kirk781

I have Waterfox setup as an alternative browser but it does not have much stuff to differentiate itself from mainstream FF, as you said.

Firefox can do so too with TST or one of the other extensions in the store. Sometimes(atleast for me), they introduce slightly more lag when opening the browser but otherwise, they can do much of the job. I use Tree Style Tabs even though I might not be a power user of it (read:not actively using every nitty gritty of the extension).

I think I remember Opera Mini's layout though I didn't much use it. It was a great alternative especially on mobile more than a decade back.

But yes especially after changing ownership, switching browser engines and years down the line; things have changed.

I think I gave their desktop variant a try sometime ago but didn't find it compelling enough. I haven't even used their Android fork. I keep using a Firefox fork only :p.

I think 4K is only available on Edge on Windows for Netflix. I never bothered with 4K since that's above and beyond my device's native resolution but I didn't have too positive a experience with Netflix, IMO.

I just want to watch something in full HD without intermittent streaming or buffering. Legal streaming services including Netflix treat one like a criminal by forcing them to watch in a Web browser with constant Internet connectivity forced upon them. I can use keyboard shortcuts to increase playback speed by 0.1x each time in mpv, does Netflix allow me to do the same? No, instead it gives me a dusty experience.

I gave Vivaldi a try way back in its early days when I was on Windows. IIRC, it was bundled with lots of features even then and I think, for some weird reason, had Philips Hue Lighting support integrated (unless I am really confusing it with something other, this is multiple years old experience of mine).

I used it as my main browser for Atleast couple of months then.

I am surprised they abandoned it. It was originally launched as a macOS variant only, correct? And Mac users praised it a lot, on the Web. I thought with that level of traction they will keep going.

In contrast, there are projects that have a much lower user base though vocal (read: Pale Moon) and despite struggling with half of the available modern Web pages, those projects still keep going.

Many sites have become worse. I think stuff like Cnet, PCMag (which still has a digital magazine I think)were much better in the previous era.

I will give Zen browser a try. As for Netflix, I only used it for a one month since it's quite expensive in my country and it crawled like anything on Firefox for Linux. I was getting consistent 720p video but not sure about full HD. Eventually I canceled it.

Opera also was a good alternative on Symbian phones right or whatever OS Nokia used before they switched to Windows Phone, I think.

I think the greatest hindrance to /e/ is the fact that so few devices are supported. The article lists Fairphone as a supported device but that doesn't retail in my country. Most Chinese OEMs (that form the bulk in my nation) won't be supported by it. I have had a Nokia and a Samsung but even those two models are nope. One would need to go with the express purpose of installing alternative OS's and then purchase supported phones like Pixel probably, if they wanna indulge in this. But normal people aren't gonna do this. They are going to purchase the phone that fits the price vs performance ratio for them rather than alternative OS criterion.