Popular security software developer Comodo has developed a Chrome remix said to have higher security features than its predecessors. Comodo Dragon is an aesthetically minimalist browser that is attractive, responsive, and secure.

Apart from the red hue, the Chromium-based browser’s interface is identical to that of market contender Google Chrome. From the detachable tabs at the top of the screen to the bookmark-syncing option, it is impossible to instantly recognize where the “remix” takes place. The Help tab even redirects you to Google Chrome’s Help page and the Extensions tab redirects you to Google as well. It also keeps Chrome’s incognito mode option, where all browsing information and cookies are deleted following the user’s Web session. Upon poking around the Options menu, there are a couple of visible differences: there are no location settings and Dragon does not present an option to send “usage statistics and crash reports to Google.”

A browser developed by a company that is best known for its firewall software can leave people feeling more secure about their Internet usage. Comodo Dragon will pull up a bright-yellow caution message warning people that sending information may be unsafe when they are entering a Web site with an unstable security certificate. One such message pops up even when logging into large sites like Facebook. Also, Dragon does not send browsing information to a remote server.

Based on simple timer tests run on Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3, the average cold start-up time was 4.53 seconds, warm start-up was 0.92s, and navigation time from nytimes.com to facebook.com was 0.87s. Comodo Dragon proves to have slightly faster page-loading speed than Google Chrome 5.0.375.70, which had results of 5.71s, 1.27s, and 1.23s, respectively. However, in Sunspider JavaScript benchmark testing, Comodo Dragon received an average score of 929.6 milliseconds, whereas Google got 734ms. Based on these results, Google may have faster JavaScript performance than Comodo.

Dragon is not only fast, but like Google Chrome, it is not strewn with numerous icons, leaving more room for Web viewing. For those who are extra cautious about their online security, or for those who are worried about Google’s data-mining, this fast browser is a great choice.

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