The Zenful Experience of Browsing
Browsers: The Gateway to Internet
Breaking Free from the Chrome's Reign
Browsers can change the way we look at the internet. Influencing how we interact with From ads to pop-ups, from blogs to articles and from music to videos. Opting for a single browser in a digital landscape filled with choices often feels like a battle.
I have forever been using the king of them all - CHROME!! Unaware of the diverse functionalities available in other browsers, and their benefits, I consistently relied on Chrome, due to its simplicity and reliability. Chrome was the status quo and was installed blindly on every device I ever browsed.
History has shown us that browser supremacy is a fleeting throne. Netscape once ruled the 90s until it vanished. Internet Explorer dominated the early 2000s, so much that its successor Edge is still suffering from its success : ). Each browser giant eventually falls. Now Chrome, with its 65%+ market share (as of Feb, 2025), shows similar signs: recent lawsuit for unfair monopoly, Manifest-v3 changes that cripple many extensions and suspicious privacy policies that treat your data like a free candy.
My "Brave" Revelation 🦁
Then came my epiphany – a sudden moment of clarity that made me question the norm and explore new horizons beyond the familiar. I came across this Reddit post that talked about a new browser called Brave. YouTube ad blocking? I was instantly hooked. Blocking ads felt like a secret victory. This exciting discovery launched my quest. I aimed to personalize my browsing and safeguard my online privacy. Then came my epiphany – a sudden moment of clarity that made me question the norm and explore new horizons beyond the familiar. I came across this Reddit post that talked about a new browser called Brave. YouTube ad blocking? I was instantly hooked. Blocking ads felt like a secret victory. This exciting discovery launched my quest. I aimed to personalize my browsing and safeguard my online privacy.
Brave felt perfect! It was built on the same Chromium engine as Chrome. It was privacy-focused, had built-in ad-blocker. The browser was fast, the ad-blocker was effective and the privacy features were top-notch. The experience was refreshing.
Brave's approach sometimes deviated from its initial vision of a vibrant, private, and open platform. The cryptocurrency integration, search engine, and sponsored content. The promotion of Brave VPN also played a role. Most of all, the reliance on Chromium. A shift was due. I explored many browsers, searching for a superior alternative. I tested many browsers online. None offered a better replacement. Brave's approach sometimes deviated from its initial vision of a vibrant, private, and open platform. The cryptocurrency integration, search engine, and sponsored content. The promotion of Brave VPN also played a role. Most of all, the reliance on Chromium. A shift was due. I explored many browsers, searching for a superior alternative. I tested many browsers online. None offered a better replacement.
The Truly Zenful Experience
About 6 months ago, a new browser was in town Zen. Honestly I would not have recommended the alpha builds back then, they were buggy and sluggish. It lacked the finishing touches. As of now zen is in beta and it already feels refinded. Open-source, privacy-focused, and built on the Gecko engine. The truly open source stack.
What I like is the fact that they are not trying to re-invent the wheel and build a new browser from the ground up like LadyBird. Rather, They're addressing features users have long desired.
Few design choices that I would really like to call out are, Few design choices that I would really like to call out are,
- Workspace driven approach: Organize your tabs and pins in workspaces specific to your task/needs.
- Container Tabs: Keep different browsing contexts separate, allowing you to manage multiple accounts on the same site in the same workspace in the same browser window.
- Customizable UI: You can move the address bar to the bottom, change the tab layout, change the color scheme.
- Mods Support: Coming from the customization, mods are developed by community members to support any custom theme or features, making it truly customizable for your own liking.
- Tab Management: You get to choose between Essentials and Pinned tabs. Essentials tab will maintain between workspaces and are tabs which you want to keep open all the time. Pinned tabs are workspace specific and can change from workspace to workspace.
Yet, the browser remains in beta as of today, and has some rough corners, like the lack of tab folder, some random bugs (which are fixed somewhat quickly). I really appreciate the active community and developers on reddit discussing these features and bugs. Get started on your Zen journey today.
Future Outlook
Zen promises a good future, and it will only keep getting better when it reaches a stable release. It really does have the potential to spice up the browser war. LadyBird seems to be something I would be keeping my eye on, "a truly independent browser" as they say. I am excited to see where the browser war goes from here.
