Vivaldi 1.0.190.2 features notable UI improvements

Vivaldi is a relatively new browser with the goal of replacing the old Opera 12.x browser. It is highly customizable and is developed for power users. The Vivaldi developer team has introduced a new version of their browser. Unlike previous weekly releases, the new Vivaldi 1.0.190.2 brings several major improvements to the user interface of the browser. Let's see what those improvements are.

Vivaldi 1.0.190.2 comes with an improved Start page/Speed dial/New tab page. Now you can customize its appearance. You can set a custom background color or set your own wallpaper for that page like you could in Opera classic. You can even set an animated background - a GIF image for example. The Speed Dial page also has color schemes where you can pick a dark or light appearance to match your Speed Dial background.

Now it is possible to scale the UI without scaling the web page content. The settings for this are available in the browser's preferences:

To make the UI look sharp when scaled, this version of Vivaldi is using SVG icons and supports high DPIs. Unfortunately, the resources required for high DPI are not included in this build, but the engine is there.

Finally, Vivaldi 1.0.190.2 features the ability to disable thumbnails for vertical tabs. This feature can be welcomed by users who use vertical tabs instead of the traditional horizontal tabs which are enabled by default.

Mac users of Vivaldi can now check for updates manually from the menu.

Download links:

• Windows 32-bit
• Windows 64-bit (still experimental)
• Mac
• Linux RPM 32-bit
• Linux RPM 64-bit
• Linux DEB 32-bit
• Linux DEB 64-bit

Here is the full list of changes:

Note that this browser is still at "Technical Preview" stage and can't be recommended for daily use. Personally, I am looking forward to the release version of the browser and plan to switch to it when it becomes more stable and polished.

What are your impressions about Vivaldi? Do you like it or not? Which features would you like to see in the final version of the browser? Tell us in the comments.