They have been posting messages on social media for a while to prepare us for something big, and here we have it. Maybe not as much as use the 1984 Apple ad, it may not be The best thing that's happened to Windows since Windows 95, but we have already discovered what they had prepared for us. It was logical to think that it would be a major update, and what is available from today is Vivaldi 7.0 which brings at least two new features that stand out above the rest.
From less to more, the first of these two new features that arrive with Vivaldi 7.0 could be counted as at least two. The function does have a name, new design, but we will notice it above all in two points. At the top, the tabs are rounded, although you can choose the compact mode from the settings and have something similar to what we had in previous versions. By the way, if not is modified in some way, the top bar grows in the non-compact view, and here it is the user who has to decide whether they prefer rounded tabs or a top bar a few millimeters smaller.
The other point where we will best see the new design is in the iconsThey look more casual, and honestly, in my opinion they are also more descriptive. In previous versions of the browser named after a famous composer, they were more squared off, and I could confuse the mail and calendar icons. The new icons are more descriptive, although I'm sure we don't all think so.
The jewel in the crown of Vivaldi 7.0: the Dashboard
But, without a doubt, the most notable new feature is what they have called "Dashboard" - we don't know if they will soon put it in other languages as well. It's like a section on the home page full of widgets useful from which already we talked to you a few days ago. The home page already had sections for favorites, history, notes, calendar and mail, but the Dashboard Vivaldi 7.0 takes this to another level.
When we access it, we can see pending tasks, the calendar/time, favorites, a sticky note and even a widget of a web page. At this time, you can add:
- Calendar agenda.
- Latest emails.
- Sticky note.
- Favorites
- Chores.
- Tip of the day.
- Sources.
- Favorite sites.
- Privacy statistics.
- A Web page.
- Date.
There's no denying that it's eye-catching, to the point that I, who have Vivaldi set to open by restoring the last session, doubt that this will be the best option from now on. I'll look into whether there's a way to achieve both: restore the session, but have the Dashboard be the first thing to show after starting.
other developments
Among the other new features, the following stand out: Updates to the font reader, which now allows you to organize them into folders. In my case, and as an example, this will allow me to put the developments I follow in one folder, “GitHub”, “Apps” or something similar, and in another folder, “YouTube”, the channels of the famous video platform. On the other hand, tabs, bookmarks and settings are now instantly synchronized between desktop devices for a much more fluid experience.
The time has been taken to add many bug fixes and updates including a small jump to the Chromium version. But there is nothing to fear if we use extensions based on Manifesto v2; Vivaldi Technologies assures that they will continue to support it until they have no other option.
What I can't help but notice is that the V menu is missing from the screenshots in the release notes. In my Snapshot — beta — it's still there, and I won't know if it's been removed or is still in place until I'm upgraded to the final version.
Vivaldi 7.0 has been announced today October 24th and can now be downloaded from its official website. Also official are the DEB package from its PPA and the snap which should be updated soon. There is a flatpak on Flathub which is maintained by a project contributor but is currently unverified.