As 2017 draws to a close, I reflect on all that has happened this year. Vivaldi has evolved. That didn’t happen overnight. The years of patiently working on building a personal and flexible browser with all of you have helped us reach this far. I am grateful for the amazing work our Vivaldi team, Sopranos, translators, volunteers, and supporters have accomplished.
As I look back at this incredible year, the words that stuck with me are “Keep Shipping” and “Do the Right Thing”.
Keep Shipping
With seven powerful releases this year we continued to redefine browsing. Each stable update rolled out new, differentiating features that are built natively into Vivaldi. Like us, you may have noticed other mainstream browsers changing course this year, adding more functionality.
We hope that the new features we released this year – such as a reimagined History tool, built-in screenshot Capture, Window Panel and others – have brought even more efficiency and usefulness to your browser.
New accessibility features and more meaningful ways to search the web are fitting examples of our core philosophy in action. The user comes first and all of this impressive work can only happen with your consistent feedback.
We showed our innovative and playful side as well. Our icon had a squircly facelift; we made Vivaldi available on the Linux-based ARM devices including the Raspberry Pi; and, after months of burning the midnight oil, Sync arrived in one of our Snapshots only a month ago.
All this means that we’ve got some work to do next year to top it 🙂
Our community has grown to be a family of close to 200,000 members. We grew from one hundred thousand to this number in less than six months. Remarkable! The overhaul of vivaldi.net marked a new beginning of a great blogging space for you to share your ideas and it’s great to see it picking up steam.
2018 is already looking great with Sync, progress on mobile and giant strides in developing the integrated Vivaldi Mail client. We are getting a lot right, but we are aware we are on a journey. We have more to learn and further improvements to make, and with your support, together we look forward to taking Vivaldi to new heights.
Do the Right Thing
We dared to speak up against the anti-competitive practices of companies like Microsoft and Google. We spoke fiercely on pressing issues related to our privacy, data collection and the terrifying level of tracking that has become commonplace. “Internet for All” – a mantra that’s true to our core inspired us to stand up and do the right thing. We joined hands with hundreds of companies in the (ongoing) fight for Net Neutrality.
It is essential that we continue to be a part of respectful and open debates on the things we care about. Not just in public, but also at dinner tables, with our spouses, our kids, our families, and friends. No matter which issues are top of your mind, doing the right thing is not always difficult. Sometimes all it takes is to speak up.
Flying the Vivaldi Flag
It is fulfilling to see more and more users embracing Vivaldi, and spreading the good word about what we do. Inspired by this, I traveled extensively this year on media tours and for various conferences in Portugal, Estonia, US, UK, Germany, Belgium, Poland, Norway, and Austria. Talking to people from across the globe about how we work to build a user-centric product in close relationship with our passionate community is exhilarating. Giving back to our users is part of our identity. During this season of giving, there is always something to celebrate.
Take a look at how we’re ending the year with a bang.
I’d love to know your favorite Vivaldi moment this year in the comments below. Before I sign off, I’d like to say, take some time off and focus on yourself and the people you love the most. Have some wonderful days with your families, recharge your batteries to take on 2018 and see you soon with that very same spirit that helped us succeed in 2017.
Catch a few fun moments of our Vivaldi team below.
Happy Holidays! Here’s to 2018.
