Tungsten is a web browser alternative to the big names in the field with a twist since it allows users to create groups of tabs stacked together to ensure that you can have access to as much information as possible at any point.
Installation & Requirements
The browser’s installation is fairly standard although there is surprisingly no option to set it as the default browser during the setup. The supported operating systems are Windows 7 and Windows 8x.
Interface
Most of Tungsten’s parts, along with the interface, are based on the Blink and Trident engines that power Chromium and Internet Explorer respectively. The result is a browser that certainly looks familiar, retaining that premium look that you do not always get from obscure web browsers of its kind. There are various parts that do not feel as polished as they should but they are not enough to take away from the experience.
As is always the case when considering the move to another browser, the main appeal here is the Tungsten-specific features that differentiate it from the competition. The main draw here are the grouped tabs and the split view, both of which are very niche products that are quite confusing to use at first. In regards to the grouped tabs, dragging and dropping any tab onto another will create a group that you can then access at any point by clicking on it. This is brilliant for people like me that always keep tens upon tens of tabs open at any given time and are in desperate need of some organization.
However, the best feature for me is the split view. Whenever you have two or more tabs open, you can opt to display them in a split view, either horizontally or vertically. This means that you can browse the web in one tab while watching a video on the other one or changing your favorite music or doing whatever else really. This is especially brilliant if you are looking to see changes in a website in real-time as you can keep the old version in one tab and the newer one in the next one.
While these two features are quite well-done and very interesting on their own, I doubt they will be enough to convince someone to switch from their own favorite browser. Both of these features can be found in extensions and the ironic part here is that Tungsten actually offers all of Chrome’s extension as they are both based on the same engine. While that part is certainly beneficial to the browser, it also shows that most of its appeal can be easily shadowed by its bigger relatives too.
Pros
-Unique features
-Quite fast
-Full support for Chromium extensions
Cons
-Unpolished
-Several bugs and annoyances
-Not appealing enough to any particular audience
Conclusion
If you are planning to shy away from all popular browsers, Tungsten can certainly give you some unique features while retaining a lot of functionality you would expect from the major players. However, most of the things on offer can be found elsewhere and the clunky browsing might just not be worth it.
