When I got this laptop (HP Pavilion) it came with Win 10 installed. Although I’d heard many negative things about Win 10 but what the hey, at least give it a chance. Actually it wasn’t the negative experience I thought it would be, at least after I’d removed a lot of bloatware that came with it. Somewhere I’d found or patched together a Powershell script to delete bits and pieces I didn’t want and I didn’t even mind the experience of MS’s pre-Chromium Edge browser. Different and not chrome.
Now also with this laptop also came an HP programme “HP Support Assistant“. Probably more akin to HTA’s I used to write in the early 2000’s for IE actually. It always opened my default browser to an HP page showing various messages, diagnostic tools and computer / driver updates. It sits on my Taskbar and occasionally sets a flag showing me how many messages there are (I have been ignoring).
Well today I opened it to check on a new new message and guess what? If you read the title you win today’s prize…
MS Edge Hijacks default browser
You guessed right and your prize is <sarcasm> “in the mail” </sarcasm>! Yes Microsoft in it’s infinite wisdom has thought for me and pre-empted my opening this location in my default browser, which you all know by now is something far more useful as a browser, Vivaldi and is telling me how much better off I’d be opening this site with their browser. Hah !!
Yesterday I wrote about the time lost to Microsoft Updates on my WordPress site and just one day later I have another complaint. I am sure this Hijacking by Microsoft contravenes many anti-monopoly laws worldwide, possibly (probably) even here in Canada.
P.S. So far this has only happened with this particular application, actually a ‘Shortcut’ or .lnk file. There is probably not much I can do about it but rant as these files are controlled by the System. I am just waiting for Microsoft to do more thinking for me and telling me to use Edge…
When I tried to log into gmail account it told me I had to give my birthdate. It further stated it was the Law. Well I declined. They already have my name, location and Lord knows what the h*ll else they’ve collected about me since 2004(?)*.
I verified this was actually a Grumble page then clicked on the link that would explain why they needed such info. It explained nothing to me regarding why I needed to provide my birthdate or what Law required them to collect this information.
I clicked that the page was Not Helpful and left a comment that: there was no Law in Canada requiring me to provide my birthdate and furthermore as a Canadian citizen, living in Canada, there is no requirement for me to provide this info.
As a Vivaldi Ambassador I have fielded a few questions regarding Tabs. Many new users seem to have difficulty when in the Tabs portion of the Settings. I may not clarify it fully but will give my take on Tabs and how I got to use them as I do. For that we have have to jump into my Tardis and go back to when my Primary Browser was Opera (pre version 13). Onto my Tardis and back a few years.
Now that were here, I must explain I am a wee bit OCD and like all my tools in the same place. Just as my browser has always been a much used tool I wanted it to be the same every time I entered it. Also because I was Internet Paranoid I Cleared the Cache, Cookies and everything else I could each time I closed the browser.
Early Tab Preferences
At that time there weren’t too many options. To keep to my way of working I preferred only the following (from Opera > Tools > Preferences Tabs is the first item): – Cycling in recently used order – When closing a Tab, go to the Last Active Tab, or Speed Dial (Do Not Close the Browser) – Open New Tab next to active tab Additional Tab Options: – Always Maximize – Click to Minimize – Always show Close Button
Opera also contained “about:config” with a Tabs section which added Preferences for the Mail Tab, for Persistent Storage and User Prefs.
Now to the subject at hand, Vivaldi
Back into my Tardis, flick a switch and return to the present using Vivaldi. Below is sort of what a normal Tabbed Vivaldi page would look like today. Usually two windows open in different workspaces, one for email and search and the other for Speed Dial or Bookmarked pages I am reading. Even with only four tabs open I can see the value of Stacking some of my tabs and keeping my interests separate but organized in a fashion I can fathom.
Screenshot…
We can easily see that so far today I haven’t read CBC News yet by the wee “dog-ear” (Use Un-read Indicators option) at the top right of the Tab; that I am at a page for an RTL SDR Scanner Download and there are other Related Tabs (Always Activate Related Tab option) stacked above it; then the Vivaldi Forum Tab. There is some method behind my madness (in my mind): – I prefer the Horizontal Menu Bar; my fingers just know where they’re going if using mouse or trackpad (Keyboard Shortcuts are my usual method getting to what I want) – (Optional) If you don’t use and want to try the Horizontal Menu Bar just click on the Vivaldi V icon, select View and Horizontal Menu Bar is at the top of the Menu items – Although I do like the new Tab Stacking my preference is to use the Always Activate Related Tab option as it give me a tad more screen real estate with double stacking together with extra space used by the Menu Bar
Also I have a full series of Web Panels ranging from Open Street Map to Markdown help pages. If you don’t know it yet you can turn any of these into Tabs or Windows at any time by Right Clicking and choosing what you want. Below are screenshots of my Tab options. I hope these may give a new user a Tab starting point and exploration from there is possible.
Tab Options More Tab OptionsEven more options. You can get to all these options from the Gear or ( vivaldi://settings/tabs/ )
Keep in mind there are still many Tab options I have yet to explore. I just set things up with Vivaldi’s Alpha edition for my own preferences and to suit my workflow at the time… Things have changed greatly since then. There was a suggestion about trying Tabs on the side. I did try it for a few days but my old brain couldn’t adjust to that style. Had to revert to the top again.
Also below are just a few of the Web Panels I have available. Some open easily to side but others need to be opened in a new Tab or Window. These options are available, just like the browser opening a New Tab, New Window or Private Window.
WebPanels, from Left, Markdown Help, Panel Open Options and Vivaldi URLs
Vivaldi’s latest Community posts regarding their new Version 3.6 Explains a lot of the above but I thought I’d throw in my personal way of using this marvelous web browser.
There has been a bump in the road forcing me to find new space to publish random thoughts, ideas, comments and rants. Since the spaces at myOpera will cease to exist in early 2014 I’ll be selectively importing various topics and creating new ones… (Next, I now have linux installed on my desktop)
I am in the process of migrating my digital musings (few though they are) from myOpera to WP…
That space is Under Construction but Hard Hat and Safety Boots not required.
Although I am not a prolific poster, I have enjoyed being here. It iswas a good place.
A place where I can write about my hobbies, interests, current events, b%tch and complain and even post a few fotos I’ve taken. I’ve been taking photographs for, well let’s just say it’s a long time, perhaps it’s time I published a few… Currently I am looking into taking some courses in creative writing and perhaps drawing. Also I’m studying more and more about computers, especially security issues, helping friends with computer problems (file restoration, virus/malware/spyware cleaning and investigating different flavours of Linux.
