After leaving Opera Software ASA in 2010, Jon von Tetzchner didn't expect to be back in the browser-building game. But dissatisfaction with current browser options has resulted in today's launch of Vivaldi 1.0, which boasts the most powerful tab-management features around and a Notes feature similar to that in Microsoft's Edge browser.

The Vivaldi browser has been downloaded over 1 million times in pre-release builds, and though Version 1 goes final today, von Tetzchner and his geographically far-flung team plan many more feature additions, including an email reader, a syncing feature, and mobile app versions.

Browsers that aren't tied to a big tech platform company have a hard time taking hold. Firefox is the notable exception, nabbing nearly 25 percent of browser market share at its high point. But Opera struggles with less than 2 percent share, and the social-centric Flock was retired. None of that stops Opera founder von Tetzchner, who thinks the world is craving a more customizable Web browser.

For those who aren't familiar with Opera, the Norway-based browser firm was responsible for innovations that are standard fare in all Web browsers today, including basics like built-in search and tabs.

"After I left Opera, the idea of building another browser was not on my list," von Tetzchner said in a Skype demo with PCMag yesterday. "But a couple of years later, it was clear that Opera was going in a different direction."

Opera decided to strip away extras the browser had been known for in the trend towards minimalist interfaces and a one-size-fits-all approach. As an extreme example, at one point, Opera was the only browser in the world that lacked a bookmark feature.

With Vivaldi, von Tetzchner aims to bring back all the bells and whistles in a super customizable, feature-packed browser. And since it's built on top of the same Chromium engine that powers Google Chrome, Vivaldi gets all the speed, compatibility, and even extension capabilities found in the search giant's browser.

Distinguishing Features

Vivaldi actually presents a very simple user interface, but the more you dig into it the more customizability and options you'll find, according to von Tetzchner. Tab functionality sets Vivaldi apart from other browsers perhaps more than anything else. Tab Stacks, Tab Stack Tiling, and Sessions (which saves groups of tabs for later use), all let demanding users organize and group tabs with nearly boundless control. Tab tiling lets you see multiple webpages in one browser window at the same time—something surprisingly lacking in today's browsers, considering today's widescreen monitors.

Bookmarking is a strength as well: You can get to your bookmarks from side-panel buttons, from the bookmark bar, or from the Opera-esque Speed Dial, which shows up on new tabs with helpful suggestions of sites to visit. Another tool inherited from Opera is Mouse Gestures, which let you do things like go back in browser history by holding the right mouse button and swiping right to left.

A nifty interface feature is Web Panels, which lets you keep a site, usually a reference site like Wikipedia, pinned to a side panel. In a neat trick, it uses the mobile version of a site, if one's available, so it won't look bad in the narrow panel.

The Notes feature lets you annotate a website with the option to add a file or screenshot. Unlike Microsoft Edge's Annotation feature, though, it doesn't let you mark up and highlight the webpage or share to social networks, online storage, or email. But Vivaldi notes are saved and associated with the active page.

Customization Galore

Customization starts right when you first run Vivaldi after installing it. You go through a short wizard in which you select color patterns, tab bar position (it can be on the top, left, right, or bottom), and start page background. Dig into the Settings page, and you'll be blown away by how precisely you can tune tab behavior, window appearance, keyboard functions, fonts, and much more.

Vivaldi is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, in 32-bit versions, with an experimental 64-bit version in the works. You can try it out for yourself and customize it to the hilt by downloading it from vivaldi.com. As for the name, it turns out that the composer Vivaldi wrote some fine operas as well as The Four Seasons, so perhaps this lesser-known browser can appeal to similarly refined tastes. Look for a review of Vivaldi in PCMag.com in the coming days to find out if it's destined to be a classic.