Hydra Browser

Hydra is a web browser based on Internet Explorer’s engine, Trident. It comes with support for RSS reader, YouTube downloader, bookmarks, security settings, auto-form options, translator and several FTP utilities.

User interface

The tool integrates a ribbon-like interface with a tabbed menu and several sidebars with history, bookmarks and RSS feeds. Unfortunately, the mix between the aforementioned implementations is not a successful one, as the layout looks crowded and not particularly intuitive.
The Back and Forward buttons, which are the most used ones when navigating on the Internet, can only be found in the Home menu, so if you want to access the Edit, Favorites & Sidebars, Security & Settings, Tools and RSS, they disappear.
Good news is that you can work in a multi-tabbed environment and automatically refresh a page at a user-defined time (in seconds).

Bookmark manager, YouTube downloader and other handy features

Hydra features a powerful bookmark manager where you can keep track of all your favorite URLs and save them in a user-defined category and group.
What’s more, you can download videos from YouTube and save them on your computer for offline viewing, work with a set of JavaScript functions, activate a simple mode for hiding the advanced features, and go fast forward/backward.
Other useful features worth being mentioned enable you to collect parts of webpages using the copy/paste method and merge the information into a single page, import IE favorites, work with a calendar, to-do list, unit convertor, and RSS feed reader, and access various preset webpages that are organized in different categories, such as News, Finance, Games, Lifestyle and Technology.

Security and general settings

Hydra gives you the possibility to block ads and popups, enable the anti-phishing mode, clear history, typed URLs, cookies, temporary files and cache on exit, use auto-fill forms and auto-logins, and disable ActiveX, Java and frames.
You can install extensions, make use of mouse gestures for performing several actions (e.g. go back or forward, exit the application), block background sounds, images and videos, remove IE navigation sounds, and set Hydra as your default web browser.

Bottom line

All in all, Hydra comes with a handy suite of features for helping you navigate in a secure environment. On the downside, the layout looks crowded and the web browser needs a major facelift for making the entire process intuitive.