Pha Browser Lite

The main gateway to the information superhighway when using a computer is a web browser. Internet Explorer, the default one on Windows, might not appeal to everyone, but there are plenty of alternatives like Pha Browser Lite. It comes with a simple design, with focus on speed, for more comfort on the web.

Windows usually comes with .NET Framework as a default features, but you might want to check whether or not it’s installed, because this application requires it to function. There’s no setup involved, which means it can even run from a thumb drive, on other computers as well. Another consequence of portability is that system registries are not modified.

To be able to access your favorite pages, you need to specify the address to go to, and this is done in the dedicated field, found in the upper toolbar. Navigation controls let you go back and forth through pages, refresh, or cut connection, but you might end up scratching your head for a while, because of the confusing button type, and icon choice of the developer.

Speed is decent, and you are able to land on target pages in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately, HTML5 is not a supported kind of web format, meaning the application can’t really be used to go on pages with rich content, or containing multimedia elements, cutting off a great deal of practicality.

There’s a home button which takes you to a main menu from where to quickly land on Facebook, Google, YouTube, or Wikipedia. You can’t change this home page, but neither can you add any favorites or bookmarks for one click access. History isn’t tracked either, and to stay on more pages at a time, you need to launch multiple instances of the application.

All things considered, we come to the conclusion that Pha Browser Lite feels like it’s still in early stages of development, with a rough visual design, and faulty functionality. With no option to save your favorite pages, lack of support for modern web content, and difficult management of multiple pages, practicality quickly becomes questionable.