I’ve come to an appreciation for the ZEN Browser. While I still think it’s not an option for a small screen (laptop), for a larger screen utilizing a desktop PC, it’s really good.
The tabs on either side of the browser make it rather useless on a laptop. Yes, I know you can “autohide” the tab sidebar. But that’s not something I want. I need to be able to see the tabs at all times. And on a large screen, that works just fine. My 33" Samsung Smart Monitor makes ZEN quite usable. I’m really liking ZEN.
Yeah it seems pretty cool, but I haven’t tried to main it yet. Still a few hiccups here and there, but like what they are doing. Still need to keep an eye on how fast they adopt upstream releases though.
I thought it would have been better on the small screen to have vertical tabs versus the traditional horizontal? It gives you that little bit of extra vertical screen space.
It’s my default since October, while being in alpha, when it replaced my Floorp . They DO follow upstream releases, maybe faster than chromium-based browsers ran by commercial companies.
I run it on laptops & as to its side panel being hungry on screen estate, I need nothing more than seeing just the icons, not the whole text. Just like what the case is with regular top barred browsers.
After all, it looks like Floorp or Vivaldi with both of which I’m accustomed to, anyway.
Besides that, I also fancy playing with Zen store & spicy things up from time to time.
What is your take to the long term? The project was started by a student, and it seems he has had a brilliant idea. But what happens when he graduates and moves to a demanding job?
For me, browsers aren’t really a long-term concern. The switching cost is really low and you can easily change to a different browser if/when there is an issue.
The issue exists for almost all browsers. Even those supported by a bigger team can fall into disrepair over time or adopt policies I don’t agree with.
If it is a primary concern for you, you are best off using firefox or chrome/chromium. Almost everything else is a derivative of one of those two.
Good point. In principle you are right, but there are those – I don’t know if the OP is among them, I certainly am not – who do care about the longevity of a browser.
I do care about the longevity of a browser. Having said that, I knew what I might be in for when I first tried out ZEN. My daily driver is Librewolf, has been for years. But I’m contuing to enjoy ZEN from time-to-time.
I tried Zen too when it was very young. I was impressive by how well it seemed to function so early on. I enjoyed it till I discovered some of its wonkiness.
Having said that, I do not condemn it, I think it has a lot of potential, and I keep it installed and up-to-date. But as far as I am concerned, it is not ready yet for show time.
I’ve been using it the last couple days exclusively to see how it feels using it as a daily driver. While I still prefer Liberewolf, I’m not suffering any “wonkiness” to speak of.
Been using Zen pretty much as a Daily for the past few months now and I have had only good experiences with it. As far as Longevity this is Software Not much last that long in this realm. Since Zen is still in Alpha I don’t do monetary purchase’s through it yet however I use it for most other task these days.
I’ve tried Zen back when it was first released to the public. I didn’t really have issues with it, but I don’t like vertical tabs and there doesn’t seem to be an option for horizontal tabs (at least it wasn’t back then), so for me, it has failed. I’m using Ungoogled Chromium nowadays.
It’s been in its Beta phase for some time, now. And as useless info, I do use it for paying bills, purchases, dealing with state/tax sites & so on.
TBH, I don’t think Zen’s a lot more than Firefox+sidebery+ a few in-house-built goodies…
There’s even a Sidebery (Zen) add-on for Firefox, aside the official one
I look at it the same I do as moving my taskbar to the right (which I do), I have a widescreen monitor, far more available horizonal space than vertical. Side tabs (while hard to stomach initially) make more sense in my world.
Yeah, I know, but I’m just more used to horizontal tabs. I close tabs that I don’t need anymore, so I don’t have an issue with tabs being clogged up and whatnot. I know a lot of people prefer vertical tabs, but I’m personally more than fine with tabs being horizontal.
