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Since it's the only way to differentiate in a Chromium-dominated market, Vivaldi 4.1 introduces 'Accordion' tabs

Do the browser polka

Browser maker Vivaldi has introduced Accordion Tabs in version 4.1 – yet another way to deal with tab overload.

The functionality joins Compact and Two-Level in the array of Tab Stack styles available to users needing help with their tab habit.

The Accordion style is all about preserving vertical screen space since it allows a Tab Stack (a group of tabs) to be collapsed or expanded with a click. Two-Level stacking, which fires up a secondary row of tabs, is neat but also swallows up a bit of precious screen space.

Thankfully, the asthmatic wheezing of the musical instrument is not heard as Vivaldi's user interface does its stuff. And far be it for us to draw a link between the occasionally annoying drone of an accordion and the irritation of too many tabs in a browser.

Vivaldi's Tab Stacks differ from the groups found in Google's Chrome by their ease of use. Rather than manually creating a group, tabs are simply dragged and dropped onto each other. It's all very intuitive. With the Accordion mode, one can either click on the collapsed tab (normally showing the name of the last tab in the stack viewed) or an arrow to make the group spring out horizontally.

As with much of the browser, the stacking mode can be switched via one of the occasionally bewildering array of options.

Perhaps more interesting for customisation fanatics is the inclusion of what looks like a macro mode in the form of Command Chains. The function lurks within the Quick Commands settings page and permits, as the name suggests, commands to be chained together (with parameters and delays).

Over 200 commands are available for chaining, although we noted at least one duplicate (Quit Vivaldi – apparently a bug) and the list is not sorted, meaning typing in the required command is usually the simplest approach. There is also precious little help immediately on offer with regard to what a given command does (other than its name). Then again, if you've a desire to set up your own command chains, you probably have a vague idea of what you want already.

Other tweaks in the release include silent updates for Windows (something that can be disabled) and a raft of fixes, including a number for the mail and calendar betas. ®

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