Vivaldi 8 polishes the chrome without coating it in AI

Personal Tech

Unified UI revamp gives browser a cleaner look while rivals keep wedging assistants into the web

Vivaldi’s eponymous browser has reached version 8, with a major revamp of the user interface.

The company refers to the redesign as “Unified” and describes it as “a rethinking of how the Vivaldi interface works as a system.” Where before the browser’s core elements – tabs, toolbars, panels, and content – existed as separate layers, everything is now one single continuous surface.

It’s easy on the eye, though you can switch back to the previous design. The company has added several default themes and has a vast library of community-generated themes available. There are also layouts that can be selected during onboarding or in settings. These range from minimalist to fully loaded setups packed with Vivaldi’s familiar controls and settings.

Don’t come looking for a list of new features, though. Vivaldi has loaded up the browser with gizmos over the years, and the redesign highlights some of those. A recent example is the auto-hide feature, which removes browser fluff to show more content.

The company wrote: “While the rest of the browser industry has spent recent years racing to force artificial intelligence between people and the web, Vivaldi has taken a different path, adding tools that give users more power to explore the web and decide for themselves.

“One big, crazy strategy: putting the users first.”

That’s not to say Vivaldi is AI-free, though CEO Jon von Tetzchner was less than complimentary about many of its applications in a January Register interview. The browser uses AI for translation, for example, but the company has not slathered the technology across the product in the way some rivals have. Microsoft’s Edge, also a Chromium browser, recently received updates that removed Copilot Mode in favor of more built-in Copilot features. The assistant can look across multiple tabs, surface key details, and reason based on browsing history and past chats.

Bruce Lawson, self-described Regulator Botherer at Vivaldi, told The Register: “Microsoft retiring Copilot Mode isn’t a retreat, it’s an escalation. They’re not removing the AI, they’re embedding it into the browser so deeply that it’s everywhere, all the time, with no off switch. That’s not a feature. That’s a takeover.

“Our stance is clear: when you outsource exploration to an artificial agent, you’re not browsing anymore, you’re being browsed.” ®