Browzar the browsing tool

People like their privacy. Ok, maybe not exibitionists so much but the other people do. Keeping your browsing habits secret is fairly easy to do if you know how to do it. The problem is that some people don’t know how or just don’t want the hassle of manually dumping their browser cache.

Firefox has an option to automatically empty it’s cache and remove cookies but you must enable that option (Preferences -> Privacy -> Settings). Internet Explorer, on the other hand, doesn’t so you must go into the Internet Options and clear the cache manually. That shortcoming is where Browzar steps in.

I found out about Browzar via a CNet article. Browzar is less than 300K in size and is avaible as a free download. It is not a browser in and of itself. It is more of a wrapper for Internet Explorer. The creator promises you can “search and surf the web without leaving any visible trace on the computer you are using.” That is based on the fact that there is no browser cache and cookies are deleted automatically when Browzar is closed.

One of the FAQ postings states (bullet points shortened):

What is Browzar useful for?

Browzar is useful for surfing the internet privately. There are a multitude of reasons why we may want to view internet content without leaving any footprints on your computer, here are just a few examples you might use Browzar:

You’re at a friend’s house and you want to check your email…

You have one family computer at home that everyone shares…

You are on holiday and you need to check your email from an internet café…

You’re at work and looking for another job…

You are at work and need to check your online bank account…

The first sentence is incorrect. Clearing private data does not equate to surfing the Internet privately. Surfing the Internet privately would involve using an encrypted connection. Browzar does not encrypt it’s traffic unless it is connecting to a secure site.

The bullet points are valid reasons someone would use Browzar. The ultra small size makes it a fast download even over dial-up. Some Internet cafe’s and work places block access to the Internet Options in IE so you can’t manually clear the cache. Automatic clearing of cookies and not caching anything keeps prying eyes from seeing where you’ve been. Unless, of course, they are using a monitoring program on the PC or network. Beware the public PC.

Because it’s base is IE, Browzar will suffer from the same security issues as IE. Maybe other features could be built into later revisions that disable the security holes (e.g. ActiveX). A popup blocker, which can be disabled, is built into the program.

Browzar is currently only for Windows 98SE and IE 5.5 or higher. According to the website, Linux and Mac OS X versions are in the works. The Mac version will probably be an overlay for Safari since that is the built-in browser but it can be uninstalled so that’s a slight wrench in the system. The Linux version could be trickier because the default browser is different depending on the desktop GUI as well as users that remove the default and install their preferred browser.

I prefer Portable Firefox for use on Windows machines. It’s geared more for installing on a USB drive instead of trying to download the 4.9 MB zipped executable every time, especially over dial-up. For Opera browser fans, there is a portable option for you called OperaUSB (app. 5 MB in size). Using these programs would require USB ports being available and active. That is more often the case than the ports being disabled.

He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away. - Raymond Hull

31.Aug.06 Browsers, Internet

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3 Responses to “Browzar the browsing tool”

di | September 2nd, 2006 at 2:14 am
I saw this in eweek today but have not tried it yet. I plan on it though. Good article.
Teridon | September 6th, 2006 at 7:24 am
Except it’s really just a ploy to get click-thru payments from overture…
http://web3.0log.org/2006/09/01/new-secure-browser-browzar-is-fake-and-full-of-adware/
wyckedone | September 6th, 2006 at 8:37 am
Is it really a ploy or a way to fund a free product? Some people want to make money for what they create. The creator of Browzar admitted in a CNet article:

“We get revenue share from the (embedded) search engine (provided by Overture) and other products we’ll be coming out with in the future,” he said on Thursday.

He should have stated that on the Browzar web site.