Square1 Web Browser1.2

Web browsers help you easily land on your favorite web pages with little effort, especially given the options to save favorite pages and access them at the press of a button. Many have managed to make a name for themselves, but it doesn’t mean others like Square1 Web Browser need to be overlooked.

Portability perks and visual design

The first thing you notice, even before launching it is that the application doesn’t take you through a setup process, and can be launched as soon as the download is finished. This way, you can store and use it from a USB flash drive, with the computer it’s used on staying clean, because registries are not modified.On the visual side of things, you’re greeted by a simple window, with an upper toolbar that holds most of the elements you’re familiar with from other browsers, such as navigation buttons, search, and URL field. There aren’t any elements to make it stand out from the crowd, nor to distract you from web page content.

Far from being a pro

Needless to say that you need to write down an URL to land on a specific page. Speed is not the strongest point, but content eventually loads. There’s a built-in popup blocker to make navigation more comfortable, and you can even use the built-in search engine to find stuff of interest. Sadly, you can’t choose or define the search engine you want to use.Navigation is limited to a single window, because there’s no support for multiple tabs. On the other hand, you can run multiple instances of the application. Favorite pages can be saved to access them faster later on, but there’s no option to add them to the upper toolbar.History is saved so you can take a look over past visited pages, in case you can’t remember one of interest. Entries are all saved in the URL drop-down menu, with no other panel for thorough management or search.

On an ending note

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that Square1 Web Browser has a lot more to go through until it can serve you on your daily journeys on the information superhighway. The overall set of features is poor, with no tab support, complicated history and favorites manager, while functionality and speed also leave more to be desired.