Gone are the days of only Internet Explorer and Netscape, these days, there are more internet browsers around than you can poke a stick at - just have a look at http://browsershots.org/ to give you an idea.  So how can you decide which browser, or browsers, are best for you?  This article has a look at the alternatives to Internet explorer, and is aimed at giving you an idea on what features each browser has, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

Firstly, identify your needs and situation - the requirements of a web developer, would be different to that of a casual browser, and your needs for a browser at the office, may be different to that at home. Do you need to take into consideration other users that would use the computer, for example, young children?  Would a person with impaired vision be using it? These are the sorts of questions that should be taken into consideration when making your choice. 

Firefox  is the most popular browser behind Internet Explorer.  It is quite a substantial browser has a wide range of features, but can be a little sluggish due to its size. Its interface is very intuitive and quite similar to IE, which people are probably the most familiar with.  Firefox has a good range of built in functions, including a popup blocker, a new favourites bar, and best of all, an addons downloader.  

There are a large, and growing variety of addons available to download for the browser anything from weather widgets, to to-do list creators and managers, to tools to help web developers, and parental browser controls. It is frequently being updated (your browser will notify you when one is available), so you can stay up to date with new features (such as HTML5 and advanced CSS), and eliminate new security flaws. 

Chrome is developed by Google and is rapidly growing in popularity since its first beta release in September 2008.  It is a light weight, very stable, and very responsive browser, with a much trimmed down interface compared to other browsers.  The interface is the most varied amongst the major browsers, but means that more of the page is visible to the user, than with other browsers.  Opening a new tab will display a list of the most frequently visited pages, complete with screenshots for easy recognition, or can be customised to show the sites you want - like a favourites list.  

The address bar at the top of the page doubles as a Google search (if a specific page address has not been entered), so you don't have to go to a search engine's page first in order to search for something.  Chrome also has its own addon database, similar to Firefox.  Chrome also is updated regularly, which will give you access to the latest web developments and security developments.  One of my favourite parts of Chrome is the 'find' tool - as you type the text to find, it gives you an updated tally of how many times it appears in the document, plus, highlights all of them in the document. 

Safari  used to be an Mac only browser, however, in 2007 a version was released for Windows.  It is a clean, fast browser which, in Apple style, is impressive in appearance. It features a similar interface design to Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera, and obviously, would be most familiar to Mac users.  It doesn't feature as many configurable security options or general customization as other browsers, including lacking phishing protection, and Parental Controls.  Safari does have several interesting features however, one being an at-a-glance view of your favourite websites, which displays up to date previews of your selected websites in a panel display (4 x 3).  Another being the progress bar which gives an accurate, colour coded display of the loading page. 

Opera 10  is the latest incarnation of the browser that has been around for many years now.  It has an interface that is very similar to that of Safari, and has the standard features you would expect, plus some unique ones.  Opera has interactive voice commands, allowing you to navigate by talking to the browser, and it will also read a webpage back to you.  You can also customize mouse gestures for navigation - ie, you can program in a mouse motion to tell the browser to go back.  

When you hover the mouse over a tab, Opera will give you a thumbnail preview of that page, to jog your memory of what the page is, without having to open that tab.  Similar to Safari and Chrome, Opera also has a customizable 'speed dial' feature, which displays your chosen websites in a panel display (default 3x3) when you open a new tab.  Although it doesn't have any Parental Control options, there are many customisable security settings, protecting from popups, viruses, malware and phishing schemes.  

In terms of security, Google has taken a significant step by designing Chrome to separate itself from the system's OS - sandboxing - meaning that a security breach in the browser tab will not have a flow on effect to the rest of the browser, or worse, the rest of the computer.  This is unique to Chrome, but is something that Mozilla is working on for later releases of Firefox.  Each of the browsers have a host of security settings available to the user, and in the end, much of the security of a browser comes down to the user, and how they use it. 

Current browsers are packed full of features that were not an option only several years ago, and that trend is sure to continue.  So while finding a bad browser is a difficult task now, it comes down to personal preference as to which is the best browser for you.  Hopefully this article has given you a better idea on which one would suit you.

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Posted in: General, Tips and Tricks