So i've been using Opera GX on macOS Big Sur and Windows 10 for about 3 weeks now. I like all the features that come with it and I'm a person that really appreciates the gaming news, sidebar & apps, and the workspaces. A lot.
I switched over from Google Chrome mainly for the RAM, GPU, and CPU limiters/monitors, but also for the customizations and workspaces. On Chrome I had 5 windows with around 10 tabs each, all nicely condensed now into 1 window with 4 workspaces (and about 10 tabs each).
I think it would be great to include a toggle or two to turn the sidebar and GX corner off for those that don't use those features and find them more of a nuisance than anything.
However, as someone who uses those features, i think it would be really great to add lets say 2 more workspaces to bring up from 4 to 6.
I've also been noticing that Opera GX has a harder time running on Big Sur than it does on Windows 10. I don't know if this is an optimization issue or not, but it does worry me that my MacBook Pro is kicking into higher gear to run things like youtube on the browser, whereas on Chrome it doesn't break a sweat. On my Windows partition, Opera GX runs just fine and my MacBook doesn't struggle. However, as nice as it would be to use the Windows side instead, all of my work is done on the macOS side. I know I've mentioned I have so many tabs open all the time at once too, but I also keep the setting turned on to not load those pages actively unless I'm on them or they're actually running something which does help make things run smoother.
I did notice also that on macOS, i don't have any issues with customization of the browser, whereas in Windows 10, some of the settings I change don't actually stick.
And I guess last thing I have on my mind, I am an avid dark-mode user, white screens really hurts my eyes so I'm very glad for the 'force dark mode' feature. My only issue is that some pages don't switch very well, as in it'll force the background of pages dark, but I can't read or see anything because it doesn't compensate for the dark text on sites or pages that don't naturally have a dark-mode option embedded within them. Of course its not always an issue, but there are plenty of times where it is.
Otherwise, i do really enjoy the little things like the ad and tracer blockers built-in so I don't have to look for plug-ins. I really enjoy the background music and sound effects a lot, though it would be cool if there were more SFX options. I plan on trying out the VPN sometime soon to watch foreign media.