K-Meleon is a fast and light browser designed based on Mozilla’s Gecko layout engine, the same layout that Firefox uses. It has a unique bookmarking system, where you can use Internet Explorer Favorites and Opera Hotlist instead of or along with Netscape/Mozilla’s bookmarking system, K-Meleon is highly customizable; you can download custom themes, skins, etc. It also leaves you ample space to add various macros plugins and enhance the performance and functionality of the browser. With features like mouse gestures, configurable toolbar, menu, context menu, and keyboard shortcuts, you have full control over this amazing browser! K-Meleon is compatible with Microsoft Windows 32 bit OS.
First Impression
K-Meleon is completely free and it is very easy to install. You can download the installer, or download the portable version (which does not need installation), from the K-Meleon homepage. When you launch the browser, you will see a clean looking user interface. Don’t be surprised if it reminds you of the popular Firefox Browser, because both the browsers use the same Gecko layout engine. So, K-Meleon obviously has a great layout with all control buttons conveniently positioned.
Major Features of K-Meleon
K-Meleon gives you complete control over its look and functionality! In this section, you will find some of the major features that make this browser unique and stand out from other browsers. The following are some of the features that define K-Meleon:
Secured Browsing Experience: As it uses the Gecko renderer, the latest version of K-Meleon provides excellent support (X)HTML, CSS, and DOM standards. It also provides SSL 3.0 as well as TLS support to ensure a safe browsing experience.
K-Meleon Loader: K-Meleon also has a unique feature called K-Meleon Loader which preloads portions of the browser, thereby ensuring fast launch. This feature is useful for low end systems. To be true, it loads faster than Firefox which is quite impressive considering the fact that both use the same Gecko rendering engine!
All in all, the browser is quite snappy and takes a little time to load a page. I could stream YouTube videos without any issue. However, you will need to download Adobe Flash Player before playing games online.
Unique Bookmarking system: When you launch K-Meleon for the first time, it has Netscape Bookmarking Plugin enabled. You can also use your existing Firefox bookmarking system! Instead, you can also use Opera’s Hotlist or IE’s Favorites!
Mouse Gesture: K-Meleon supports mouse gesture, offering you quick and easy web navigator. Simply right-click on a page while sliding left or right to move back or forward. The mouse gesture plugin is also customizable.
Fast Web Search: Like popular browsers such as Chrome, K-Meleon integrates the search bar with the address bar with support for Mozilla keywords and Microsoft Quick Search. You can also use the pop-up search window by typing Ctrl+G. You can choose from the search engine presets that has more than 80 search engines (includes Google, Yahoo, Bing, IMDB. etc), which is a great offer.
Easy and Extensive User Customization: Users can customize almost every aspect of this browser. Adding, removing items from the menus is easy, thereby enabling you to revamp your menus whenever you want! You can also assign keyboard shortcuts to various functions.
Themes and Skins: Another defining characteristic of K-Meleon is the wide range of custom themes and skins, which can be downloaded for free! You can change the look of your browser; make it cooler as you cruise through the web! You can also create your own custom themes, icons and skins!
Also see: Firefox Christmas Theme
Verdict
K-Meleon is really fast and easy to use. Browsing through the web using K-Meleon is a good experience. Moreover, the customizable features that it offers is hard to overlook, and like me, you will surely be tempted to give this little monster a try!
