Artemis Explorer1.5.0.3 Beta

The only way to get access to the information superhighway is through a web browser. There are various applications out there that promise to take you on a joyride around the Internet, one of them being Artemis Explorer, sacrificing several features for the sake of speed.

Lightweight and easy to use

With the application only taking about 2 Mb of space on your hard disk drive and considerably low amount of system resources, it's tempting to give it a try. Doing so brings up a decent interface, with a large preview section and toolbar elements movable to give you some sense of customization.All necessary navigation tools are available, the address field as well as a selection of search engines to use and look up queries of interest. You are able to set a custom homepage to greet you each time the application is launched.

Limited features keep it from being a pro

The application comes equipped with a small list of pages you can quickly access from the toolbar. Unfortunately, there is no integrated function that allows you to store your favorite pages and have them brought up with a single mouse click.Moreover, even if that were possible, you had to open them in independent windows, because of the lack of tab support. There is also no history tracker, which would have replaced the missing bookmarks manager.Ironically enough, one of the quick access points provided in the toolbox opens up IE. However, it comes in handy, seeing how choosing to view a page in a separate window automatically opens up the previously mentioned browser instead of another instance of the running application.

In conclusion

To sum it up, Artemis Explorer is a decent web browser that manages to take you on the Internet, but nothing more. Even though speed is good, it does not manage to tip the scales enough in its favor to have you ignore missing features that keep it from competing with the existing industry giants.