Browsella

Since websites are now capable of supporting high-resolution images and videos on their pages without affecting the loading speed too much, thanks to the ever more powerful computers and spacious Internet bandwidths, older systems are all but useless when it comes to web browsing.

Browsella is a software utility designed to offer you a solution to this conundrum, under the form of a very lightweight and simple Internet browser that requires very few system resources to run properly. Hence, it can be very useful for very old computers and servers, which do not have the memory capabilities to accommodate a modern browser.

In order to provide you with all this, though, the application needs to make harsh concessions when it comes to everything else, including interface, features and support for various web technologies. Thus, you need to be able to make due with a simple address bar and a few navigation buttons, while anything more fancy is absent by default.

The application also lacks the ability to handle multiple tabs at the same time, as well as bookmarks, browsing history, favorites or configuration settings. Although these are the marks of a good browser, they would definitely slow the utility down on older systems, which would defeat the purpose of having a lightweight product in the first place.

As far as how these concessions influence the overall memory consumption, it should be noted that the application manages to keep it at a minimum, even when dealing with slightly more demanding web pages. It also offers support for Javascript and Flash, which gives you access to the majority of video content.

Despite the total lack of features and functionality, Browsella is actually designed to be as simple as possible, with a lot of effort going into its optimization. Thus, although it cannot be used as a day-to-day browser on your own computer, it can be successfully employed on older hardware.