Apple Mac HQ

If you like to play with the latest toys, you might want to give Radon a try. Radon is a new Webkit based internet browser that is focusing on speed and speed alone. The website claims that on average it’s 1.5x faster than Firefox, Safari, Camino, and others.

You can visit the developers website to download the latest version. I’ve included a screenshot of the application to give you a peak at what it looks like.

After testing the browser for a few minutes, I can say it’s definitely fast. Pages loaded up noticeably quicker than in my default browser, Camino. I was able to get into Yahoo Mail (Classic version only) and my corporate webmail account (Outlook Web Access) with no problems. Radon lacks a few simple features such as tabs and bookmarks. The entire download for the application is 1.2MB (1.1MB for the Tiger version). The application is beta software, so use whatever caution you typically use with beta software.

As with most beta software, Radon is not bug free. I noticed a few bugs while using the software, but as a quick web browser, it seemed to work just fine. Among the bugs I noticed:

• No bottom application window bar. The resize window corner is just floating in space
• After setting a homepage, the browser doesn’t actually connect to said homepage
• The home button doesn’t seem to do anything when clicked

Radon is fairly impressive when you consider it’s being developed by only two people. The Radon beta is currently freeware. If you really like it, they have a donation button too.

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