First beta version of Vivaldi web browser released

After four technical previews, the first beta version of Vivaldi has been released. The web browser, aimed at power users, now includes full extension support and has HTML5 video support.

Vivaldi is a new web browser developed by Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder of Opera and CEO of that company until 2010. Four technical previews of Vivaldi have appeared since early 2015, now the software makers have released a first beta version. In the announcement, the developers outlined all the new features added over the last preview. Major improvements include support for extensions and HTML5 video with h264 encoding. Also new are the private window, support for geolocations, and improved scrolling rendering.

von Tetzchner tells Techcrunch that the team is working towards a final release. In terms of functionality, Vivaldi is almost complete, the focus is now on fixing bugs. The goal of the makers is to make Vivaldi a fast, powerful and customizable web browser, which should especially appeal to power users. For example, it is possible to set keyboard commands yourself and to view different websites simultaneously in one window.

Vivaldi is based on Chromium and is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.