Web::Browster

Browster is my latest discovery, which is also one of my all-time favorites. Basically, it is a plug-in for a web browser (IE or Firefox) that lets you navigate through websites much more efficiently. It is especially useful when you are browsing through a list of links (e.g. search results, news articles, forum postings, etc.) or when you'd like to peek at a page without having to open a new browser window.

For example, when browsing through the search results, instead of opening a link in a new window or tab, you can just move your mouse cursor to the little box that appears over the link and the actual page will load immediately in a virtual browser. One of the cool features is the 'next/prev' button within that virtual browser, which lets you look at the next item on the list from the original page (in this case, the search result).

For google search results, a little box appears in front of each search results. For other pages, it doesn't automatically show the box next to every link (that would be ugly!), but you can still use the same feature, in which case the little box will show up on top of any link when you put your cursor on a link. (e.g. I am right now using that feature for previewing this article while editing) The 'prev/next' feature will be available if the selected link is part of a table. Browster also pre-loads the pages, so the browsing is really quick and easy.

I only have used it with my new IE7 (which I also like very much), and considering the fact that this is a new browser it has been surpringly stable. I never experienced any malfunctions whatsoever. However, my colleague told me that it crashes quite regularly on his machine where he is using Firefox and AvantBrowser. It didn't help him when he upgraded to IE7. So the verdict is yet to be made.

I am guessing that their business model is to make money via the keyword/banner ads in the virtual browser. When I looked at the alexa rating, it didn't seem like they have a lot of traffic. What a shame!

I've used it for only a week, but I am totally hooked.

Comments

[Elisa Camahort]

Thanks for the good review Ted! I co-author Browster's blog along with Browster's CEO, Scott Milener:
http://browster.typepad.com

I'm wondering if your colleague has blogged about their instability problem, or posted a problem with Browster tech support? Feel free to have him contact me, and I'll get it to the right people. He really shouldn't be experiencing repeated crashing.

Thanks!

[Ted]

You're welcome, Elisa. I honestly think that Browster is the best tool I've found in years!

I'll ask my friend to talk to your support team, but I doubt he will want to go through the process...