GreenBrowser
Posted on: 01/15/2004 12:00 AM

Third party browsers that use the Internet Explorer engine have become quite popular. They allow you to use the IE engine, but block pop-ups, use tabbed browsing and many other additional features Internet Explorer should have included years ago. One such browser is GreenBrowser.

GreenBrowser lacks an installer; I had to install this by creating a folder and extracting the files to the new folder. I then created a shortcut to the executable on my desktop. Of course, this means that the program will not uninstall by the standard method and you will need to remove folders, shortcuts and registry entries to be thorough. I will be the first to admit that the Windows uninstaller is not perfect, but I still prefer to at least have some sort of install and uninstall routine with shortcuts created on my desktop or start menu.

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As with any third party browser, a lot of additional options are available compared to Internet Explorer and this means taking some time to set it up. At first glance, GreenBrowser is a fast loading, attractive browser. It looks very similar to Internet Explorer out of the box than any other third party Internet Explorer browser I have used. The grey colors used around title bar and buttons are attractive as well. I can appreciate the simplicity and familiarity of it and I think this browser might appeal to those more intimidated by similar programs with a ton of options and buttons. You can also load a few skins that come with GreenBrowser for a different look. I immediately took notice of the tabs created for multiple windows. The tabs use uses a white color for current tab and grey for other tabs maintaining the continuity of the nice, uncluttered appearance of this browser.

The tabbed browsing lacks the option of setting up the middle button for opening in a new window, a practice I have become accustomed to. Actually, I could not find any settings for configuring a key to open the browser in a new window. With tabbed browsing this is a must.

GreenBrowser also has a built in pop-up blocker. My tests with the pop-up blocking were also impressive. It blocked most of the pop-ups I threw at it, but also allowed windows to open that other browsers did not. Again, there were no options to configure the pop-up blocking either, though there are a few options found in the toolbar, such as adding a current page to the pop-up blocker.
GreenBrowser does have its own list of options included allowing you to setup the tabs, confirmations, status bar, toolbars, save paths and more. You can enable or disable ActiveX, sounds, java, videos, scripts and more. Shortcuts from the toolbar offer some great tools including a clean system link to delete temporary files and cookies, for example as well as the just mentioned pop-up blocking tools. A lot of other options can be accessed or configured from the taskbar including form filling, page downloading, auto scroll, auto refresh, search and even configure additional toolbars. GreenBrowser also supports mouse gestures, a way to implement actions by simply moving your mouse. There are many options available for mouse gesture configuration.

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In the end, Green Browser pleasantly surprised me as a decent competitor to similar products. If you have found other browsers intimidating, this one is worth a peek. While it could use more options and possibly more features, as well as an uninstaller, it is updated frequently (at the time of this review) so I expect it to improve over time. Some may appreciate not having to go through a wealth of options, so it’s difficult to say whether this is a positive or negative. I can only assume that for the diehard geek, GreenBrowser simply lacks essential features, but for the novice or casual PC user, this could be just what they need.

Score: (3 of 5) Stars

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