Polarity web browser [discontinued]

[Nh]

Polarity 4.4.5 Build 251

A Maxthon-like web browser.

From softpedia.com:
A, efficient and feature-rich software utility functions as an intuitive web browser, based on two engines, Chromium V8 and Trident

Requires .NET framework 2.0 or higher

There is no portable version, but I think the installer just extraxts files in a separate folder (C:\Program Files\Polarity - by default).

Website: http://polarityweb.webs.com

[I am Baas]

Polarity 4.4.5 Build 251

Requires .NET framework 2.0 or higher

Requirements:

• .NET framework 4.0 or higher.

http://polarityweb.webs.com/download.htm

[I am Baas]

There is no portable version, but I think the installer just extraxts files in a separate folder (C:\Program Files\Polarity - by default).

It's a Web Installer available from http://sourceforge.net/projects/polaritybrowser/

Anyways... Not Portable

Requires admin rights

user.config in \AppData\Local\Stanley_Lim\polarity.exe_Url_1f4dekfvzxbzkbzgn4jhxn5mjhnaepla\4.4.6.0

Folder in \AppData\Roaming\Stanley Lim\Polarity\4.4.6.0

Polarity_Config folder in \drive\F\

[anBoa]

It seems that Polarity has a portable version now.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/polarit ... p/download

[Midas]

I haven't really tested Polarity, another Web browser built for being lightweight -- although it does offer an allegedly portable download; I'm assuming it isn't really portable until someone proves me wrong...

Polarity distinguishing features are being DotNET v4.0 dependent, being capable of multi-engine rendering (Chromium & Trident), and being available for both Windows and Android (I'm left wondering why Linux wasn't targeted).

[Polarity is] A feature packed, fast, secure, stable, and a highly customizable web browser that offers the latest web standards. Polarity also comes built in with adblock and Do Not Track for privacy concerns. All these aspects of Polarity help deliver a unique browsing experience which helps you enjoy what the web has to offer.

Download the latest Polarity release (currently v6.3.0) from http://polarityweb.weebly.com/download.html.

[I am Baas]

Quickly re-tested Polarity portable v6.3.0.0

Portable, not stealth

Still requires admin rights

user.config in \AppData\Local\Stanley_Lim\polarity.exe_Url_1f4dekfvzxbzkbzgn4jhxn5mjhnaepla\6.3.0.0
Folder in \AppData\Roaming\Stanley Lim\Polarity\6.3.0.0

Setting files in application folder in \Polarity Portable\Polarity Portable\Polarity_Config


This version however also adds shortcuts on desktop.

[I am Baas]

http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... 117#p67117

[Midas]

http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... 117#p67117

I did search, I swear...

[webfork]

I did search, I swear...

No prob ... merged

[Midas]

Thanks.

[I am Baas]

Re-tested Polarity version 7.2.1: Portable

Requires admin rights to run.

Settings in \Polarity Portable\Polarity Portable\Polarity_Config but it also writes to...

user.config in \AppData\Local\Stanley_Lim\Polarity.exe_Url_qqwo3agt1pvrbumkwceaocxf04fmv3li\7.2.1.0

\AppData\Roaming\Stanley Lim\Polarity\7.2.1.0
\AppData\Roaming\Stanley Lim\Polarity\Cache\Cache
\AppData\Roaming\Stanley Lim\Polarity\Cache\Local Storage
\AppData\Roaming\Stanley Lim\Polarity\Favicon

[freakazoid]

This got a mention on Ghacks.net today.

Might try this out some time in the future

[tactictoe]

It has some good features , http://polarityweb.weebly.com/7.html. I think I am going to give it a go soon.

[webfork]

So it's a chromium-based browser with an optional IE front-end, but there were a few things that bothered me:

• Ownership. I can't tell what kind of project this is. Is this a corporation, a group, a project, etc? They appear to be accepting donations but it otherwise appears to be run by one person: http://polarityweb.blogspot.com/p/about.html
• Requirements. Both dotNET framework 4.5 and Visual C++ 2012 redistributable (ignoring the WinXP version)
• Metrics. The power efficiency the developer listed with low RAM usage (http://polarity.x10.mx/compare/) is a blurry metric: until a system gets overwhelmed, high RAM usage can save electricity by reducing download activity and disk writes. I couldn't find a really solid source on this but I did find one site noting that more RAM doesn't affect power usage. This suggests that reducing applications actively using RAM doesn't reduce overall power.
  

  "... the amount of RAM has little or no effect on power consumption of PC components. A stick of 4 GB DDR3 RAM will draw about the same amount of power as a stick of 8 GB DDR3 RAM (assuming that they have the same clock speed). http://www.buildcomputers.net/power-con ... nents.html

  Whatever the case, a there are other, clearer places to find power efficiency, i.e. freezing of pages and processes not currently in focus, more graphics card controls, etc. These are all big power taps.
• License. Softpedia is listing GPL but I can't find anything clear about that. There's a sourceforge page but that doesn't have any data either. https://sourceforge.net/projects/polaritybrowser/ ... I posted something this to ghacks but it hasn't gone live yet (or got zapped, I dunno).

Note also that it doesn't support Chrome add-ons. That's not really an issue for me as there aren't any Chrome add-ons that I need.

[SYSTEM]

Metrics. The power efficiency the developer listed with low RAM usage (http://polarity.x10.mx/compare/) is a blurry metric: until a system gets overwhelmed, high RAM usage can save electricity by reducing download activity and disk writes. I couldn't find a really solid source on this but I did find one site noting that more RAM doesn't affect power usage. This suggests that reducing applications actively using RAM doesn't reduce overall power.

"... the amount of RAM has little or no effect on power consumption of PC components. A stick of 4 GB DDR3 RAM will draw about the same amount of power as a stick of 8 GB DDR3 RAM (assuming that they have the same clock speed). http://www.buildcomputers.net/power-con ... nents.html

You're correct. In addition, buildcomputers.net is talking about the fact that the installed amount of RAM doesn't affect power consumption.

It is not possible to "turn off" unused RAM, meaning that RAM usage of individual programs can't have any effect in power usage, even in theory. Even if you have something like 32 GB of RAM and only one gigabyte is in use, all the RAM is still turned on and consumes power. (This comes down to the fact that RAM chips themselves don't know which areas store useful data and which don't.)