What is a good browser for windows 7. Fast browser for an old computer - myth or reality? What is the best conductor for the global network

Now, with free access to the Internet, it is quite easy for any user to install many of the newest Internet browsers for Windows 7, but it is more expedient to first deal with the question of which is the best browser for Windows 7 and is best suited for specific user requests, taking into account its individual specifics. work on the Internet.

Below are the browsers for Windows 7 that currently have optimal functionality in the "Seven" with a brief description of their strengths and weaknesses, having studied which each specific user, based on his own conditions, will be able to choose the best option for his permanent operation that best suits him and his PC.

The entire top of the best browsers offered to the user's attention, included in the list of this article, are free, and the user needs to focus only on their characteristics, taking into account, for example, the capabilities of the computer used.

After all, you can choose to work on the World Wide Web and extreme options, such as: the fastest browser or the most economical in terms of energy costs.

What is the best conductor for the global network?

Each computer owner must answer this question for himself. The material contains only bare facts, based on which the user will be able to make the best decision for himself.

And although, according to the reviews of other people, the most popular browsers, stuffed with a bunch of all kinds of functions, are better in operation, they often turn out to be not the best for the individual requirements of a particular user. Of course, you can install all of them and experimentally determine which browser will best suit your conditions, but in order to save time, we recommend that you first read all the information below.

This Internet Explorer rightfully belongs to the category of the most common browsers for Windows. The main window of the "Cunning Fox", despite its excessive simplicity, has an easy-to-use interface. By default, it is almost empty with only basic functions, but special application tools allow you to expand it unlimitedly with the capabilities of various programs. You can install using the following resource: "www.mozilla.org/ru/".

What are the main advantages of Mozilla?

The following main advantages can be listed:

1. Has a significant amount of the necessary tools and tools used by the developers of Internet sites;
2. Convenient and concise interface. Comfortable menu with bookmarks;
3. It has a special hardware increase in video download speed;
4. Reliable security system for user information, including access codes stored in the browser's memory;
5. Provides RSS support;
6. Fast and customizable search string;
7. Possibility of effective protection against various appearing menus and windows;
8. Supports special extensions, such as various social networks, YouTube, weather conditions, etc.;
9. Quick ability to synchronize all information between FireFox browsers on all user devices;
10. A huge number of different themes with the ability to modify the look of the browser.

Main disadvantages:

1. The browser cannot boast of providing the fastest web experience;
2. Requires a significant investment of time to customize to the specific requirements of the computer owner;
3. Experienced users compare FireFox to driving a tank to a bakery on a perfectly clean pavement.

Users with high demands on the speed of application launch can definitely recommend this true leader of Web technologies "Chrome", which is guaranteed to provide the highest speed of all freely distributed browsers. In our list, it is the fastest and at the same time consuming a small amount of computer resources. Although it has a somewhat "Spartan" interface (one might even say that it does not exist at all) in the form of only a couple of inconspicuous keys. But in terms of the number of different applications in it and toys, Chrome is the undisputed champion. You can install using the following resource: www.google.ru/chrome/browser/desktop/index.html».

List of the main advantages of "Google Chrome":

1. Very convenient synchronization of all settings, including various extensions and numerous bookmarks with a Google account;
2. The same field is used to print page addresses and search the Internet for information;
3. Has the necessary tools and tools used by the developers of Internet sites;
4. Preview frequently visited pages in a new bookmark;
5. Browser update function in automatic mode;
6. A huge number of extensions that can provide a complete replacement for standard applications;
7. Support for a huge number of languages;
8. High stability and reliability of work. Even after a crash occurs on one of the open pages, the browser will continue to function normally in the rest;
9. Convenient and quick transfer of existing settings to Chrome from all Internet browsers previously used by the user;
10. Reliable protection and notification of the computer owner when they try to enter pages with malicious software.

The main negative aspects of Chrome:

1. Consumption of a significant amount of computer memory resources, with a large number of simultaneously viewed bookmarks, however, resources are released very quickly literally at the moment of exit from running pages;
2. Lack of visual type bookmarks, however, there are special extensions for displaying them in the browser;
3. Chrome is the leader in startup speed only for Windows 7, and, for example, in Windows 8, a similar process already takes 2 times longer.

Opera

If you are a supporter of simplicity or are still new to the world of the Internet, then Opera will allow you to get used to it very quickly and start working fully on the World Wide Web. You can install using the following resource: "www.opera.com/ru".

Advantages:

1. Allows efficient and fast work with a significant number of simultaneously running pages;
2. Easy to learn;
3. Support speed increase;
4. Comfortable bookmarks bar;
5. Functional loader;
6. Availability in the search bar of the main search engines;
7. Language support;
8. Protection when trying to display a menu with malicious content;
9. A large number of topics;
10. Convenient work with mail;
11. Saving sessions;
12. A large number of additions.

Flaws:

1. There are no bookmarks in the new Opera;
2. The smallest speed of hardware acceleration;
3. Not the highest speed of script processing;

The developers of this browser claim with absolute certainty that it has maximum reliability and security. And most importantly, the use of "Yandex.Browser" is patriotic, because it supports a domestic manufacturer. You can install using the following resource: https://browser.yandex.ru/old/desktop/».

Advantages:

1. Greater degree of security;
2. Information is synchronized with other computers;
3. Very convenient design and functionality, almost like Chrome;
4. Export settings from third-party browsers;
5. There is an accelerator;
6. Widgets.

To be able to visit pages prohibited in the country, there is a Tor browser. A very small application that provides user anonymity. But, it should be noted that the speed of its launch is not great. You can install using the following resource: "http:/tor-browser.ru/".

Pros:

1. Absolute secrecy. No one will know not only the parameters of the user's computer, but even his "IP" and place of residence, thanks to a reliable traffic encryption system;
2. Tor functions on the basis of Mozilla and therefore is also easy to use;
3. Does not require installation, you can work directly from an external USB-drive.

Negative sides:

1. Slow.

The main advantage of this browser is the ability to install the above browsers using it. But if the user is patient enough, has an iron endurance and at the same time solves only the simplest tasks when going online, then this program is always at hand, because it is installed along with the system by default. No need to install.

Advantages:

1. A simple look without distracting chips;
2. Saves RAM;
3. Common string for search and addresses;
4. Relatively high startup speed;
5. Low power consumption (a very relevant argument for use in mobile PCs).

Negative sides:

1. Low speed;
2. Complexity of settings.

We've compared the 9 most popular browsers for Windows to help you choose the best one. The interface, speed, security, the presence of advertising in the program, presets and "chips" were evaluated.
Test participants:

• Browsers on Chromium:
  • Chrome;
  • Yandex browser;
  • Amigo from ru;
  • Opera;
  • Vivaldi;
• Mozilla Firefox;
  • Tor Browser Bundle
• Internet Explorer;
• Microsoft Edge;

Test conditions:

• Clean OS Windows 7 x32 in a virtual machine;
• 3.5 GHz Dual Core Processor;
• 4 GB of RAM;
• 256 MB video memory with 3D and 2D acceleration;
• The opening speed was measured with a stopwatch from clicking on the shortcut to downloading google.ru. The browser has not been opened before;
• RAM consumption was measured on 7 open tabs. The list of sites has always been the same;
• For a general browser test, the Peacekeeper Futuremark benchmark was used;
• Support for HTML5 features was tested at html5test.com. The maximum possible number of points is 555.

Most Popular Browsers

Top 10 browsers in Russia for desktop computers in 2015 according to Liveinternet statistics:

1. Chrome - 40.2%;
2. Yandex.Browser - 15.2%;
3. FireFox -14.1%;
4. Opera (new version) - 9.6%;
5. Internet Explorer 11 - 6.1%;
6. Opera 12 - 3.4%;
7. Amigo from Mail.ru - 3.1%;
8. Internet Explorer 10 - 1.8%;
9. Internet Explorer 8 - 1.7%;
10. Internet Explorer 9 - 0.9%.

Four of the ten most popular browsers - Chrome, Yandex, the new Opera and Amigo - are based on the Chromium browser with the Blink engine. This is 68.1% of the total share of users. They have many common features, differ in their own integrated web services, interface and other features.

Chrome

No wonder Google Chrome is popular: a minimalistic interface, a large catalog of free extensions and themes, fast work and support for modern web development technologies.


Platforms: Windows, Android, iOS, Linux, Mac OS X 10.6+.
Functions:

Flaws:

Performance

Safety

• Warnings when visiting dangerous pages.
• Blocks pop-ups well.
• Alerts for location request, camera and microphone.
• Warnings when visiting https sites without a signed certificate.
• Incognito mode: a separate window that does not save history.
• EXE file will not download without confirmation.

Flaws:

• Passwords are stored in encrypted form, but they can be viewed through the settings.
• The spell checker sends all the texts you enter to Google to display errors.

Advertising and presets

Yandex browser

Yandex Browser is based on Chromium, but outwardly it is very different from regular Chrome. Almost everything has been redone, and the changes have benefited the browser - they are really convenient.


Platforms: Windows, Android 4.1+, iOS 7.0+, Mac OS X, Linux.
Functions:

• Import bookmarks and settings from Internet Explorer, Opera, Chrome.
• Full synchronization through Yandex mail account.
• Smart search bar shows answers in hints. You can not remember the exact address of the site, just enter the name in Russian - you will immediately get to the site.


• When you open a new tab, a scoreboard appears - an analogue of visual bookmarks. The list of sites is customized to your liking. Collection of beautiful background pictures. The download manager is built into the scoreboard.


• The quick call feature searches the page for a phone number. When pressed, an SMS with a number is sent to the phone. Works with sync enabled.
• Translation of selected text and pages.
• Return to the top of the page and back when clicking on the tab.
• The address bar instead of the URL shows the title of the main page and the title. On some sites, links to popular sections of the site are displayed in the line on the right. When clicked, a full link is displayed, a button for copying and sharing in social networks. networks.
• The browser does not close when all tabs are closed.
• View documents in doc, rtf, ppt, pdf format and ePub, fb2, fbzip e-books directly in the browser.
• Mouse gesture control. A handy feature from Opera


• Supports extensions from the Chrome store and Opera.


• Search on the page taking into account word forms. Finds even words with other endings.

Performance

Safety

• Built-in security plugins. Included in add-ons.
  • Antishock - blocks annoying ads and shocking pictures.
  • Flash banner and video blocking.
  • Reputation of Web of Trust (WOT) sites - displays the assessment of the site by other users.
  • Adguard - blocks pop-ups, text and video ads.
• The built-in antivirus checks downloaded files.
• Warnings when visiting dangerous pages and SMS fraud.
• Protecting information and passwords when working through the public Internet.
• The latest version of Yandex.Browser is one version behind Chrome (44.0.2403 versus 45.0.2454).

Advertising and presets

• By default, Yandex search. Easily changed to any other in the settings.
• Adds 2 shortcuts to the taskbar: a browser and a link to the Yandex home page.
• By default, 17 add-ons are installed.
• Initially, sites were added to the scoreboard.

Amigo

Mail.ru's Amigo Browser is notorious for being automatically installed with other free programs. Apparently, because of such active advertising, 3.1% of Russians use it.
Platform: Windows.

Launching the browser takes 1.7 seconds due to autoload when Windows starts. If autoload is disabled, startup takes 7 seconds.
The result in Peacekeeper is 2702 points.

The result in html5test is 498 out of 555 points.
Seven open tabs consume 459 MB of RAM.


On disk Amigo occupies 357 MB.

Safety

The program version is 42.0.2311. The current version of Chrome is 45.0.2454. In terms of time between these versions, the difference is 1.5 years! In the new versions, numerous fixes were made to the stability and security of the browser, but the developers are in no hurry to implement them.

Advertising and presets

Opera

After switching from the Presto engine to Blink, many fans of the old 12th Opera were dissatisfied with the loss of some of the usual functionality and individuality: the built-in torrent, email client, RSS reader, mouse gesture control, bookmarks were replaced with a “piggy bank”. Some people switched to other browsers: for 2 years, according to Liveinternet statistics, the number of Opera users in Russia has decreased by a quarter. The developers promised to return the old functionality over time. What does Opera represent 2.5 years after the engine change?

Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Android. Versions of Opera Mini and Opera Mobile for popular mobile platforms: Symbian OS, MeeGo, Java, Android, Windows Mobile, bada, iOS.

The interface is different from the standard Chrome. The menu button has been moved to the left corner. Tabs look like in the old Opera. The interface of settings, history, bookmarks, download manager has been redesigned.


Visual bookmarks on the express panel with the ability to edit. Search through the list of visual bookmarks. Multiple bookmarks are merged into a folder. Navigation to access additional features at the bottom of the express panel:

Bookmarks, tabs, express panel, settings, history, passwords are synchronized. There are limitations on mobile platforms.


The problem of navigating through a large number of tabs has been solved - a preview button has been added in the upper right corner. There is also a list of recently closed tabs.


Own catalog of add-ons and themes. To install extensions from the Chrome Web Store, you need to install the Download Chrome Extension from the Opera catalog.

In the settings, the sidebar for extensions is enabled.


View pdf in browser.

Import bookmarks and settings from Internet Explorer and Chrome.

Performance

The first launch takes 5.5 seconds.
In Peacekeeper, Opera scored 2744 points. Of the features of HTML5, there is no support for H264 video codecs.

The result in html5test is 500 out of 555 points.

Seven open tabs consume 267 MB of RAM.


Takes up 119 MB on disk.

Own development - Turbo technology. Compresses traffic and increases page loading speed. Works on mobile versions too.

Safety

Private tabs.

Reports about suspicious sites.

To protect traffic on public Wi-Fi networks, it is proposed to use SurfEasy's own VPN service. The basic version is free (up to 500 MB/month), the full version costs $3.99 per month.


The current User Agent version 45.0.2454 keeps up with Chrome.

Advertising and presets

By default, Google search works in the address bar, Yandex search on the express panel. Search in the address bar is easy to change in the settings.

Vivaldi

A browser based on the Blink engine from one of the founders of Opera. He is not yet a year old, but he shows great promise. Currently only the developer version is available.
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux.
The interface is absolutely not similar to Google Chrome, it was written in HTML + CSS + Javascript (because of this, it slows down for many). Modern flat design that can be customized. For example, you can move the address bar and tabs to any side of the screen, disable unnecessary elements.


By pressing Ctrl+F11 all unnecessary details of the interface disappear, the browser is controlled by hotkeys.

Some of the functions are based on the "classic" Opera 12:

Synchronization of bookmarks, settings, history and passwords.

You can control the browser without a mouse. Press F2 to view available keyboard shortcuts. You can customize your combinations.


Grouping tabs to work with a large number of open sites.


Site preview when hovering over a tab.

Express panel with visual bookmarks. Grouping visual bookmarks into tabs and folders.

A new tab can be opened by clicking the mouse wheel on an empty space, it is not necessary to click on the plus sign.

Import bookmarks and settings from Internet Explorer, Opera 12 and 15+, Chrome, Yandex, Vivaldi.

For Vivaldi, extensions from the Chrome store are suitable.

There are also not very convenient things: when you try to insert a word into the address bar to edit a URL, Vivaldi automatically highlights the entire URL. Doesn't always want to copy the URL. The download bar appears on the side when it's not needed. But do not forget that this is still an unstable version. By its release, many jambs will be fixed.

Performance

Opening the browser takes 11 seconds.

In Peacekeeper, Vivaldi scored 2926 points. Of the features of HTML5, there is no support for H264 video codecs.

The result in html5test is 501 out of 555 points.

Seven tabs consume 437 MB of RAM.


The disk space is 282 MB.
There is a function to load images only from the cache (as in Opera 12) for users of slow Internet.

Safety

The current version of Vivaldi in Chromium is 44.0.2403, which is 1 version behind Chrome.

Advertising and presets

Yandex search by default.

There are 3 plugins installed by default: PDF Viewer, Adobe Flash and Google Update.

Preset list of sites in visual and regular bookmarks. Deleted manually.

Mozilla Firefox

Firefox runs on the Gecko engine, the main concept of which is support for open Internet standards (HTML, CSS, W3C, DOM, XML, JS, etc.) and cross-platform.

According to the results of tests by Sauce Labs, Firefox is the most stable browser at the end of 2014. More than 55 million launches of popular browsers of different versions were carried out, errors in Firefox appeared in only 0.11% of cases. Internet Explorer showed itself worst of all (0.25%), and of the latest versions - Safari 6 (0.12%). With the release of each version, the number of crashes decreases, they are almost absent in the latest Chrome and Firefox.

Platform: Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, Android. There are unofficial builds for many other OSes.

Import from Internet Explorer and Chrome.

Synchronization of bookmarks, passwords, tabs, history, add-ons, settings.

Separate search bar in search engines and dictionaries.

Built-in visual bookmarks.

Smooth scrolling. What browsers on Chromium lack.

Support for extensions, plugins and themes from our own store. There are extensions unique to this browser.

Built-in PDF viewer.

Live bookmarks. Instead of bookmarking a single page, you can add an RSS feed. A list of the latest articles on the site will be displayed.


View for reading. The function leaves the main content on the page, removes the design and all elements of the site.

When you open a large number of tabs, a button appears to scroll through them.

Links in the History (history and bookmarks) can be labeled.

Performance

The program started in 5 seconds.

The result in html5test is 446 out of 555 points.

Seven open tabs consume 187 MB of RAM.


Takes up 145 MB on disk.

Safety

Pop-up blocker.

Private browsing. This is a separate window that does not save browsing history, passwords.

Forget button to delete history. It can be moved to the toolbar. Other browsers also have this feature, but it is hidden in the settings.

Built-in protection against phishing and malware. Websites and downloaded files are checked against Google's SafeBrowsing database.

Saved passwords can be viewed through the settings. To protect against password theft during physical access to the computer, a master password is set, which encrypts all data.

Since July 2015, Adobe Flash has been blocked by default in Firefox to increase security.

Advertising and presets

Mozilla Developer is a non-profit organization.

Internet Explorer

The standard browser known to all Windows users is Internet Explorer. It does not need to be downloaded when installing the OS, but it is recommended to update to the latest version - 11.0. In Windows 10, it was replaced with Microsoft Edge, written from scratch. Partly because of the bad reputation: netizens joke that it was invented to download other browsers.

IE significantly loses to modern browsers in functionality, interface, loads pages slowly, many web development standards are not supported, due to which sites may not be displayed correctly. In recent versions, these shortcomings have been tightened.




However, if you add up all versions of IE from the top 10 browsers on the Internet, 10.5% of web users use it. The Explorer can be compared to an old “call-only” phone. The main function (browsing sites) works, nothing more.

The default is Bing, which is unusual for Russian users.
IE 8 startup speed - 4.5 sec. IE 11 launches in 7 seconds.
IE 8 scored 219 points in Peacekeeper.

Microsoft Edge

The default browser in Windows 10 is Microsoft Edge (originally called Project Spartan).

Modern minimalistic interface. Fits perfectly with the interface of Windows 10. Only the essentials are on the toolbar - the rest of the buttons are hidden in the sidebar. By the way, the list of options and settings in the browser is minimal.

The browser runs on the new EdgeHTML engine with the Chakra javascript interpreter.

The ability to take notes and draw on top of web pages and share them. This is not yet available in any browser.

When selecting text, Edge recognizes the type of data and offers customized solutions. For example, when highlighting a phone number, he will offer to call.

The smart address bar displays search results for some queries without going to the site.

Reading mode. The page is cleared of everything superfluous, leaving only text and photos. You can save your favorite articles to your reading list. The function resembles the Pocket service.

The browser does not support extensions, but they were promised to be added in new versions at the end of 2015. This is the main drawback, without which the Edge cannot fully fight the competition. So far, there is not even a banal Adblock. To block ads, you can now use a separate program - Adguard, but it is paid.

According to unconfirmed information, Edge will support not only extensions from the Windows Store, but also from the Chrome store.

In a conspicuous place is a button for feedback from the developers.

Safety

The built-in SmartScreen filter blocks potentially dangerous websites.

Each tab is isolated - it opens in a separate process, just like in Chromium.

Advertising and presets

Bing search is used - this is also a Microsoft project. The search cannot be changed.

Adobe Flash is already built into the browser (can be disabled in the settings), but a similar technology from Microsoft - Silverlight is not supported.

Internet browsers download to your computer for free.
Download browsers for the Internet on Windows XP, 7, 8, 10.
Download the best browsers in Russian without registration.

Ya.Browser is a web browser from Yandex, created on the basis of the Chromium engine. It combines the best features of the popular Chrome and Opera browsers, and also provides unique features to its users.

The Yandex browser is similarly capable of activating the Turbo mode that saves traffic and still the same fast page loading when the Internet connection speed decreases, as in. Enjoy a minimalist interface, amazing speed, a built-in translator, and add extensions from the Google Chrome store.

A new browser from the developers of Opera, based on Chromium with the Blink engine. It features enhanced functionality and increased ease of navigation.

The web browser interface is very similar to Opera 12 - it also has a sidebar, a recycle bin with closed tabs, and an image display mode. At the same time, the authors implemented a number of interesting innovations. Among them - tab grouping, integrated mail client, notes on open web pages.

The Chrome browser has long been the leader among its kind by a wide margin. It would seem that such trump cards as crazy speed and user-friendly interface left no chance for analogues.

But the increasingly hot breath of competitors in the form of Mozilla and Opera, as well as the conquest of their audience share by new products, such as, and Yandex.Browser, demanded new accents from developers.

The Opera browser from the descendants of the Vikings brings reliability, speed and convenience, and the use of the unique Turbo mode allows you to quickly load pages even at a critically low Internet connection speed.

Opera for PC is a powerful web browser from Norwegian developers who have focused on the reliability and convenience of web surfing.

Mazila Firefox is one of the most popular cross-platform browsers in the world, provides fast, secure Internet surfing, is flexible in settings and has a huge selection of plug-ins and extensions.

The multimillion-dollar fan club of the Mozilla Firefox web browser accelerates the market, creating conditions for the existence of healthy competition with the Google browser. The reasons why users tend to download Mozilla Firefox lie on the surface - this is an emphasis on enhanced protection against malicious sites, high speed with dozens of open tabs and the introduction of innovative technologies such as sockets, web consoles or next-generation graphics.

A program for safe web surfing that allows you to block access to the connected camera and microphone, view all permissions granted to various sites.
A fast browser based on the progressive Blink core. When creating Atom, the company used the experience of working on Amigo, another browser from Mail Ru.

Pale Moon is the best Mozilla Firefox alternative. The browser is based on the same software core, but features a lightweight interface and 25% increased performance.

It provides excellent page opening speed and increased stability due to the elimination of some tools. According to the developers from Moonchild Productions, a browser should be a browser, and it is not necessary to take on the functions of other applications.

Tor Browser for anonymous web surfing. It is a Firefox web browser with an integrated Torbutton extension, a script blocker and an add-on for logging into sites via HTTPS.

The program allows you to visit sites prohibited by the administrator or the state, as well as to correspond in web chats, place orders and upload files, hiding your IP address and other identification elements.

The top rating in terms of functionality, security and speed is occupied by Yandex.Browser, Google Chrome, Opera and Mozilla Firefox. Which browser you choose, only you can tell, 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, synchronizes with Google and Yandex services equally. In fact, it is a combination of the best features of competitors with two significant additions: a unique search bar with hints and a functional bookmarks 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 "thrifty" about RAM. Other Internet browsers are much more demanding on the resources of computers and laptops.

Orbitum is considered a relatively young web browser that is able to compete with any 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 simultaneously correspond with friends from social networks. networks. Try Orbitum and you will be satisfied with the high speed of web page launch, the benefits of using the built-in downloader and the useful omnibox. This is a good choice of browser for a computer at home.

Not so common: Amigo and K-Meleon. The latter is a serious competitor to its progenitor Mozilla Firefox. However, while succeeding 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 the many extensions, plugins and minimal CPU usage, 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 Dragon, good Pale Moon and Srware Iron solutions, Uran, Baidu Browser, the only browser with advanced anonymity - the Tor browser bundle, the once famous Netscape Navigator, Torch Browser, designed for true fans Rambler Rambler Browser. Each of them deserves special attention, which we will definitely pay in the following publications. I also want to separately mention a good browser UC Browser. Its creators relatively recently began expanding around the world, constantly adding to their offspring used chips, such as integration with video hosting. Even now, the balance is positive in the "merits - demerits" competition, but we doubt that UC can be called a safe browser. It is often installed on smartphones without the consent of the user.

With the development of web technologies, content displayed using a browser is becoming more and more "heavy". The video bitrate increases, caching and data storage require more and more space, scripts run on user machines consume a lot of CPU time. Browser developers keep up with trends and try to invest in their products to support all new trends. This leads to the fact that the latest versions of popular browsers put forward increased requirements for the system on which they are running. In this article, we will talk about which browser to choose for a computer that does not have enough power to use the Big Three browsers and the like.

As part of the article, we will conduct a kind of testing of four browsers - Maxthon Nitro, Pale Moon, Otter Browser, K-Meleon - and compare their behavior with Google Chrome, as the most voracious browser at the time of this writing. In the process, we'll look at startup and running speed, RAM and CPU usage, and see if there's enough resources left to perform other tasks. Since Chrome provides extensions, we will test both with them and without them.

It is worth noting that some results may differ from those that you get by conducting such testing. This applies to those parameters that depend on the speed of the Internet, in particular, page loading.

Test configuration

For the test, we took a really weak computer. The initial parameters are:

About browsers

Let's briefly talk about the browsers participating in today's testing - about the engines, features and more.

Maxthon Nitro

This browser was created by the Chinese company Maxthon International Limited based on the Blink engine - a redesigned WebKit for Chromium. Supports all operating systems, including mobile.

Pale Moon

This member is a Firefox brother with some modifications, and one of them is optimization for Windows systems and only for them. This, according to the developers, makes it possible to significantly increase the speed of work.

Otter Browser

"Otter" was created using the Qt5 engine, which is used by the developers of Opera. The data on the official website is very scarce, so there is nothing more to say about the browser.

K-meleon

This is another browser based on Firefox, but with the most truncated functionality. This move of the creators made it possible to minimize resource consumption and increase speed.

Launch speed

Let's start from the beginning - we will measure the time during which the browser starts up completely, that is, you can already open pages, make settings, and so on. The goal is to determine which of the patients quickly comes to a state of combat readiness. We will use google.com as the start page. We will take measurements until we can enter text into the search box.

• Maxthon Nitro - 10 to 6 seconds;
• Pale Moon - 6 to 3 seconds;
• Otter Browser - 9 to 6 seconds;
• K-Meleon - from 4 to 2 seconds;
• Google Chrome (extensions disabled) - 5 to 3 seconds. With extensions (AdGuard, FVD Speed ​​Dial, Browsec, ePN CashBack) - 11 seconds.

As we can see, all browsers quickly open their window on the desktop and show that they are ready to work.

Memory consumption

Since we are very limited in the amount of RAM, this indicator is one of the most important. Let's look into "Task Manager" and calculate the total consumption of each test subject, having previously opened three identical pages - Yandex (main page), YouTube and the site. Measurements will be made after some waiting.

Let's run a video on YouTube at 480p resolution and see how much the situation changes.

Now let's complicate the task by simulating a real working situation. To do this, we will open 10 tabs in each browser and look at the overall responsiveness of the system, that is, we will check whether it is comfortable to work with the browser and other programs in this mode. As mentioned above, we have Word, Notepad, a calculator running, and we will also try to open Paint. We will also measure the page loading speed. The results will be recorded based on subjective feelings.

• Maxthon Nitro experiences slight delays in switching between browser tabs and when opening programs that are already running. The same thing happens when viewing the contents of folders. In general, quite a working behavior of the OS with small lags. The page loading speed is not annoying.
• Pale Moon beats Nitro in terms of tab switching and page loading speed, but the rest of the system is somewhat slower, with long delays when launching programs and opening folders.
• When using Otter Browser, page rendering speed is quite slow, especially after opening multiple tabs. The overall responsiveness of the browser also leaves much to be desired. After starting Paint Otter, for some time it stopped responding to our actions, and running applications opened very “tight”.
• Another thing K-Meleon - loading pages and switching between tabs is very high. "Risovalka" starts instantly, other programs also respond quickly enough. The system as a whole responds well.
• Even though Google Chrome tries to unload the contents of unused tabs from memory (reloading them when they are activated), the active use of the swap file makes the work completely uncomfortable. This is expressed in the constant reloading of pages, and in some cases in the demonstration of an empty field instead of content. Other programs also "do not like" the neighborhood with Chrome, as there are high delays and refusals to respond to user actions.

Recent measurements have shown the real state of affairs. If in gentle conditions all products give similar results, then with an increase in the load on the system, some were overboard.

Since CPU utilization can vary in different situations, we will look at the behavior of browsers in idle mode. The same tabs as above will be opened.

All patients show good results, that is, they do not load the “stone” during the absence of actions within the program.

Video viewing

In this step, we will enable the graphics card by installing the NVIDIA driver. We will measure the number of frames per second using the Fraps program in full screen mode and 720p resolution with 50 FPS. The video will be included on YouTube.

As you can see, not all browsers are able to fully play videos in HD quality. When using them, you will have to reduce the resolution to 480p or even 360p.

Conclusion

During testing, we identified some important features of our current test subjects. Based on the results obtained, the following conclusions can be drawn: K-Meleon is the fastest in operation. It also saves maximum resources for other tasks, but is not entirely suitable for watching videos in high quality. Nitro, Pale Moon and Otter are about equal in terms of memory consumption, but the latter lags far behind in overall responsiveness under increased load. As for Google Chrome, its use on computers similar in configuration to our test one is completely unacceptable. This is expressed in brakes and freezes due to the high load on the paging file, and hence on the hard drive.