- Jun 12, 2018
- 65
The following review was conducted by Sampson, Senior Developer Relations Specialist at Brave.
When a Web browser first launches, it typically goes through an initial setup phase where various resources are requested, downloaded, configured, and more. You can learn quite a bit about a browser from observing the requests it makes in its first moments with a new user profile. Often, a cursory examination will tell you a great deal about how the browser thinks about, and handles, user privacy and security.
In the past we at Brave have taken a look at desktop and iOS browsers, to see what they do in the first moments of being launched with a fresh user profile. It’s important to us that we keep a close eye on Brave in particular. Similar efforts have been conducted by others, such as the 2020 work of Douglas Leith, which will be referenced throughout this review.
This effort compared the first-run experiences of five popular browsers: Brave, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera. Each of these readings were conducted on an updated Windows 10 (Version 20H2, Build 19042.804) desktop computer, with an authenticated Microsoft account.
brave.com
When a Web browser first launches, it typically goes through an initial setup phase where various resources are requested, downloaded, configured, and more. You can learn quite a bit about a browser from observing the requests it makes in its first moments with a new user profile. Often, a cursory examination will tell you a great deal about how the browser thinks about, and handles, user privacy and security.
In the past we at Brave have taken a look at desktop and iOS browsers, to see what they do in the first moments of being launched with a fresh user profile. It’s important to us that we keep a close eye on Brave in particular. Similar efforts have been conducted by others, such as the 2020 work of Douglas Leith, which will be referenced throughout this review.
This effort compared the first-run experiences of five popular browsers: Brave, Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera. Each of these readings were conducted on an updated Windows 10 (Version 20H2, Build 19042.804) desktop computer, with an authenticated Microsoft account.

Comparing the Network Behavior of Popular Browsers on First-Run | Brave
You can learn quite a bit about a browser from observing the requests it makes in its first moments with a new user profile. Often, a cursory examination will tell you a great deal about how the browser thinks about, and handles, user privacy and security.