The browser sector, i.e. the programs for surfing the internet, is dominated, basically, by 5 names: Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Apple Safari. All the other alternative browsers are independent projects which exploit the rendering engine of one of the 5 mentioned above, optimizing its functionality and adding more features.
To learn more about the rendering engines, I refer to another article, which describes Lunascape, the browser that unifies Chrome, Firefox and IE.
Among the alternative browsers to Chrome and Firefox it is now necessary to also include Avant Browser both because the project is still alive with frequent updates and, above all, because the new version of Avant is very valid and worth trying.
Those who therefore want to experiment with a new way of surfing the internet for those who are not satisfied with Internet Explorer Chrome and Firefox and want a mix between the three, should give Avant Browser a chance .
Avant Browser is a browser only for Windows, born as an alternative to Internet Explorer of which it uses the rendering engine (the Trident), however, bringing it into a lighter, cleaner and accessorized interface with many tools that are missing in IE.
The latest version of Avant Browser, in Italian, then includes the choice whether to use, as a rendering engine, the latest version of Firefox or Internet Explorer 9 thus expanding the potential popularity and also becoming an excellent alternative to those who use the browser. Mozilla.
Those who regularly use Internet Explorer should have no problem using Avant because it is very similar graphically, with the address bar at the top, the tabs, the search bar and the menu options.
But there are many differences and many more buttons to perform operations that Internet Explorer does not support.
The abundance of options could be a bit annoying, however the new Avant allows you to change the main settings via quick buttons and wizards that make program management more efficient.
In this list, a summary of the main functions :
- The address bar can also be used to search for words on the default Bing search engine or on Google.
- The new tabs open normally with the + button; next to it there is another button that allows you to divide the screen into two parts and browse two sites together.
Those who have a large monitor might appreciate this feature to keep two web pages open at the same time.
Splitting the screen can also be done in other ways using the small down arrow located at the top right.
- By pressing the right button on the tab bar, you can change various graphic settings including, the presence of the bars, their arrangement, the graphic theme and the customization of the buttons.
The various bars, if they are not blocked, can then be moved with the mouse wherever you want, depending on the space.
- By adding the status bar at the bottom, you can open a side bar (with the first small button on the left), where you can view your favorites, history, feeds and blocked sites.
- Blocked sites does not mean obscuring a web page but only blocking pop-ups and advertisements .
To do this, by navigating to a site like repubblica.it, you can block advertising from the Tools menu or even from the status bar with the last button on the right.
- Another interesting feature is the download of the videos .
If you visit a site with video content, a small notification appears asking if you want to download it.
You can try, for example, with Youtube videos and download them in FLV format that can be opened with VLC media player.
Other things include: Auto-fill, highlighting of searched words, search on a website, private browsing and download manager with reset.
Then from the Tools menu you can enable automatic updating of a page and disable images, javascript, flash and many other types of content from a specific site.
With the latter option, Avant becomes perfect for surfing if you use a very slow internet connection .
No browser review would be complete without leaving a comment on its speed.
In performance, Avant also beats big names because they are very light and fast, with little RAM consumption and less CPU usage.
There is no delay when performing any action and even opening so many YouTube videos together or flash games keeps fluency.
You can use the performance test for browser comparison to check how much faster it actually is than it is currently used (in my test it got a very high score of 1728).
In conclusion, I would put Avant among the best browsers to choose from since it is fast, stable and full of features.
An excellent choice for users who want to stay with the Internet Explorer engine, without using Internet Explorer 9.
READ ALSO: Best browsers compared: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari and Opera
