Fishbone Web Surfer

In order to connect to the information superhighway you need to use a web browser, with many popular applications to choose from. These don’t make alternatives obsolete, and chances are Fishbone Web Surfer might be more suitable for your needs, in case you don’t use the variety of features provided by regular browsers.

First of all, the application completely relies on .NET Framework to function, so you need to make sure it’s installed on the computer you use it on. Other than that, the setup process takes you through a few smooth, easy steps, letting you check out the set of features in no time at all.

Probably the biggest disappointment comes from the visual design. This is because content space is limited to a specific window size, and maximizing the main window doesn’t solve this inconvenience. The upper toolbar, and controls themselves are also rough, so a great deal of patience is required to get familiar with all it has to offer.

The address of the page you want to land on needs to be written in the dedicated field. In the same manner you can add up to four different favorite web pages. However, accessing them is rather difficult, since slots are editable text fields, and selection doesn’t take you to the specific page.

Tab support is not implemented, nor the possibility to run multiple instances of the application. As such, you’re limited to navigating on a single page using the provided controls. There’s an additional option to hide all toolbar buttons to prevent accidental switching of a page, but the URL field remains visible at all times.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that Fishbone Web Surfer is a lightweight web browser, which aims to use only a few system resources when displaying pages. However, the overall set of features is rough around the edges, with confusing, frustrating layout and management even of the basic, shallow set of features it provides.