Lightweight browser for weak computers - what to choose? How to configure your browser. What is the fastest browser for a weak computer?

Due to my duty, I have to maintain several computers of very respectable age in working order. In terms of hardware, this is not difficult - fortunately, machines produced 10 years ago are often assembled (soldered) better than modern consumer goods. But in terms of software, the task is more difficult. The biggest headache for me is antiviruses and browsers. Both of them are very hungry for RAM, which, alas, is in short supply (for the last 1.5 years, the budget for upgrading computers at school has been approaching zero, and a small upgrade can only be done if the old hardware completely fails). Meanwhile, it is highly advisable to update both the antivirus and the browser periodically. We'll talk about choosing an antivirus some other time, but today I'll try to find the fastest browser for old computers.

First, a little background. Until recently, I installed the old Opera 12 on all old computers. But, alas, one fine day, this once wonderful browser began to display crookedly a vital site - an electronic magazine. Well, I had to say goodbye to the old Opera and look for alternatives.

First of all, of course, I checked how the fresh Opera would behave on old machines. Alas, as expected, Opera 30 (this version was current at the time of my experiment) behaved like a typical Chromium browser: it consumed a lot of memory, forcing the computer to swap heavily (IDE disk, heh...). Things were a little better with other standard chrome clones (Yandex.Browser, Chrome itself). The latest Firefox 40 behaves relatively well, but it has obvious problems with interface rendering (it slows down) and memory consumption is still quite high (especially when opening 2-3 tabs). Well, since the browsers known to everyone cannot cope with the task, let’s try different exotic ones.

Part 1. Looking for a fast browser in the Chromium camp

I was pleasantly surprised in terms of speed. Being an add-on to Internet Explorer, it works very quickly and does not eat up too much memory. But, alas, all this happiness is available only on Windows 7, and my weakest machines run Windows XP. No, the mentioned SlimBrowser works great under Windows XP, but the IE8 engine, alas, is hopelessly outdated and is not much different in rendering quality from the same Opera 12-.

Next, I decided to try out “unusual” variations on the Chromium theme. There were as many as three candidates. The first of them is . It is positioned by the developers as a light and fast browser. In general, this statement is true - for a chromo clone, Midori is indeed quite light and fast. But, unfortunately, on computers with 1 gigabyte of RAM (and even more so with 512 megabytes) it is not light enough.
The second candidate is Chinese. The younger brother of the well-known Maxthon was born about a year ago. In essence, it is Chromium stripped to the limit. It really works quite quickly, but it still consumes a lot of memory. I would recommend it rather as an addition to the main browser on normal machines (when you need to quickly read something without waiting for the main browser to load - Nitro loads almost instantly). But this browser is not suitable for older computers.

Finally, the last Chrome in my experiment is the OpenSource project. The developer positions it as a successor to the good old Opera, but on a modern engine (guess which one?). True, from a technical point of view, this browser is built a little differently - it does not create a separate process for each sneeze. This feature allows Otter (and this is how the name of the browser is translated from English) to save memory quite well. In terms of speed and functionality, Otter is also doing pretty well. But, alas, it is still very crude and not stable enough for everyday use. And the interface, to be honest, leaves much to be desired... Besides, Otter is essentially a one-man show (in the sense of a developer) and, alas, there is almost no hope for quickly bringing the project to a digestible state.

Otter Browser. In the depths of the tundra Otter in spats...

Part 2. Looking for a fast browser in the Gecko camp

Well, since the Chrome community can’t please us with anything in terms of speed, let’s try to turn to the second opposing side and look at browsers based on the Gecko engine. This engine is no less popular among developers, although it has its own specifics. If browsers based on Chromium (and Blink) are mainly built by various commercial companies (Otter is a rare exception), then Gecko is more popular among the OpenSource community. Unfortunately, this community, for the most part, is busy changing the basic functionality of Firefox, as a result of which clones of Ognelis (or Firepanda - as you prefer) with different sets of functions are born. Against this background, several projects stand out that make optimized assemblies for certain platforms. Among them, only two focus their efforts on improving the speed of Firefox. The first project is . Within its framework, they make assemblies that work (according to the developers) 25% faster than the original FF. Until recently, the PaleMoon project even had a separate assembly optimized for Windows XP, but due to the cessation of official support for this OS, its release was discontinued. However, to this day there is a separate build for weak Atom-based machines, which can be used on any old computers.
In terms of speed, I was very pleased with PaleMoon - the subjective speed of launching the browser and loading pages on a computer with 1 GB of RAM is even higher than when working with Opera 12 (although it uses a little more memory). The interface, by the way, is rendered noticeably faster than that of its ancestor in the face of FF (the cut Australis has an effect). True, for greater ease of use, the “lunar” browser will have to be modified a little (in particular, and turned on in the settings). In general, the impressions from this browser are the most pleasant. Among other things, PaleMoon supports extensions from FireFox, which means expanding its functionality will be quite simple.

Finally, the last contender for the title of “fastest browser for old computers” is the . This project, which appeared at the dawn of the popularity of Firefox, was in hibernation for many years and only recently began to be revived. In essence, this is a very distant relative of Firefox, taking only the Gecko engine from its ancestor. Due to its close relationship, K-Meleon does not support extensions from the original Firefox and does not inherit all its problems (working speed in particular). As a result, we have a very fast and quite functional browser. In terms of operating speed today, K-Meleon is the leader. The only thing that prevents us from definitely recommending it for use is the clumsy interface and the fact that it is overloaded with not all the necessary functions.

K-Meleon 74. The fastest browser…

As a conclusion. Based on the results of many days of testing (including on real users), I personally chose PaleMoon (more precisely, its assembly for Atom). In conditions of severe lack of RAM, it works noticeably faster than all other browsers. On computers with 512 megabytes of RAM, K-Meleon showed the best results in terms of memory consumption, but users in almost 100% of cases complain about its inconvenient interface (read: unusual appearance and non-standard arrangement of controls). In theory, all this can be solved by fine-tuning the interface (fortunately, K-Meleon provides such an opportunity), but in practice the difference in the speed of working with PaleMoon is not so great. The final decision, however, is yours.

Updated March 18, 2016
I tested a couple more programs that claim to be the “fastest browser for an old computer.” My impressions are in .

Updated February 19, 2019
It turns out that enthusiasts continue to make PaleMoon builds that work on older computers. Here, in particular, (you need to download the file mypal-28.3.1.win32.installer.exe).

This article will talk about the best browsers that we can recommend for use on a weak computer. In principle, any modern web browser is suitable for these purposes, even memory-hungry Chrome and its clones on the Chromium platform. You just don’t need to install a lot of extensions and create a huge number of active tabs. But if we talk about products specially optimized for old or weak devices, then it is better to take a closer look at Mozilla Firefox or a browser based on its old Gecko engine - Pale Moon. But which of the two is still better for survival? Let's compare them: how they are optimized, and which one performs better in tests on the BrowserBench.org website.

Which browser is better for weak computers?

Modern Mozilla Firefox or a project based on its old Pale Moon engine.

Mozilla Firefox for survival

In November 2018, Mozilla Firefox celebrates the anniversary of its existence in a new format - on the Quantum engine, which evolutionarily replaced the outdated Gecko engine, and with a new modern Photon interface.

The Quantum engine, among other things, was also announced as a solution for weak computers. Modern Firefox can work with multiple processor cores and is designed to save RAM. As its creators assure, the browser consumes 30% less memory than Chrome. Plus, Firefox can be further optimized by the users themselves. You can configure the number of its content processes optimally for your memory size, refuse interface animation, disable unused plugins, block video autoplay, and also use other features in the hidden “about:config” settings.

Pale Moon for survival

Pale Moon is essentially the old Firefox frozen in time, when it still ran on the Gecko engine. And how many knew him in the 2000s. and a little later, until version 29, released in 2014 and introducing a new Australis interface, the predecessor of the modern Photon. Pale Moon is a browser fork from Mozilla Firefox 28 with an unchanged interface from the 2000s, but it is a living, enthusiast-supported, periodically updated product.

Moreover, this is a browser with its own content - its own themes, extensions, plugins. And even with its own user data synchronization service. Pale Moon is specially optimized for performance on weak computers by removing functions rarely used in Firefox and minimizing the use of RAM. Well, being a modified clone of the old Ognelis, like himself, “Pale Moon” can be further optimized for the specific interests of users in the hidden “about:config” settings.

Battle on BrowserBench.org

To compare these two browsers, we'll use BrowserBench.org, a web service designed to test browsers on various aspects of their performance. And for testing, as a basis for the operation of web browsers, we will take a virtual machine reduced in hardware capacity - with two cores of an old 2nd generation Intel Core I5 processor, with only 2 GB of RAM, located on the HDD. The operating system on the machine is Windows 7 Embedded. Both Firefox and Pale Moon will be tested under the same conditions - with the same number of background Windows processes, in their pure form without extra tabs and installed extensions.

MotionMark

The MotionMark test measures the performance of browsers when processing graphics and web animation. Based on the test results, points are awarded; the more points there are, the better the browser copes with this particular task. And according to the results of this test, Pale Moon won by a significant margin. It received a score of 81.11, while Firefox only scored 59.78. “Pale Moon” was 26% more productive in terms of graphics processing.

JetStream

The JetStream test is designed to determine the performance of web browsers when processing Java content. The principle of summing up is the same as that of MotionMark - the more points scored, the better the web browser coped with the task. And here the victory is again for Pale Moon, albeit with only a 10% advantage. It scored 108.75 compared to Firefox's 97.582.

Speedometer

Speedometer is a test for clumsy performance; it measures the number of operations per minute. It works on the principle of simulating user actions to open different sites (with different content loads) and launch the same different web applications. The results are summarized in the form of a recorded number of such operations per minute. The more there are, the formally the better. And here Pale Moon has already lost miserably to Firefox - 14 operations per minute versus 36.6. By 38%, modern Ognelis, designed to work with several processor cores (in our case, two), is more effective than Pale Moon, essentially its own self from the distant past.

Appetites for RAM

Which of these two browsers is more economical in terms of RAM consumption? With the same Windows background processes, with the same open sites in web browser tabs, if they are open in Firefox, the system consumes 65% of memory.

If they are open in Pale Moon - 59%, 6% less.

To sum it up...

So, in two BrowserBench.org tests, Pale Moon wins, and Firefox wins in one. Few users use the browser in endurance mode, mindlessly and with particular fussiness opening anything in its window. Plus, Pale Moon uses RAM more efficiently. The winner based on the results of all tests is obvious - Pale Moon.

You can download this browser on the official website of the project:

www.palemoon.org

It’s just that it initially comes with an English-language interface; Russification (or translation into another language) is carried out manually by the users themselves. To do this, in the Pale Moon window you need to go to the project website.

Since the emergence of the World Wide Web, called the Internet, surfing tools have begun to develop at a breakneck pace. Web browsers are used as the main tool. But not all of them are equal in their capabilities and the load they can put on the system. Let's try to figure out which browser loads the system the least, taking into account the main technical characteristics and reviews of ordinary users.

What is the load on the system?

To understand the meaning of the load, you should directly examine the currently loading content contained on a specific web resource. It is clear that if the site is a resource that presents exclusively text, there is nothing to talk about. The system reads text in any encoding and doesn’t really strain itself.

The question of which browser loads the system the least should be considered from the point of view of multimedia content or development tools provided by the browsers themselves.

If we talk about multimedia, it’s immediately worth considering that the processing tools provided in the main versions of programs are often supplemented by a fairly large number of special plug-ins. Take, for example, the same Adobe Flash Player, which is responsible for high-quality reproduction of animation, graphics and sound.

Thus, the relevant question will be not so much about which browser consumes the least resources, but about how resource-intensive the additional plugin is, because the browser itself in its pure form may not work with some elements of web pages.

Basic performance parameters

If we consider the main characteristics of the most famous and most often used tools, the first thing for any user or expert tester is the speed of launching the program itself from an executable file and the speed of opening pages.

Unfortunately, many users who are trying to figure out which browser uses less CPU or RAM, often ignore the application startup options. So to speak, in their pure form after installation, they all start quite quickly. This is only due to the fact that they do not have plugins connected, the cache is not full, there is no browsing history, etc.

Over time, any, even the most sophisticated browser with a bunch of bells and whistles turns into a clumsy hulk. The saddest thing is that even deleting temporary files does not help. And if you also take into account the initialization of plug-ins at program startup, in general, it’s worth thinking about the advisability of installing them.

Some applications have their own set that cannot be deleted, but can be disabled. For example, Chrome comes with built-in components like Adobe Flash Player or AdBlock. If everything is clear with the first plugin, the second sometimes causes legitimate complaints. It is responsible for blocking ads, pop-ups and banners, and can also prevent some auto-executing scripts and applets embedded in web pages from running. And all this takes a lot of time.

Opening pages with preliminary content analysis directly depends on the content. Any modern browser takes a fraction of a second to do this. Again, it all depends on the plugins - the more there are, the slower the program runs. And incorrectly installed or incompatible add-ons slow down the system even more.

Which browsers use less memory?

But let’s start checking the means of Internet access themselves. Here you should take into account the consumption of RAM, virtual and physical memory. If you understand the question of which browser loads the system the least, you should pay attention to the basic default settings and the size of the allocated cache.

Cached data, although it allows you to open the most frequently visited pages by storing some elements on the hard drive, is nevertheless capable of clogging up the system too much and causing programs to freeze. This is due to the constant analysis of loaded structural elements of pages. If there is a sufficiently large number of them, more time is required for analysis and loading.

In this regard, the best performance, judging by user and expert reviews, is shown by Internet Explorer 11, Edge from Windows 10, Mozilla and Google Chrome. Opera, although a very popular means of accessing the Internet, is much slower. In addition, today you can find so many versions of the program in unofficial sources that you don’t always know whether a given product is safe.

and reviews

If you look at it, you can make a list in which, as you would expect, there are exclusively programs from the most famous developers:

Internet Explorer;
Edge;
Opera;
Mozilla Firefox;
Chrome.

It would be possible to add here some programs like Amigo, Yandex Browser, 360 Safety Browser or something else. But they are specifically not included in the list, since they are built on the basis of Chrome and are not of interest as truncated or expanded derivatives of the main product. Often, due to unfinished technologies and algorithms, many more problems arise in them than in the parent product. This is evidenced by clearly unflattering statements from users.

Now let’s look at the question of which browser loads the system the least in a little more detail.

Internet Explorer

Users have an extremely negative attitude towards IE, which is part of any Windows operating system, since the early versions of the program were so unfinished that it was not even possible to talk about any ease of working on the Internet.

Over time, Microsoft developers revised the basic concept of the browser, resulting in the 11th version of the application. No matter what anyone says, Internet Explorer 11 in all respects surpasses Mozilla, Chrome, and even more so Opera. The load is minimal, startup is much faster than similar applications, clearing the cache and temporary files does not require user intervention, as it was before (you had to clean the Temporary Files folders manually).

Edge

The same Internet Explorer became the progenitor of a new generation browser called Edge, which appeared only in Windows 10 (a version is not provided for systems of a lower rank).

This application rightfully occupies the top positions in all ratings. Most of the background processes when starting the program are automated, the start takes place within a couple of seconds, opening pages even without installing the accompanying plugins is very fast. By the way, you don’t need to install add-ons - everything comes included here.

Another thing is that this browser is somewhat inconvenient to configure, especially in terms of disabling extensions. And the default start page (news, weather, advertising, etc.) is a little annoying. But all this can be disabled if you set the dummy at startup, similar to how it is done in IE.

Opera

The notorious "Opera", although revered by many, has recently lost ground. Despite the convenient and fairly simple interface, performance leaves much to be desired.

Even at startup, you may notice that it takes too long to access the hard drive, as well as when completely clearing the cache and deleting temporary files. True, one of the advantages is the ability to quickly configure, disable or remove extensions. But this in no way can affect the overall rating.

Mozilla Firefox

The search for an answer to the question of which browser loads the system the least cannot do without this browser.

Light and fast - that's what you can say about it. However, not all users appreciate it fully. The fact is that “Fire Fox” cannot be considered as the most primitive means of accessing the Internet. This browser is more suitable for web developers and can be used as a complete platform for creating web applications. The tools here are much wider than what other favorites on the list offer.

Chrome and browsers based on it

Chrome is considered the fastest of all existing browsers. Developments based on it are fast only after the first installation, but over time they begin to slow down incredibly.

The speed of launch, the speed of opening pages, and the ease of setup or management are excellent. Plus - the largest number of developed plugins and extensions. The question is different. Is it worth installing them? This is something everyone decides for themselves. Nevertheless, in all the main indicators in the popularity lists, this browser is not inferior to Edge.

What to choose?

So, we choose Of course, preference (based on user reviews) could be given to Microsoft products, however, it is believed that the best option would be to install Chrome.

And here the choice is supported not only by technical characteristics or performance parameters with minimal load on the system. If you look more broadly, you will notice that the latest version of the application supports RDP (remote desktop) technologies and can be used as the main client for connecting to computers and laptops, even from mobile devices.

Thus, the balance in the question of which browser loads the system the least, is the easiest to manage and configure, clearly tips in favor of Chrome, although this assessment is based solely on ratings, nothing more.

When choosing a program to work on the World Wide Web, many are mainly interested in what is the fastest browser for Windows 7 today.

Although there are simply a huge number of other criteria for choosing a browser.

Today you can find and download many “homemade” browsers, that is, those that were developed by novice programmers, and not by teams of professionals.

So, their main drawback is the speed of work.

There is no talk about data security and safety.

In any case, today we will look at all the main characteristics that will help you choose a program for accessing the Internet, and the main one will be the speed of operation.

As for how this very speed will be tested, a very simple method will be chosen, which consists of launching a browser or performing other operations with a stopwatch on it.

In particular, the speed will be tested on such operations as launching the browser itself, opening a website, logging into a Google email account, launching a video and installation speed.

The tests will not be conducted on a new computer.

This choice is due to the fact that we want to achieve maximum objectivity of the research.

Yes, usually “clean” machines are used in such tests, but we all don’t have the opportunity to reinstall the operating system every month.

This would make it possible to turn a used computer into a completely “clean” machine.

In general, the conditions will not be as close to reality as possible; they will be quite real. Let's go!

Opera

This browser was released in 1994. Until 2013, I worked on my own engine, then I switched to Webkit+V8, which is familiar to many developers, which, by the way, is also used a little in Google Chrome.

According to research by some sites, it is the fifth most popular browser in the world. Users like the mobile version, which is called Opera Mini.

The main advantage of this program is its excellent ability to save traffic. This allows many users to pay less for the Internet.

You can download this browser absolutely free of charge on the official website www.opera.com/ru.

This site has one large “Download Now” button, which allows you to start downloading.

For our tests, we will use the latest version downloaded from the official website.

Speed tests yielded the following results:

Browser launch time – 3 s;
Website opening time – 2 s;
Video start time – 2 s;
Installation time – 1.3 minutes (from launching the installer program to closing it).

By the way, the design of the installation window for this program is very beautiful, but at the same time minimalistic.

The installation process itself takes very little time.

The user only needs to press one button and nothing else - he does not select a path, does not read a bunch of license conditions, does not watch presentations, and so on.

On the one hand, this is, of course, good, because a simple user does not need all this.

But some will say that this is bad, because “who knows what they write in the license.”

But since we evaluate the speed of work, Opera performs excellently in this regard.

Other advantages and disadvantages of Opera

In addition to speed when choosing a program to access the Internet, it will also be useful to know about the following advantages of Opera:

Traffic savings. A signature feature of this browser.
The presence of a Turbo mode, which allows you to work even faster on slow computers and still save traffic.
Its own express panel with bookmarks. In other browsers, this function must be installed additionally. Yes, there are bookmark bars, but they are not as functional.
Hot control keys. In fact, this browser can be operated without a mouse.
Ease of use. Opera is not loaded with plugins for privacy and other similar functions, so it can work many times faster.

The disadvantages of Opera include the following:

On old machines it may not work at all. On the other hand, nothing from the modern standard user set already works for them. And who uses such old computers now?
Incorrect operation of some scripts. In defense of Opera, we can also say that not all scripts that exist today work on other browsers.
Complaints about instability - it restarts, throws out, and so on. It also doesn’t happen very often - if you’re unlucky, you’ll have to restart.

Google Chrome

This browser was released in 2008 - relatively recently.

Its direct ancestor is the Safari browser, which was then also tried to be adapted for Windows, but these attempts were unsuccessful - it turned out to be too slow, and was often restarted.

Safari was originally designed for Mac computers. Google Chrome runs on its own engine called Chrominium.

Last year, this browser was first in many polls in RuNet.

You can download Google Chrome on the official website - www.google.ru/chrome/browser/desktop/index.html (a very non-standard link that could be shortened).

There is also a single button that you need to press.

By the way, here on the download site you can read the license agreement, as well as set Google Chrome as the default browser and check the box to send work reports to Google.

By the way, many people refuse the latter.

To do this, you just need to uncheck the box highlighted in green in Figure 4.

Testing the speed of this browser gave the following results:

Browser launch time – 4 s;
Website opening time: 5 s;
Authorization time for a Google email account is 1 s;
Video start time – 1 s;
Installation time – 1.5 minutes.

When installing here, by the way, some additional content is downloaded, which makes the whole process a little longer.

Otherwise, Google Chrome performs really well, but still a little worse than Opera.

And this despite the fact that many authors of similar articles call this browser the fastest.

As you can see, tests in real conditions gave a different result.

Advantages and disadvantages of Google Chrome

It will also be very useful for users who choose a program to access the Internet to know about the following advantages of Google Chrome:

Safety. Great attention is paid to this here. Google Chrome has a huge number of additional programs and scripts that protect against various types of attacks and viruses. In addition, this browser has its own database with these same viruses and malicious sites.
“Incognito” mode, which allows you to be unnoticed on various sites. This means that the site will not leave cookies or any other information about the stay of the user working in Incognito mode.
Stability at work. It is very rare to hear about Google Chrome that it reloads or cannot handle a large number of sites.
Your own “Task Manager”, which makes it possible to see how many resources a particular site consumes, as well as a plugin.
Normal work with extensions. It is also very rare to hear complaints about this.
Voice control search.

The disadvantages include the following:

Lack of support for NPAPI plugins starting from version 42.0. A lot of modern plugins work on this platform. And users are faced with difficulties in installing them or even with the inability to complete this task.

Otherwise, Google Chrome performs just fine.

As you can see, its operating speed is not too much inferior to Opera, therefore, taking into account all the other advantages, it is not surprising that this particular browser is called the best today.

Mozilla Firefox

In 2014, this browser took a strong first place in all foreign surveys. But then the two programs described above took the leading positions from Mozilla Firefox.

Still, the contribution that the “sly fox,” as many users call him, made to the development of browsers as a whole deserves respect.

The fact is that Mozilla Firefox became the first browser in the world that had its own extension base. It was for him that the first extensions and plugins began to be written.

It is not surprising that as of 2017, Mozilla Firefox has the largest extension base.

In addition, it was in this browser that the privacy mode first appeared.

Today this idea is actively used by Google specialists, including in the development of the aforementioned Google Chrome.

The first version of this program was released in 2004 on the Gecko engine. To this day, nothing has changed in terms of the engine.

But this does not prevent the program from constantly improving and gaining new positions in the market.

Although, of course, since 2014, Mozilla Firefox has lost a lot in popularity.

It is also most convenient to download this browser on the official page - www.mozilla.org/ru/firefox/new/.

According to good tradition, the site has one large “Download for free” button.

There are no longer any license agreements on the site. And in general, the download occurs automatically and this process is not delayed by anything.

In the installer window you can use additional settings. The settings window is shown in Figure 6.

As you can see, you can specify where program shortcuts should be installed, the installation path, and whether this browser should be made the main one.

Advice: When installing, be sure to use the advanced settings window, because otherwise, program shortcuts will appear on the taskbar, on the desktop and in the Start menu, which is often not needed by users! In addition, installation information will be sent to Mozilla specialists, and the browser itself will become the default browser.

To open this very window of additional settings at startup, click the “Settings” button highlighted in Figure No. 7.

The installation itself also begins with downloading additional files. This, of course, makes the process longer.

Mozilla Firefox runtime tests yielded the following results:

Browser launch time – 5 s;
Website opening time – 3 s;
Authorization time for a Google email account is 1 s;
Video start time – 2 s;
Installation time – 1.35 minutes.

Advantages and disadvantages of Mozilla Firefox

The benefits of Mozilla Firefox are as follows:

Reliability in operation. There are plugins that can “kill” absolutely all browsers except Mozilla Firefox.
Security and privacy at the highest level. This is the only browser of its kind that can block the collection of information about a particular user by sites, including Google. This makes it possible not to see annoying advertising that is generated based on the requests of this user.
Version updates occur in the background.
In addition, this also includes the widest base of plugins and extensions mentioned above.

The disadvantages of Mozilla Firefox are:

Immunity of some modern scripts.
Frequent complaints about slow operation, especially under high loads.

From all this we can conclude that Mozilla Firefox clearly cannot be considered the fastest browser for Windows 7.

Yandex.Browser

This is the youngest modern browser of those used by several million people. Users first heard about this browser in 2012.

Now, in 2017, Yandex is actively promoting its product using contextual advertising. Here, of course, everything is aimed at working directly with Yandex services.

So, by default, this browser already has mail, a translator, a disk, money and everything else that the most popular Russian search engine offers.

By the way, the engine in Yandex Browser is the same Chromium. Many users say that this program has its own quick launch panel, which is called “Tableboard”.

This is considered a feature of Yandex.Browser, but for the average person it is practically the same bookmarks bar that is in Opera.

True, there it is much more functional.

You can host 20 different sites on Tablo.

An interesting feature of this browser is its work with mouse gestures.

This means that there is a certain set of gestures that are formed by certain cursor movements and perform certain functions.

There are also a huge number of extensions and plugins, most of which are taken from the already beloved Google Chrome.

This is due to the fact that these two browsers run on the same Chromium engine.

You can download Yandex Browser on the official website - browser.yandex.ru.

Although, if you visit the website yandex.ru several times, you will definitely see an advertisement for this browser and can follow the link to download it.

This site also has a nice big “Download” button.

The results of testing the speed of this browser gave the following results:

Browser launch time – 11 s;
The website opening time is 4 seconds (the first launch, by the way, gave the result in 24 seconds);
Authorization time for a Google email account is 4 s;
Video start time – 2 s;
Installation time – 2.10 min.

During installation, it is also possible to make Yandex.Browser the default browser and make it possible to send data to Yandex specialists.

To do this, you need to check the boxes highlighted in green in Figure 9.

Most users prefer to uncheck these boxes, which is not at all surprising.

As you can see, in terms of speed, Yandex Browser is clearly inferior to Mozilla Firefox.

Advantages and disadvantages of Yandex.Browser

The advantages of Yandex.Browser are as follows:

Developers pay great attention to security. So the program automatically checks a particular site for suspicion. It has its own criteria for suspicion (Web of Trust), as well as programs installed by default to block phishing attacks and advertising.
Its own system for viewing documents in formats such as .pdf, .doc and others.
Your own translator.
Turbo mode, like in Opera.

The disadvantages include the following:

Imposing Yandex services, which many users do not like. Although, on the other hand, this is exactly what this browser was created for.
Many people don't like the interface.
Difficulty setting up. Many functions that are available in Opera or Mozilla are simply not available here in Yandex Browser.

In general, from all this we can draw a conclusion, which is that Yandex.Browser is far from the fastest and most optimized browser.

Maxthon

Now let's move on to some somewhat exotic browsers that are not as popular as Yandex.Browser, Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Google Chrome.

One of the rather promising browsers in this direction is Maxthon.

Its main feature is the combination of two engines at once - Webkit and Trident. Some parts of the first are used in Yandex Browser, Opera and Google Chrome.

And the second was used to create the very first browser in history, Internet Explorer. Thanks to this combination, in fact, it was possible to achieve very high speed.

At least, this is what the developers of this program say.

In principle, people write on forums that in some cases it works even faster than the vaunted Google Chrome.

But to check this, there is only one way, which we will use now.

The Maxthon speed test readings look like this:

Browser launch time – 0.7 s;
Website opening time – 1 s;
Authorization time for a Google email account is 0.6 s;
Video start time – 0.8 s;
Installation time – 1.17 minutes.

As you can see, Maxthon really shows phenomenal results! But speed is not the only advantage of this browser.

Advantages and disadvantages of Maxthon

The advantages of the Maxthon browser are:

Working with cloud storage - all personal settings, records and authorization data are saved not on the hard drive, but in the cloud. This prevents the user from losing it all.
The browser requires few resources to operate.
It is possible to remove ads without additional plugins.
A huge number of extensions.
It has its own security system, which, judging by the reviews, works quite well.
Notepad for notes.
Night browsing mode, which optimizes those pages that have a dark background, too many ads, or other nuances that make reading information inconvenient.

In general, we can say that Maxthon is a very, very multifunctional thing.

On the side there is a toolbar on which the same notepad, a download manager, a tool for working with RSS, as well as several Yandex services are located.

Its only disadvantage is that it also promotes these same Yandex services. But Yandex.Browser is still very far from Maxthon!

So every user should definitely try using Maxthon in their work.

No. 11. Maxthon browser appearance

The top rankings in terms of functionality, security and speed are occupied by Yandex.Browser, Google Chrome, Opera and Mozilla Firefox. Only you can tell which browser you choose, so let's take a quick look at the features of each browser again.

If we talk about the simplicity of the interface and innovation in total, Yandex Browser will win. The developers have proven that it is possible to create a product that is equally respected by both “dummies” and professionals without strict restrictions for users. The browser is cross-platform, fast, stable, synchronized with Google and Yandex services equally. In fact, it combines the best features of its competitors with two significant additions: a unique search bar with suggestions and a functional bookmark bar codenamed "scoreboard". Recommended for download if you are tired of template solutions and glitches. In addition, this secure browser on a Windows computer is memory-friendly. Other Internet browsers are much more demanding on the resources of computers and laptops.

Orbitum is considered a relatively young web browser that can compete with any well-known browser, both in terms of performance when working with Internet resources, and in terms of the number of available settings and tools. Its main feature is an interactive chat that allows you to be on any page and at the same time correspond with friends from social networks. networks. Try Orbitum and you will be pleased with the high speed of launching web pages, the advantages of using the built-in loader and the useful omnibox. This is a good choice of browser for your computer at home.

Not so common: Amigo and K-Meleon. The latter is a serious competitor to its progenitor Mozilla Firefox. However, while it excels in security, the K-Meleon browser loses in the frequency of updates. Amigo's close connection to social networks can be perceived as an advantage for regular visitors to VK, OK, FB and other social networks. But thanks to many extensions, plugins and minimal CPU load, the browser runs smoothly and without glitches. The program will be appreciated by all categories of users.

Unfortunately, our review did not include such products as the cross-platform Comodo iceDragon, good solutions Pale Moon and Srware Iron, the only browser with advanced anonymity - Tor browser, the once famous Netscape Navigator, Torch Browser, intended for true fans of Rambler Rambler Browser. Each of them deserves special attention, which we will definitely pay in future publications. I would also like to separately mention the good browser UC Browser. Its creators relatively recently began expanding around the world, and are constantly adding useful features to their brainchild, such as integration with video hosting sites. Already now, in the “advantages - disadvantages” competition, the balance is positive, but we doubt that UC can be called a safe browser. It is often installed on smartphones without the user's consent.