BlackHawk Browser

deya · 22. Apr 2011, 12:23 AM

Anyone tried BlackHawk Browser ? - I've just installed it, never heard of it before. It's Chrome based, 52MB installed, Chrome extensions work, WOT works perfect.

It's very light on resources, low CPU, and it loads quick. It's made by a company called Netgate Technologies, never heard of them (maybe MC?) but I scanned the setup.exe and uploaded it to Virus Total - all clean.

Don't know if it's any use to anyone, it's a smart looking browser, installs easy. I've not had chance to try any extensions apart from WOT yet but the browser does perform well. Maybe something else to try for anyone who's interested. There's plenty of info on the home page. Had a quick look around but couldn't find too much about it.

J_L · 22. Apr 2011, 04:25 AM

Netgate is mainly a security company, but not so well-known. The site is clean as well: http://www.urlvoid.com/scan/netgate.sk

Farid · 22. Apr 2011, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deya

Anyone tried BlackHawk Browser ? - I've just installed it, never heard of it before. It's Chrome based, 52MB installed, Chrome extensions work, WOT works perfect.

It's very light on resources, low CPU, and it loads quick. It's made by a company called Netgate Technologies, never heard of them (maybe MC?) but I scanned the setup.exe and uploaded it to Virus Total - all clean.

Don't know if it's any use to anyone, it's a smart looking browser, installs easy. I've not had chance to try any extensions apart from WOT yet but the browser does perform well. Maybe something else to try for anyone who's interested. There's plenty of info on the home page. Had a quick look around but couldn't find too much about it.

Faster than Chrome?

MidnightCowboy · 22. Apr 2011, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deya

It's very light on resources, low CPU, and it loads quick. It's made by a company called Netgate Technologies, never heard of them (maybe MC?) but I scanned the setup.exe and uploaded it to Virus Total - all clean.

.

I first made contact with their CEO, Martin Pekar in July 2009. At the time I was rather hoping that FortKnox firewall would become free but sadly not. Their other stuff has always struggled to cut it at the top end of the market. I'll take a look at the browser myself later, thanks for the notice because I hadn't seen this

eyeb · 22. Apr 2011, 09:11 AM

i tested it in sandboxie, I saw no advantages it has over chrome except the menus bar which i don't use anyways...

speed was same and has no additional features like srware's iron

MidnightCowboy · 22. Apr 2011, 09:20 AM

Just had a preliminary look at BlackHawk and I really like it

I'm not into extensions like some of you guys but the ones I do use work fine. One exception was my favored DuckDuckGo search engine. The extension to install this in the toolbar arrived OK complete with icon and so did the suggestions when I typed into it, but that's as far as it went, no results. That said, I un-installed this, went to the DuckDuckGo site and clicked on the "add to chrome" link there instead. Sure enough DuckDuckGo then appeared in the browser options and is now set to default and working perfectly, including the WOT results although I also have the WOT main extension installed as well.

With Iron and Dragon etc already with us, some might ask why the need for yet another Chrome clone? Well, all I can say is I've always found this developer to be honest and upfront about past events as well as current so I would have no hesitation in using it.

Please report anything you find here good or bad and I'll point the devs at this thread in case they wish to contribute directly.

deya · 22. Apr 2011, 02:06 PM

Thank you for the feedback regarding Netgate, I just wasn't aware of them so thought it best to enquire, just to be sure.

I suppose it all comes down to personal choice, comparing various Chrome browsers, looks etc, or whether there's a need for another.

But I like BlackHawk, soon as I opened it, set the options and started using it the browser appealed to me. I like the menu bar at the top, instead of clicking the spanner all the time, might be nice to have the option to view it or not but it's not really that important to me.

So far I've had a couple of errors when trying to install extensions from the Chrome Extensions site, 'invalid scheme for permissions' with Smooth Gestures and Awesome Screenshot. But I went to the BlackHawk extensions page, tried Awesome Screenshot again and it installed from there no problem, and it works fine. I ended up installing Mouse Stroke for the gestures, which turned out better for me because it lets you use super drag n drop.

I've got Click&Clean 7.2 installed and all apps that come with it, they all work fine, and then WOT. That's it, although I installed AdBlock from the BlackHawk extensions, it works, but I've disabled it and will only use it if ads start bothering me. So it's just another option.

I've tried most of the BlackHawk themes, nice, but I prefer the default theme. Black isn't a colour I'd usually choose for a theme but there isn't too much of it and to be honest I think that's one of the things that I like about the browser - it's a bit different, so I like it.

For me, BlackHawk runs light and smooth, no excessive CPU even with the extensions installed and memory use is not high, although I admit I don't have many extensions so what it's like with a ton of them installed will be open to debate.

I have Iron installed on another machine, it's fast and all of that, but I just can't seem to get along with it so I use it very rarely.

I have ChromePlus on here and use it a lot, they released v1.6.1.0 yesterday and it's a huge imrovement on the previous versions. ChromePlus is probably the most configurable of the Chrome browsers, the built in standard features plus the enhanced options that come with it make it more complete for me. It's a bit slow to load but once up and running it's a good browser to use, but perhaps a little more resource hungry than Iron or BlackHawk.

When I try a new browser I look at it with a completely open mind, I'm not particularly into sticking with favourites, just what works for me. From what I can gather BlackHawk hasn't been around for long, but when I use it, look at it, I sense more than a bit of potential. I'd probably chance a few quid on these guys developing it into a very useful browser - one to give the others a run for their money - it's very good already.

Depends what you want from a browser, but if it's speed you're after I don't reckon I've come across many that are faster, or lighter. If I could change one thing with BlackHawk it would be to not have the status bar showing (same as the others don't) and free up some screen space to maybe compensate for the menu bar.

Other than that it's a good browser, has a nice feel to it, so I'll stick with it and see where it goes in the future. It hasn't crashed once, several tabs open and media running, no problems.

jim · 22. Apr 2011, 04:47 PM

Well I thought I would have a look. Downloaded and installed fine and certainly seems fast. Images from Daily Mail or similar loaded fine. (Have a lot of problem with Firefox with respect to that). Went to the help page and clicked on "How do I import bookmarks etc. from Firefox or IE," followed the instructions but the only import shown was IE or Google toolbar and mine are all in Firefox. Looked for add ons to try maybe Adblock plus but couldn't find how to do that. Tried to find the search bar but, despite an option to edit search engines, couldn't find how to open/add a search bar. With my usual impatience

gave up and went back to Firefox.

MidnightCowboy · 22. Apr 2011, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim

With my usual impatience

gave up and went back to Firefox.

I installed WOT, adblock and DuckDuckGo search without any problems at all. I always export my bookmarks to an HTML file and then import that into the new browser which worked perfectly from my PaleMoon 4 to BlackHawk.

deya · 22. Apr 2011, 07:01 PM

That's the way I always do it, export bookmarks to HTML and save them. Then if need be import them to other browsers that way.

@jim - you can install extensions from the Chrome Extensions page, AdBlock Plus is here, it's a Beta but it works in BlackHawk. What you said about newspaper sites, I sometimes wonder if you're better of with the ads because blocking them usually causes more of a slowdown. You can't win with it.

22. Apr 2011, 12:23 AM	#1 (permalink)
deya Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: UK Posts: 528	BlackHawk Browser Anyone tried BlackHawk Browser ? - I've just installed it, never heard of it before. It's Chrome based, 52MB installed, Chrome extensions work, WOT works perfect. It's very light on resources, low CPU, and it loads quick. It's made by a company called Netgate Technologies, never heard of them (maybe MC?) but I scanned the setup.exe and uploaded it to Virus Total - all clean. Don't know if it's any use to anyone, it's a smart looking browser, installs easy. I've not had chance to try any extensions apart from WOT yet but the browser does perform well. Maybe something else to try for anyone who's interested. There's plenty of info on the home page. Had a quick look around but couldn't find too much about it.

22. Apr 2011, 09:20 AM	#6 (permalink)
MidnightCowboy Site Manager Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: South American Banana Republic, third bunch from the left Posts: 9,250	Just had a preliminary look at BlackHawk and I really like it I'm not into extensions like some of you guys but the ones I do use work fine. One exception was my favored DuckDuckGo search engine. The extension to install this in the toolbar arrived OK complete with icon and so did the suggestions when I typed into it, but that's as far as it went, no results. That said, I un-installed this, went to the DuckDuckGo site and clicked on the "add to chrome" link there instead. Sure enough DuckDuckGo then appeared in the browser options and is now set to default and working perfectly, including the WOT results although I also have the WOT main extension installed as well. With Iron and Dragon etc already with us, some might ask why the need for yet another Chrome clone? Well, all I can say is I've always found this developer to be honest and upfront about past events as well as current so I would have no hesitation in using it. Please report anything you find here good or bad and I'll point the devs at this thread in case they wish to contribute directly. __________________ Knows nothing and cares even less

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22. Apr 2011, 04:25 AM	#2 (permalink)
J_L Co-Author, Best Free Security List Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 1,475	Netgate is mainly a security company, but not so well-known. The site is clean as well: http://www.urlvoid.com/scan/netgate.sk

22. Apr 2011, 09:11 AM	#5 (permalink)
eyeb Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Planet X Posts: 487	i tested it in sandboxie, I saw no advantages it has over chrome except the menus bar which i don't use anyways... speed was same and has no additional features like srware's iron

22. Apr 2011, 02:06 PM	#7 (permalink)
deya Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: UK Posts: 528	Thank you for the feedback regarding Netgate, I just wasn't aware of them so thought it best to enquire, just to be sure. I suppose it all comes down to personal choice, comparing various Chrome browsers, looks etc, or whether there's a need for another. But I like BlackHawk, soon as I opened it, set the options and started using it the browser appealed to me. I like the menu bar at the top, instead of clicking the spanner all the time, might be nice to have the option to view it or not but it's not really that important to me. So far I've had a couple of errors when trying to install extensions from the Chrome Extensions site, 'invalid scheme for permissions' with Smooth Gestures and Awesome Screenshot. But I went to the BlackHawk extensions page, tried Awesome Screenshot again and it installed from there no problem, and it works fine. I ended up installing Mouse Stroke for the gestures, which turned out better for me because it lets you use super drag n drop. I've got Click&Clean 7.2 installed and all apps that come with it, they all work fine, and then WOT. That's it, although I installed AdBlock from the BlackHawk extensions, it works, but I've disabled it and will only use it if ads start bothering me. So it's just another option. I've tried most of the BlackHawk themes, nice, but I prefer the default theme. Black isn't a colour I'd usually choose for a theme but there isn't too much of it and to be honest I think that's one of the things that I like about the browser - it's a bit different, so I like it. For me, BlackHawk runs light and smooth, no excessive CPU even with the extensions installed and memory use is not high, although I admit I don't have many extensions so what it's like with a ton of them installed will be open to debate. I have Iron installed on another machine, it's fast and all of that, but I just can't seem to get along with it so I use it very rarely. I have ChromePlus on here and use it a lot, they released v1.6.1.0 yesterday and it's a huge imrovement on the previous versions. ChromePlus is probably the most configurable of the Chrome browsers, the built in standard features plus the enhanced options that come with it make it more complete for me. It's a bit slow to load but once up and running it's a good browser to use, but perhaps a little more resource hungry than Iron or BlackHawk. When I try a new browser I look at it with a completely open mind, I'm not particularly into sticking with favourites, just what works for me. From what I can gather BlackHawk hasn't been around for long, but when I use it, look at it, I sense more than a bit of potential. I'd probably chance a few quid on these guys developing it into a very useful browser - one to give the others a run for their money - it's very good already. Depends what you want from a browser, but if it's speed you're after I don't reckon I've come across many that are faster, or lighter. If I could change one thing with BlackHawk it would be to not have the status bar showing (same as the others don't) and free up some screen space to maybe compensate for the menu bar. Other than that it's a good browser, has a nice feel to it, so I'll stick with it and see where it goes in the future. It hasn't crashed once, several tabs open and media running, no problems.

22. Apr 2011, 04:47 PM	#8 (permalink)
jim Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: near Ashford Kent England Posts: 304	Well I thought I would have a look. Downloaded and installed fine and certainly seems fast. Images from Daily Mail or similar loaded fine. (Have a lot of problem with Firefox with respect to that). Went to the help page and clicked on "How do I import bookmarks etc. from Firefox or IE," followed the instructions but the only import shown was IE or Google toolbar and mine are all in Firefox. Looked for add ons to try maybe Adblock plus but couldn't find how to do that. Tried to find the search bar but, despite an option to edit search engines, couldn't find how to open/add a search bar. With my usual impatience gave up and went back to Firefox.

22. Apr 2011, 07:01 PM	#10 (permalink)
deya Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: UK Posts: 528	That's the way I always do it, export bookmarks to HTML and save them. Then if need be import them to other browsers that way. @jim - you can install extensions from the Chrome Extensions page, AdBlock Plus is here, it's a Beta but it works in BlackHawk. What you said about newspaper sites, I sometimes wonder if you're better of with the ads because blocking them usually causes more of a slowdown. You can't win with it.