The free Firefox-based Tor Browser Bundle integrates the Tor network’s enhanced privacy and security. If you would have thought Onion Routing involved wooden crates and flatbed trucks or maybe a sandwich order, you might be surprised to hear it’s actually an online security technology. Think of an onion’s layers: in Onion Routing, layers of encryption make it impossible to trace messages back to their point of origin. Once a secret project of the U.S. Naval Research Lab, it’s now the concern of the Tor Project, an open-source community devoted to developing Tor, the software implementation of second-generation Onion Routing technology, and to maintaining the Tor network.

It includes the Vidalia network connection utility, but it’s much less fiddly than previous Tor implementations. Basically, the Tor Browser does it all for you. Both the Tor Browser and access to the Tor network are free.

We extracted and opened the Tor Browser, which includes the Vidalia Control Panel, a small dialog box for configuring and managing your connection to the Tor network. But the software did it all itself, connecting and opening the browser in a Tor start page. Though the browser uses a green globe icon, it’s basically Firefox 10 with Tor-specific features added to the toolbar. The Tor Browser’s extras include NoScript, which by default is set to Forbid Scripts Globally. The green onion icon is called the Torbutton; it’s the key to Tor’s features and settings. Its menu let us create a New Identity, open the Cookie Protections manager, and set the program’s Preferences on three tabs: Proxy, Security, and Display settings. The Security Settings offers by far the most choices, with eight submenus of options.

In use, we found the Tor Browser to be just like other Firefox clones. We know what you’re asking: did the Tor Browser slow down our surfing? Yes; there’s no doubt that some familiar pages loaded more slowly than usual. Was it annoying? Hardly. Most users will see similar slowdowns on a daily basis. Bottom line: the Tor Browser Bundle makes it easy to take advantage of Tor’s proven benefits.

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Tor Browser Bundle for Mac enables you to securely browse the Web while hiding your identity, proving to be an accessible, feature-rich option. Because of its dependency on the Tor network, however, it may feel sluggish at times.

Pros

Quick and easy install: Using Tor Browser Bundle for Mac turns out to be easier than running the separate client version. You just have to download an archive, extract the file, launch it, and that’s it.

Tried and tested Tor network: This browser uses the Tor network, which, although not the fastest anonymity solution available, does work well. This app is still being developed further, but even in its current form feels reliable.

Control panel: Every essential feature can be quickly accessed through the Vidalia Control Panel, which enables you to stop Tor, configure relaying, view the network, use a new identity, and exit the application. You can also generate a bandwidth graph and see message logs.

Cons

Performance depends on the Tor network: This anonymity solution suffers from the slowness of the Tor network.

Configurations lost during updates: Don’t expect to have your settings preserved after updating to a newer version. This can be frustrating, especially if you’ve spent a lot of time tweaking your settings.

Bottom Line

Free and dependable, Tor Browser Bundle for Mac can be a good option if you are searching for an application that can increase your Web browsing privacy. It’s already the browser bundle, so you should no longer encounter problems with the installation process, as was the case with previous releases.

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