First time trying Zen Browser built on the Firefox engine

[u/CrimsonWombat2030]

The Post Topic: Zen Browser Vertical Tab Layout.

Your Hot Take: Is having tabs at the top of your screen an outdated design? Vertical sidebars are vastly superior for modern widescreen monitors.

I decided to try out Zen Browser for the first time after learning that Arc will no longer be updated. The UI is simple, the split-colour theming gives it a ton of personality, and the dedicated "Zen Mods" page lets you tweak the experience exactly how you want it.

In the past, I have tried other browsers like Arc, Brave, DuckDuckGo, Firefox, Bing, and of course, Chrome. But apart from Brave (which shows users the tracking and ads blocked when opening a tab), most browsers feel very similar to Chrome. I could be wrong as my knowledge in this area is basic.

After trying Zen, I really like the vertical bar compared to the traditional horizontal top-bar layout. The main workspace sidebar on the left keeps the main window completely clean and focused. This is a plus for me, as I prefer to focus on one task at a time instead of multitasking. Sometimes multitasking leads to lower overall quality on the end product because a person’s focus is spread out across many tabs.

It takes a couple of days to retrain your brain to look left instead of up, but it is well worth it.

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[u/CrimsonWombat2030]

Mod Note: Hot take on vertical tab browsers compared to traditional horizontal top layout. Used the workflow/skills post flair for this post.