Chrome extensions. This last feature is quite important and you can read more about it in our initial report.
You can download Vivaldi from Softpedia for the Linux platform. The Windows and Mac OS X versions are also available.