Google Chrome is absolutely everywhere, but there's really no reason you should feel compelled
to use it. There are plenty of great alternatives out there with better functionality, better privacy, or better security.
And we're not just talking about caving in to Microsoft's demands and switching to Edge.
Let's look at a few options that are actually interesting, starting with Opera GX.
Normally, we'd be skeptical about any browser marketed
as a gaming browser. I mean, how many gaming accessories have just ended up
being terrible gimmicks with RGB? I would be in pain if I sat in this for too long.
But Opera GX has features that are actually useful.
Probably the biggest draw is the built-in resource limiter.
You can actually set limits for CPU, RAM, and network usage,
and the browser won't exceed those. A great feature if you need to have your browser open
while you're playing a game, but you don't have top-end hardware.
But Opera GX isn't just useful while you're gaming.
It also has a game release calendar and deals aggregator for when it's time to go shopping,
a sidebar that integrates Twitch and Discord, and support for several major RGB ecosystems.
So your PC or your peripherals can switch to a different light pattern to let you know
that a download is finished, for example. You also get Opera's other standard features,
such as a forced dark mode, a pin board, and a free VPN.
But speaking of VPNs, what if you're not much of a gamer and are more concerned about privacy and security?
You might wanna check out LibreWolf, which has no connection to LibreOffice,
but it is a customized version of Firefox, which you may have figured out
as they both have a fuzzy forest animal in the name.
LibreWolf is essentially a hardened version of Firefox,
meaning settings have been tweaked to give you a high degree of security and anonymity.
Some of the changes are fairly straightforward, such as clearing your browser data by default
when you close the browser, but others are a lot more interesting,
such as preventing cookies from tracking you on different websites,
turning off WGL graphics, as these can be used to identify you,
and deleting any tracking information inside of URLs
before loading a page. LibreWolf also does not collect telemetry data.
It doesn't support DRM, and it doesn't use search engines
that track your search history. What it does do is use anti-fingerprinting
that's actually close to what you'd have in the Tor browser, but it's far faster than the Tor browser
since LibreWolf is meant for normal browsing, not accessing the dark web.
But that doesn't mean there aren't performance trade-offs. Certain websites could be affected
with Netflix being a prime example. If you're really concerned about being tracked,
this though is one of the better options out there. But what if you don't need gaming features or ultra security?
Are there any other good reasons to switch away from Chrome? We'd be very much remiss
if we didn't mention Vivaldi, and we're not talking about the violin guy.
Although it is chromium-based, it's heavily modified to be extremely customizable.
For example, if you're a serious multitasker, you can actually stack tabs in multiple rows
and even use your scroll wheel to switch between them, a little easier than all the tedious clicking.
Is the address bar taking away too much real estate? No problem, you can move it around and resize it.
For a more pleasing visual experience, Vivaldi's UI can also be set to match overall colors
of whatever website you're in, similar to the functionality in recent versions of Windows.
You can also disable the button to close tabs, so you never do that accidentally.
You can move the locations of the back and forward buttons and even decide just how rounded
you want the corners of the UI to be, down to the pixel.
So give Vivaldi a try if you like being a total control freak.
But let's say that even after all this, you still like Chrome.
You just don't wanna hand over all your data to Google.
It turns out there's a version of Chrome just for you called un-Googled Chromium,
which is very much what it sounds like. It uses the same Chromium code base
that underpins the regular version of Google Chrome, but it has all Google services stripped out.
Not only is there no default integration with user-facing features like Google Search
or the Google App Sweep, any code that phones home to Google in the background
has also been removed, leaving Google with no ability to track your activity by default.
Although this means a few features such as safe browsing may not work,
it's a compromise you'll probably be fine with if the thought of Google watching you makes you bristle.
Though signing in to Google services manually will of course still work.
I gotta have my sheets. But these are only a few of the many alternative browsers out there.
If you think other viewers would like to know about your favorite, don't hesitate to share in the comments below.
So thanks for watching guys. If you liked this video, hit like. Hit subscribe and hit us up in the comments
with your suggestions for topics that we should cover in the future.