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Google Chrome is absolutely everywhere, but there's really no reason you should feel compelled

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to use it. There are plenty of great alternatives out there with better functionality, better privacy, or better security.

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And we're not just talking about caving in to Microsoft's demands and switching to Edge.

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Let's look at a few options that are actually interesting, starting with Opera GX.

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Normally, we'd be skeptical about any browser marketed

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as a gaming browser. I mean, how many gaming accessories have just ended up

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being terrible gimmicks with RGB? I would be in pain if I sat in this for too long.

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But Opera GX has features that are actually useful.

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Probably the biggest draw is the built-in resource limiter.

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You can actually set limits for CPU, RAM, and network usage,

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and the browser won't exceed those. A great feature if you need to have your browser open

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while you're playing a game, but you don't have top-end hardware.

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But Opera GX isn't just useful while you're gaming.

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It also has a game release calendar and deals aggregator for when it's time to go shopping,

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a sidebar that integrates Twitch and Discord, and support for several major RGB ecosystems.

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So your PC or your peripherals can switch to a different light pattern to let you know

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that a download is finished, for example. You also get Opera's other standard features,

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such as a forced dark mode, a pin board, and a free VPN.

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But speaking of VPNs, what if you're not much of a gamer and are more concerned about privacy and security?

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You might wanna check out LibreWolf, which has no connection to LibreOffice,

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but it is a customized version of Firefox, which you may have figured out

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as they both have a fuzzy forest animal in the name.

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LibreWolf is essentially a hardened version of Firefox,

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meaning settings have been tweaked to give you a high degree of security and anonymity.

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Some of the changes are fairly straightforward, such as clearing your browser data by default

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when you close the browser, but others are a lot more interesting,

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such as preventing cookies from tracking you on different websites,

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turning off WGL graphics, as these can be used to identify you,

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and deleting any tracking information inside of URLs

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before loading a page. LibreWolf also does not collect telemetry data.

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It doesn't support DRM, and it doesn't use search engines

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that track your search history. What it does do is use anti-fingerprinting

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that's actually close to what you'd have in the Tor browser, but it's far faster than the Tor browser

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since LibreWolf is meant for normal browsing, not accessing the dark web.

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But that doesn't mean there aren't performance trade-offs. Certain websites could be affected

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with Netflix being a prime example. If you're really concerned about being tracked,

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this though is one of the better options out there. But what if you don't need gaming features or ultra security?

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Are there any other good reasons to switch away from Chrome? We'd be very much remiss

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if we didn't mention Vivaldi, and we're not talking about the violin guy.

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Although it is chromium-based, it's heavily modified to be extremely customizable.

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For example, if you're a serious multitasker, you can actually stack tabs in multiple rows

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and even use your scroll wheel to switch between them, a little easier than all the tedious clicking.

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Is the address bar taking away too much real estate? No problem, you can move it around and resize it.

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For a more pleasing visual experience, Vivaldi's UI can also be set to match overall colors

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of whatever website you're in, similar to the functionality in recent versions of Windows.

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You can also disable the button to close tabs, so you never do that accidentally.

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You can move the locations of the back and forward buttons and even decide just how rounded

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you want the corners of the UI to be, down to the pixel.

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So give Vivaldi a try if you like being a total control freak.

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But let's say that even after all this, you still like Chrome.

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You just don't wanna hand over all your data to Google.

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It turns out there's a version of Chrome just for you called un-Googled Chromium,

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which is very much what it sounds like. It uses the same Chromium code base

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that underpins the regular version of Google Chrome, but it has all Google services stripped out.

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Not only is there no default integration with user-facing features like Google Search

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or the Google App Sweep, any code that phones home to Google in the background

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has also been removed, leaving Google with no ability to track your activity by default.

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Although this means a few features such as safe browsing may not work,

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it's a compromise you'll probably be fine with if the thought of Google watching you makes you bristle.

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Though signing in to Google services manually will of course still work.

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I gotta have my sheets. But these are only a few of the many alternative browsers out there.

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If you think other viewers would like to know about your favorite, don't hesitate to share in the comments below.

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So thanks for watching guys. If you liked this video, hit like. Hit subscribe and hit us up in the comments

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with your suggestions for topics that we should cover in the future.