Orca Browser is to Firefox 3 what Avant Browser is to Internet Explorer

Filed under: Internet, Windows, Freeware, Browsers

Orca Browser is to Firefox 3 what Avant Browser is to Internet Explorer

by Brad Linder Jul 22nd 2008

Orca Browser is a web browser based on Firefox 3 which offers a bunch of features that you'd only get in Firefox by adding plugins and tweaking your browser settings. Orca is made by the same folks who develop the Avant Browser, which is based on Internet Explorer.

So what does Orca offer that you won't find in the standard version of Firefox 3? First up, it's fast. Like ridiculously fast. Like, if you thought Firefox 3 rendered web pages more quickly than Firefox 2, you an't seen nothing yet fast. If that's not enough for you, there's also a service that lets you save your passwords, bookmarks, RSS feeds and other configuration settings online. That way you can sync your settings between Orca browsers installed on multiple machines.

Orca is also extremely customizable. You can adjust the toolbars and other elements of the browser with just a few clicks. And Orca comes with about 20 skins preloaded, making it easy to change the color scheme. The only major problems we see is that Orca des not support Firefox 3 add-ons, and that the browser is Windows only.

[via gHacks]

Tags: avant-browser, firefox, orca, orca-browser

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Sensai said 4:25PM on 7-22-2008

People think Firefox is fast? Really? I mean, it beats out IE left right and center...but seriously?

I can't speak for Orca, as I haven't tried it...but I love some Opera. Safest and quickest browser around.

http://www.opera.com/

Gemski said 7:04PM on 7-22-2008

I still have problems with Opera rendering certain sites. Also, live Adblock too much.

Endejas said 7:04PM on 7-22-2008

Holy Crap! This thing is blazing!

scotty said 10:25PM on 7-22-2008

Using it right now. Really fast, indeed. Not too stable when I have several tabs open, but this browser has potential.

Mysterius said 11:35PM on 7-22-2008

So it's related to Firefox by using the Gecko engine?

How does it compare to K-Meleon, speed wise?

scotty said 12:46AM on 7-23-2008

Seems just as fast, if maybe faster.

Damian said 9:52AM on 7-23-2008

Sensai, look at benchmarks, Firefox owns Opera on many of them, memory and Javascript performance in particular.

I'd try Orca but I have absolutely no trust of the people who made it. I can't imagine they did anything but add patches to improve the speed of web page loading that just missed the launch of Firefox 3, I'm testing using Firefox 3.1 now and the first thing I noticed was a considerable boost in speed.

Matt S. said 1:36PM on 7-23-2008

Theres one thing that should be understood about Orca Damian.. Orca has undergone 2 years of development to blend Gecko 1.9 into the codebase of Avant Browser. Orca Browser 1.0 was scrapped to redesign the browser for Gecko 1.9. It is not intended and will never be considered just another Firefox clone. Most Firefox clones are nothing but firefox with a new theme and maybe a few features added in.

Orca's speed is due greatly to the original speed Avant is known for. Gecko just adds to it. There is no secret that every new release of Orca has the most recent build of Gecko included.

Damian said 2:48PM on 7-23-2008

Thanks Matt, I did make a long reply to you earlier but it seems to have not shown up, oh well. My suspicions are as you guessed a lot to do with other Gecko based browsers. Also Avant being trident based has heavily put me off downloading that browser in the past.

But this is windows only which makes me worry a bit as to why that might be. I'm looking around on the forums and can't find much information about it at all, given a large chunk of it must legally be open source and I'm not even sure where the code is.

I'll have a bit of fun researching now :)

Ken said 9:53AM on 7-23-2008

Not impressed, it doesn't block ads well and it crashed on me alerady..

Jethro said 11:52AM on 7-23-2008

You have to remember Ken that Orca 1.1 is currently only at alpha stage & there are still a few bugs to iron out so give them some time to fix every thing.

Orca Browser 1.0 RC 3 was the earlier browser & it was a lot better than Firefox & the ad blocker worked fine & was my browser of choice since 2005. The only problem with it was that the developer pushed it to one side in Dec05 for his development of Avant browser for Vista use so no further upgrades to Orca were carried out. Orca 1.1 Alpha is a completely different looking browser to Orca 1.0 RC3 and looks identical to Avant at the moment.

Jethro said 12:09PM on 7-23-2008

The other thing is that the "Release" version of Orca 1.1 is not due out until some time in August so if you don't like the current Alpha release then try back later when Orca 1.1 is officially released.

Cheers,

Jethro.

angeldust said 5:42PM on 7-25-2008

The August date is a guideline date.
ORCA Browser like its sibling Avant Browser is developed by one person, although he now has a couple of helpers aka 'Avant Force', Anderson Che.
Even some Forum staff members, end-user volunteers, are hoping for Linux versions but of course it must work in Windoze first.
Come over and give a comment at Avant Forums under the Orca Section.
Please no flaming.

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