The Great Browser Experiment: The Final Countdown – Free Line 10/09/09
It’s been teased. It’s been promised. It’s been put off several times. And now, it’s here. After nearly two weeks of hype, we here at the Free Line proudly bring you our review of Lunascape. Since Lunascape is complex, we figured that it would be best to present said review as a numbered list. With that said, here we go…
The Good:
- I have never seen a browser take the idea of customization so seriously. Don’t like the icons? Lunascape allows you to design your own. Want to write your own menu? You can do that as well. Perhaps you’re in the mood for some news from your favorite RSS-enabled site. Guess what? Not only is a “headline ticker” available to you, it’s enabled by default.
- The developers are not afraid to “reinvent the wheel,” as they say. Case in point: Every browser known to man offers a “reload/refresh” button. Lunascape has one of those as well. It also features ten specialized variations of the reload/refresh button that might be useful in a pinch. Now, do I ever see myself the “light reload” feature? No, but it’s nice to know that I have the option available to me.
- Maneuvering between Trident, Gecko, and WebKit could not be simpler. All you have to do is click on the little icon in the lower left hand corner.
- Blocking unwanted content is as easy as pressing a button. Nearly everything imaginable can be blocked, including sound files, Javascript, and Active X downloads.
- Every time I decide to use this browser, I discover something new. While that might be a bother to some, I absolutely love it. In a strange way, it makes using a web browser exciting again.
The Bad/Downright Odd:
- As I have said before, this not a “web browser” in the most traditional sense of the term. It is a highly advanced, high-powered application designed for browsing the web. As such, it takes a little while to learn.
- Casual users will hate this browser with a passion undying, provided that the sheer amount of options don’t make their heads explode first.
- I wish that the extensions were available in English.
Final Verdict: Fantastic, provided that you know what you are doing.
…And there you have it. I hope that you enjoyed The Great Browser Experiment as much as I enjoyed writing about it. Everything will go back to normal on Monday. Until then, I bid thee a fond adieu.











