The lightest browser for your computer. Browser for weak computers

Hello everyone It seemed to me that I was well versed in hardware and software. Well, maybe it’s not that great, but it’s enough to advise you on how to solve this or that problem related to software or hardware. Well, that's it. But if six months ago someone asked me what the fastest browser in the world is, I would have answered Mozilla. And I would be right, because if you don’t delve into the topic of browsers, then it seems like Mozilla is the one that loads a website page the fastest.

But I was wrong... And it all happened when I bought a board with a soldered Atom 330 processor on the cheap - small and remote. It has two cores, but there is Hyper-threading technology, that is, there are threads, resulting in 4 threads, and in Windows this is shown as 4 cores. Well, I thought, this is great, but I was a little upset when I realized that the performance was certainly not enough. Well, what should you expect from a mobile processor?

Well, that's it. I started thinking about how I could make the pages load faster in the browser. And then I installed Mozilla, but alas, it was too heavy for the Atom processor. Well then I installed Chrome. And fortunately there was enough memory (4 gigs), then Chrome worked somehow. I loaded even heavy sites, even if I had to wait a little. But I thought again, is it possible to find some kind of browser that will be like a rocket. And you won't believe it, I found it, it's called Pale Moon!

Pale Moon is a browser developed on the basis of Mozilla, which is somehow very cleverly optimized for both conventional processors and Atoms. I installed it and I was shocked - many pages actually loaded much faster, the interface is nice, it doesn’t load anything and it eats up a little RAM.

There is a version for both 32-bit Windows and 64. Both XP and Windows 10 are supported. You can download from the official website, or write in the Pale Moon search engine and the official website should be in the first position:

There you download the version for your Windows. It installs without any glitches, during installation it is not suggested to install either Yandex-soft or Mail-soft, this is already good

When you first launch it, you will be prompted to import settings from some other browser:

The last point here is to give up imports.

Also during installation you will be asked to leave the Pale Moon home page or import it from Internet Explorer:

Well, that’s all, then the browser will install and you can try what kind of Pale Moon browser it is. It seems to be translated as Pale Moon.. But I could be wrong

So, after launching the browser, you will have an unpleasant jamb. Well, maybe it doesn’t matter to some, but there is no Russian language in the browser. But don’t worry, I’ll show you how to implement it there!

This is what Pale Moon looks like:

As you can see, in a word, it looks good and comfortable

Let me tell you right away that all these unnecessary buttons, the search bar (well, the one on the side of the address bar), all these bookmarks - all this can be removed and you can customize the browser for yourself.

Now about the Russian language. Let's go to this site:

palemoon.org/langpacks.shtml

Then down there we look for something like ru.xpi - this is the Russian language for the browser, look, here it is:

Click on ru.xpi and there will be a window like this, then click Install Now:

Then you should see the following message, saying that the language is installed normally and there are no jambs:

Almost everything, now all that remains is to activate the Russian language. See how to do it, first go to this address:

In the next message, click the I promise to be careful button:

Now look what you are doing, paste this:

general.useragent.locale

In the Search field and press enter:

There you should see the line general.useragent.locale, this line is a parameter that specifies the browser language. Here it now says en-US, but we need to change it to Russian! To do this, double-click on this line, the following window will appear:

And here you change en-US to ru-RU so that it becomes like this:

Click OK in this window and that’s it, now you can press F5 for the test, if it says that there are dragons here, then you did everything correctly:

Now, for the browser to be completely in Russian, you need to close it and start it, that is, restart it

Well, that’s it, so I opened the menu and everything is in Russian:

So there is nothing complicated here. Well, without leaving the checkout, I will also show you how to install a Russian spelling dictionary in Pale Moon!

To be honest, I either don’t remember or there is simply no setting where you can add a dictionary. Therefore, I propose to do this: open any page where there is a text field, for example, I opened the Yandex search engine. And right-click on the text field and check the Spell Check box:

After that, right-click again and there will already be a Languages menu, and inside it the Add dictionaries item:

Then a tab will open, by the way Mozilla, and there you need to find Russian and click on Install dictionary. I immediately advise you to hold down Ctrl + F and enter Russian into the search, so you will find it faster:

I advise you to install the larger dictionary. Well, there are probably more words, which means a better check, well, in general, I chose the one with more...

Then you will need to click on Add to Firefox:

And then there will be a message saying there are no jambs, everything is installed fine:

After this, you will need to check the Spell Check box again, and then Russian will be selected automatically:

Well, you see how it all turned out. I wanted to tell you about Pale Moon, but in the end I told you how to put the Russian language into it and how to add a Russian dictionary for spell checking. Well, how could it be otherwise, this is the first thing you need to do to make the browser more or less comfortable to use.

By the way, here’s the settings window (you can get to it by clicking on the Pale Moon menu button in the upper left corner and selecting the item there):

That is, you see it as if it were Mozilla, but not quite modern. That's right. Pale Moon is not made on the latest version, but, so to speak, on the one that is still modern. In general, it supports everything, YouTube and all sites, flash and video, in general, everything works there. It’s just that the version of Mozilla, as a base, is not the most recent, but simply fresh.

I don’t know whether you will like this browser or not, but in general I don’t see any strong reasons why you might NOT like it. Here are the advantages I see in it:

Well, it looks like I wrote everything I had to! I strongly advise you to try this browser and understand that I’m not making it up, it’s really very fast and even somewhat reminiscent of Opera 12. And this, well, I’ve never seen such a browser, for me, this is the best that can be from browsers Today.

Depends on the provider, the power of the computer and the browser used in Windows. It may not seem like a big deal, but the app you use to access the web can affect page loading speeds.

Which Windows browser is the fastest?

The same “Internet browser” behaves differently in different versions of Windows. Let's find out about the fastest browser for Windows 10, and consider what programs should be installed in other versions of this system.

The fastest browsers for Windows 7 and 8

To begin with, we suggest focusing on a selection of browsers for the seventh and eighth versions of the system, since they are most common among users. The following programs are best suited for this software:

K-Meleon. Oddly enough, this little-known browser is at the top of the list precisely because of its speed. The program is very easy and takes up a minimum of resources. It can be installed on a Windows system or use a version that does not require downloading. The speed of the browser is determined by the speed of launching the application itself and loading pages - all of these actions individually take less than a second. The utility is open for improvements: the program code is freely available, and any user can make suggestions to the developers. There is a function for blocking ads and pop-ups, the design is very discreet. While this product isn't as hyped as its better-known competitors, we recommend giving it a try as a way to access the Internet, especially if you're trying to keep your computer's RAM light. Another argument for the service is that it is considered the best by many programmers and specialists who really understand this topic.
Opera. Although it is believed that in recent years this browser has become not as unique as before due to changes in the engine, it still remains one of the fastest and most user-friendly. First of all, it has a beautiful design, account synchronization, an express panel for easy use of sites, separate bookmarks and other tools. The browser is popular because of its Turbo mode, which speeds up page loading and saves traffic, which is important when using 3/4G Internet. As many users note, it is able to cope with many open tabs without overloading the computer's memory. It is in terms of the number of simultaneously loaded pages that it is considered the best among its competitors. The program launches videos and websites in two seconds, and turns on itself in 3-5 seconds. Note that if the application overloads the RAM due to the huge number of sites, it will simply crash and restart again. But let us clarify that such failures are often associated not with the program, but with insufficient computer power.
Maxthon. Another not very well-known browser that deserves the attention of those who value high speed. It takes less than a second to load a web page or video, has its own cloud storage, and requires few computer resources. Here you can remove ads using built-in tools or add numerous extensions. The only drawback of the application is the promotion of Yandex services, but not at all as active as in the browser of this company.
One of the most famous browsers in the world. This demand is explained by several advantages of the service: ease of use, minimalistic interface, and the ability to install extensions. In addition, this program is chosen by those who have a Google account, in which you can save all information about bookmarks, passwords to other accounts, etc. The browser is used on several devices with one account and allows you to access saved pages. , on the contrary, will appeal to those who do not want to leave traces behind them - no cookies, cache or other surfing data. As a rule, this browser is preferred when compared to Opera. But it turns out that it takes a few seconds longer to load the page, which is why it didn’t make it to the top of this list. Therefore, it is not entirely correct to call it the fastest browser for Windows 7, and many users note that it does not function so well on Windows 8.
Several years ago, this browser was the most popular in many countries. This is the first program for which extensions began to be created. But it is not at all as fast as Opera or Chrome, so in terms of speed we cannot consider it as a leader among its competitors. What, then, can attract this product? Its flexibility, because the browser can be customized as much as possible, install a lot of extensions and do not worry about security - privacy protection mechanisms are well developed here. It continues to be used steadily by those who fell in love with the “fox” before, and the service can attract new users if they are advanced in the settings and like to change them to suit themselves.

Fast browser for Windows 10

Not many users have already installed the latest version of Windows 10. But the issue of choosing a browser for this system is very relevant, and first of all we will look at the company's new product - Microsoft Edge.

It would be logical to assume that this particular browser is most suitable for version 10. In principle, this is how it is - it works very quickly and has high performance. It has a simple and concise design, it is understandable for ordinary users. The application has a sufficient range of settings for advanced users and has several interesting functions, for example, a reading mode or the ability to draw on pages. It doesn't lag behind Chrome in terms of performance, but requires a lot of RAM.

Which browser should you install if you don't want to use Microsoft Edge on Windows 10? A worthy replacement for it would be the same Chrome, Waterfox - an analogue of the “fox”, or any of the above lesser-known browsers. The choice is based on performance indicators and the amount of RAM on the computer itself. These components play an even bigger role than choosing a fast program.

Browsers that support Windows XP

There are still a lot of weak computers that are contraindicated for switching to any newer Windows operating system - they simply cannot withstand such a load.

Let us clarify that, for example, the world-famous Chrome no longer supports the old XP. But there are equally worthy alternative browsers for it:

K-Meleon. It again takes first place on our list because of its lightness - it copes well with tasks and at the same time takes up a minimum of computer resources, in particular, RAM. This means it provides high performance and the same page loading speed. We recommend taking a closer look at it if your computer is weak.
Opera. The official website of the product states that this browser is still supported on XP, so feel free to install it on your computer with this software. Opera requires significantly more resources, so we advise you not to open too many tabs, so as not to suffer from freezing or crashing of the program.
Internet Explorer. It's not the fastest browser for Windows XP, but it comes installed by default on Windows and will work on any version of it. Many users note that in the latest versions it has become much better, and all the usual stereotypes about its instability are simply exaggerated.

We analyzed the list of the fastest browsers and found out which products deserve attention and installation. Rating may vary depending on Windows version. The speed of the program is directly related to the amount of RAM on the computer. When choosing, we advise you to maintain a balance and use a browser that will perform well in conjunction with the capabilities of your PC.

With the development of web technologies, the content displayed using a browser becomes more and more “heavy”. The video bitrate is increasing, caching and storing data requires more and more space, and scripts running on user machines consume a lot of CPU time. Browser developers keep up with trends and try to include support for all new trends in their products. This leads to the fact that the latest versions of popular browsers place increased demands on 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, as the most voracious browser at the time of writing. During the process, we'll look at startup and running speeds, RAM and CPU utilization, and whether there are enough resources left to complete other tasks. Since Chrome provides extensions, we will test both with and without them.

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

Test configuration

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

About browsers

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

Maxthon Nitro

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

Pale Moon

This participant is a 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. 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 reduced functionality. This move by the creators made it possible to minimize resource consumption and increase speed.

Startup speed

Let's start from the beginning - let's measure the time it takes for the browser to fully launch, that is, you can already open pages, make settings, etc. The goal is to determine which patient comes to a state of combat readiness faster. We will use google.com as the start page. We will take measurements until it is possible to enter text into the search bar.

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

As we can see, all browsers quite quickly open their window on the desktop and show readiness for 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 experimental subject, having first opened three identical pages - Yandex (main page), YouTube and the website. Measurements will be taken after some waiting.

Let's launch a video on YouTube with a resolution of 480p and see how much the situation changes.

Now let's complicate the task by simulating a real work 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 page loading speed. The results will be recorded based on subjective feelings.

Maxthon Nitro experiences slight delays when switching between browser tabs and when opening programs that are already running. The same thing happens when viewing the contents of folders. In general, the OS behaves quite well with minor lags. The page loading speed is not annoying.
Pale Moon beats Nitro in terms of speed of tab switching and page loading, but the rest of the system is somewhat slower, with longer delays when launching programs and opening folders.
When using Otter Browser, page rendering speed is quite slow, especially after opening several tabs. The overall responsiveness of the browser also leaves much to be desired. After launching Paint Otter, it stopped responding to our actions for some time, and running applications were very slow to open.
Another thing about K-Meleon is that page loading and the speed of switching between tabs are very high. “Drawing” starts instantly, other programs also respond quite quickly. The system overall responds well.
Even though Google Chrome tries to unload the contents of unused tabs from memory (when they are activated, they are reloaded), the active use of the page file makes the work completely uncomfortable. This results in constant page reloading, and in some cases, showing an empty field instead of content. Other programs also “don’t like” the proximity to Chrome, as there are high delays and refusals to respond to user actions.

The latest measurements showed the real state of affairs. If under gentle conditions all products produce similar results, then when the load on the system increases, some are left behind.

Since CPU usage may differ in different situations, we will look at the behavior of browsers in idle mode. The same tabs shown 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.

Watch video

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 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 capable of fully playing video 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 characteristics of our current test subjects. Based on the results obtained, we can draw the following conclusions: K-Meleon is the fastest in operation. It saves maximum resources for other tasks, but is not entirely suitable for watching videos in high quality. Nitro, Pale Moon and Otter are approximately equal in 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 slowdowns and freezes due to the high load on the paging file, and therefore on the hard drive.

Not everyone can afford a computer that is equipped with the latest technology and works quickly. Some owners of weak PCs simply don’t want to get rid of it, but it’s also very difficult to use such a machine even for banal surfing the Internet. In this case, you can find a fast and lightweight browser. The task is not the simplest, but still solvable. From this article you will learn how to choose a web browser for your weak PC.
Web browser for a weak computer
There is no definition as such – “weak computer”. Over time, a good PC will no longer be relevant and will be considered obsolete.

It all depends on the characteristics of the PC, for example, users look at the RAM (random access memory), processor clock speed and number of cores, video card (memory, frequency) and, last but not least, the hard drive capacity.
Which browser is the lightest?
To understand this, you need to install several web browsers. Next, we will launch them one by one under the same conditions, that is, the same pages will be loaded at startup.

For comparison, let's take the following three Internet pages:

Every time you open the site we will call "Task Manager", where we pay attention to processor load and memory.
Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge
Since the PC does not shine with performance, you can use what the system offers - a standard browser. Although Internet Explorer not so convenient and not many people use it, yet it consumes less memory than the well-known ones Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox.

1. Launch the Internet Explorer browser on the page http://lumpics.ru/about/. IN "Task Manager" pay attention to "Memory"– 66.7 MB.

Actually, we can end here. Now it's up to you to decide which web browser to choose for your weak PC.