Review of CometBird Browser

Download from: http://www.cometbird.com

Current Version: 3.6

Here is yet another Browser based on the Mozilla 5.0 Browser Engine. CometBird seems to be following Firefox's version number, with a similar-numbered version coming out within 3 to 5 days of a new Firefox version's release! With Firefox upgrading to version 3.6, CometBird too has come out with version 3.6.

With the Browsers niche comprising of giants as well as new challengers, it will difficult for any Browser to find a foothold. Whether CometBird finds a foothold merely fades away into obscurity will depend on many factors...

CometBird, Firefox, Flock, SeaMonkey, the now-dead Netscape Navigator and Orca - all use the highly respected Mozilla Browser engine. The first impressions of CometBird are that it loads up a lot faster than Firefox. The next impression about CometBird is that it looks very clean - an interface that is so like Firefox, yet a little different...

On installing CometBird with the default options, you get the start page http://google.atcomet.com/c/. The page contains a Google Search Bar and links to other interesting sites, all neatly classified. The last of the links is customizable - you can add/ delete your favorites by clicking on this link. You can even add new categories by clicking this link - and do not forget to save your changes, else you will need to set it all up again! The option to edit these links would have been nice too! In the first screenshot to the right, we have added two sites to our Favorites...

If you plan to use CometBird's default start page - namely http://google.atcomet.com/c/, you will want to create all your Favorites so that it is accessible from this page, along with the built-in Google Search Bar. If you do not want to use CometBird's default Home Page, you may add your Favorites to the Favorites Menu, like with other Browsers. Interestingly, while installing CometBird, the options available to import Bookmarks does not include Bookmarks from Firefox, though Internet Explorer Favorites (Microsoft calls it Favorites instead of Bookmarks) is included!

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This is surprising - after all, both CometBird and Firefox are based on the Mozilla Browser engine, while Internet Explorer is not! In fact, CometBird resembles Firefox so much that when you restart it, the popup states that Firefox is being restarted! We suspect that CometBird and Firefox share more than just the Mozilla Browser Engine! Perhaps the decision to exclude the facility to import Firefox Bookmarks into CometBird is deliberate - maybe the CometBird guys do not want Firefox users to convert to CometBird, for they certainly would not want to see the reverse happening, i.e., CometBird users shifting to Firefox!

Like Firefox, CometBird intelligently auto-completes the URL Bar, filling it with URLs from your Bookmarks and recently-visited websites. Again, like Firefox, CometBird lets you reopen any Tab that you have closed, in your current browsing session. All these are certainly features taken from Firefox, rather than developed for CometBird!

CometBird does not have issues running Java code rendering websites. WellOiledPC displays just perfectly on it, as shown to the left in the second screenshot. Standard features like Tabbed Browsing, Passwords saving, Pop-up Blocking, etc., are all present too. CometBird has a number of Add-ons for different functions and features. Most of the Firefox Extensions and add-ons will run on CometBird as well, since the common denominator is the Mozilla Browser Engine. We were quick to install SEOQuake, FireFTP and the Alexa Sparky add-on, our favorite Plugins for the Mozilla Browser Engine!

Of the greatest importance for a software today - specially for Browsers, since it is hotly-contested territory currently - is a USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Unlike Flock, CometBird does not have a clear USP. Flock squarely targets Social Networking site hounds. Web Developers and Online Marketers are not likely to be swayed from Firefox (which has a stranglehold on this niche) to CometBird, for CometBird does not offer anything extra over Firefox, apart from the much lesser time it needs to start up! This is something that the CometBird guys need to focus upon, in our opinion.

PCs: Hardware, Software and Computer Services. And, People who use PCs

People seeking reliable advice for PC Purchases

People seeking advice for extracting maximum utility from their PCs

People looking for reviews of and purchase links for top-notch Security Products (AntiViruses, AntiSpyware, etc.)

Small/ Home Offices with Networked PCs, seeking maximum RoI from their IT Investments/ advice on expanding IT Infrastructure

People and Corporations planning to set up professional, contemporary, optimized, aesthetic websites

Worldwide IT Vendors looking for authentic, professional and inexpensive Market Research on global IT Markets

Software Developers wanting to Document/ create quality User Manuals for their Products/ Services

Here is the link that tracks Browser usage and publishes Browser Statistics: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

In our opinion, CometBird has everything that you could want from a Browser: lightning-quick start-up, neat interface and standard features found in the other Browsers (tabbed browsing, passwords management etc.) and the ability to run most Plug-ins for the Mozilla Browser engine. Although both Google Chrome and SeaMonkey are based on the Mozilla Engine too, neither of them work with most of these add-ins. A number of plug-ins do not work with Flock, yet another Browser based on the Mozilla Browser engine! However with CometBird, we have so far discovered just one Mozilla Browser plug-in that does not work - ColorfulTabs. But then, that's hardly skin off our nose!

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The list of credits for CometBird is huge. With Version 3.0.3, CometBird too seems to have the memory leakage problem that Firefox too faced. However, Version 3.0.4 shows no signs of this irritating issue. The work-around then was to press Ctrl-Alt-Del and kill CometBird.Exe. Everything would then work as before, except that your Favorites, saved under the default Home Page http://google.atcomet.com/c/, would be lost forever...

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CometBird is a good option for people who wants one or more of the following features from their Browser:

Quick start up
Clean, uncluttered interface
Built-in links for Social Networking sites
Ability to download media files (audio/ video) from sites such as YouTube by means of a single click

So far, we've had a whale of a time with CometBird - not a single crash and no memory leak issue as well, with the latest version. We have also not faced any security breaches using CometBird. The Plug-in Web of Trust (WOT) works closely and inside CometBird, providing an additional layer of security against threats. WOT works with Mozilla Firefox and Orca as well, though it does not work with the other Mozilla-based Browsers, namely Chrome and SeaMonkey.

To understand the features of the latest version of CometBird, visit: http://www.cometbird.com/page/features.html

The motto at CometBird apparently is, "If you like Firefox, you'll like CometBird more!" We certainly have not seen any signs that make it less admirable in comparison with Firefox. Why, it has every single feature that matters in Firefox - including the ability to re-open closed Tabs and the ability to retrieve entire URLs from your Bookmarks, even when a SINGLE alphabet is pressed in the URL Bar! The race to market share will be difficult, but CometBird has definitely begun on the right note - we wish CometBird the very best!

CometBird Credit

WellOiledPC Recommendation, in a face-off between Firefox and CometBird:

Despite good security features built in to CometBird, we wish third-party Security products - such as Norton 360 and Norton Internet Security - plugged right into CometBird. We are NOT saying that CometBird is insecure, what we ARE saying is that Browsers need multiple levels of security in today's computing environment and visual confirmation for the same. Top-notch Security product like Norton 360 do that with Internet Explorer and Firefox. After all, Symantec (the developers of Norton 360 and Norton Internet Security) and others have been in the business of Computing Security at a time when CometBird wasn't even conceptualized!

The absence of integration with third-party security solutions is why CometBird misses our "Thumbs Up". We trust a later edition corrects this, though we are into version 3.5.2, without any signs of that happening... In terms of looks, features and functionality, CometBird has indeed made satisfactory progress so far, quickly matching Firefox's Version Number as well as its features. Our considered and firm advice for those who want to choose between Firefox and CometBird is therefore definitely in favor of Firefox!

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