Vivaldi browser hits 500,000 downloads in first 10 days

The new Vivaldi internet browser was downloaded 500,000 times in its first 10 days of operation, the company told Reuters on Friday.

The new Vivaldi internet browser was downloaded 500,000 times in its first 10 days of operation, the company told Reuters on Friday.

Launched on Jan. 27 for desktop computers, Vivaldi targets users who conduct a large number of searches, offering features like speed dials, personalised notes and bookmarks with small screen shots.

'It's a very high number, especially if you consider that it's still a technical preview,' founder and Chief Executive Jon von Tetzchner said.

When launching the browser, von Tetzchner, who owns 90 percent of the company, said it only needed 'a few million users' to become profitable in a market dominated by household names like Google's Chrome, Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Mozilla Corp's Firefox, Apple's Safari and Opera Software.

So far Vivaldi has been made available for desktop computers on Windows, Mac and Linux, with a mobile and tablet version in the pipeline.