A Browser is a software that lets you browse the Internet, perform searches over
search engines like Google/ Yahoo/ MSN, etc., as well as do other online tasks.
Today, all Browsers are free software but there was a time when you had to
purchase a Browser, much like you still purchase AntiVirus and AntiSpyware
software. Today, every Computer is connected to the Internet and therefore, it
is a must for Computers to have a Browser installed on it, just like every
Computer has to have an Operating System installed on it.
Why is the Browser so important, where Computer Security is concerned?
Today, it is almost impossible to find a Computer that is not connected to the
Internet. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to state that the Browser is now
almost as important as the Operating System! Moreover, it is your Browser that
interfaces your Computer to the wild, wicked Internet, which is home to viruses,
spyware and other dangerous and not-dangerous-flotsam. If these get past your
Browser, you would be dependant on your Operating System, AntiVirus and
AntiSpyware to stop the malignant code from executing on your Computer and
ruining it! Some of these malignant code could ruin your personal finances too!
Thus, your Browser is extremely important, where your Computer's security and
your peace of mind are concerned!
No, though that would have been wonderful! As it turns out, it is important to
take care of each of the following, so as to ensure maximum-possible security:
Your Operating System needs to be GENUINE. It needs to be always
patched and up-to-date
Your Browser: ensure you have the latest version and patches, whatever be
your choice of Browser
Your AntiVirus and AntiSpyware programs should also be genuine, always
patched and up to date
Your e-Mail - meticulously follow the advice we have presented in our e-Mail
section (click
here to reach the concerned page)
to ensure that malicious code does not enter your Computer through your
Inbox and you do not receive too much Junk mail
Scan all external media (Floppies, CDs/ DVDs, Thumb Drives, etc.)
thoroughly, before accessing data or programs on it
Be careful about the sites you visit and the programs that you download from
software sites
Note that you need to do
ALL THE ABOVE SIX - not just one or two, to ensure a healthy, safe and
trouble-free computing experience at all times!
PCs: Hardware, Software and Computer Services
and people who use them either in their professions or hobbies (or both),
looking for maximum utility from their PCs
People purchasing their 1st (or 2nd or 3rd
PC) and who seek advise for firming up their decision
People seeking simple, effective advice for
extracting maximum utility from their PCs and Peripherals
People wanting to know about increasing
threats to computing from Viruses, Spyware and security issues; people looking
for reviews and purchase links for best security products
Small Offices with a few Networked PCs,
looking for advise on squeezing the maximum from their IT investments or looking
for advice on expanding their IT infrastructure
People and corporations planning to set up a
professional, contemporary, optimized, aesthetic website
Worldwide IT Vendors looking for authentic,
professional and inexpensive Market Research on global IT Markets, or
Documentation/ Manuals for their new products/ services
One issue above all has lead to the development and refining of Browsers in the
past ten years or so. We have talked about security threats such as Phishing in
other pages as well. Phishing is when a popular website's URL is 'hijacked', so
that when a visitor types in the site's URL, (s)he is taken to the hijacked site
instead! Usually, the hijacked site looks and feels exactly like the original,
genuine site. Therefore, visitors may be easily lured into parting with their
personal information, which would then be put to use by the developers of the
phished site for misusing the visitor's Bank account, Credit Card and/ or Paypal
and other online payment accounts! Browsers today need to protect users from
Phishing, Hacking and other modern-day nightmares.
Building security into the Browser has in turn caused them to bloat in size:
today's Browsers are two to three times as large in size as their early
versions! The fall-out of large-sized Browsers is the extra time it takes to
start up. While the issue of Computer Security cannot be compromised today, it
is also important for users that their Browser loads up reasonably fast! But
then, larger-sized Browsers lead to greater complexity, potentially causing
frequent crashes/ freezes. Needless to state, no one really relishes a piece of
software that crashes/ freezes time and again! Therefore, Browsers need to be
rock-steady in terms of their performance as well.
As an Internet surfer, you would be visiting some sites a lot more frequently
than others. Today's Browsers therefore need to manage your "Favorite sites"
with aplomb! Browsers today tackle this by incorporating different features: the
earlier method of creating a list of "Favorites" or "Bookmarks" is definitely
passé! Today, Browsers also need to block advertisements (Pop-ups, Pop-unders
and others of their ilk), for, most users find them not merely distracting, but
downright annoying! Browsers therefore need to provide the option for viewing/
hiding advertisements from users, as they surf the Internet.
Browsers today also need to do a lot more than safely take you to the sites you
want to visit: there are websites/ e-Mail Accounts/ Really Simple Syndication
(RSS) and Newsletter subscriptions that users opt for, apart from membership to
sites that let you log in only after you type in your username and password -
for example, Social Networking sites such as Facebook, Orkut, Hi5, etc.
Remembering tens (maybe even hundreds) of passwords and usernames is something
that the Browser of today needs to be perfectly capable of handling!
You have different kinds of visitors using the Internet today, each set with
different requirements from their Browser. This is not really a recent
phenomena, though Browser developers have only recently begun to develop
Browsers for segmented niches. For example, students, academicians and
researchers would naturally need a robust Search feature from their choice of
Browser, while Web Developers would want that their Browser correctly display
the web pages they create. On the other hand, an online marketing professional
would want to know a site's standing (its Google Page Rank, Alexa Ranking, etc.)
at the click of a button (perhaps without the click even!) Today's Browsers
therefore need to segment the market and cater to the needs of the niche they
intend catering to!
We at
WellOiledPC
are clearly not surprised at the burgeoning number of Browsers today, for the
market is not merely segmenting quickly, each niche is also growing at
exponential rates and demanding their favorite set of features from Browsers!
To summarize, here are the features that a 'Great' Browser needs to have, today:
In-built Security. In our opinion, a 'Great' Browser should also plug in to
modern Third-party Security products such as Norton 360/ Norton Internet
Security, etc., providing a second level of protection from web hazards!
A 'Great' Browser should not be a huge download, occupying tons of hard disk
real estate
A 'Great' Browser should load in a jiffy. Anything that takes more than 5
seconds to start up could be considered SLOW by today's users!
A 'Great' Browser HAS to be rock-solid in terms of performance. It
should also be capable of peaceful co-existence with other Browsers, for
today's users (even those who are new to browsing) are likely to have more
than one Browser installed on their machines!
A 'Great' Browser would have an elegant way of saving and retrieving the
user's favorite websites. It would also have the traditional "Favorites" or
"Bookmarks"!
A 'Great' Browser should be able to block out advertisements - 100% - if the
user wills it. Again, whether the user wills it or not, it should definitely
be able to 100% block out potentially dangerous advertisements and scripts
from the sites visited!
A 'Great' Browser should manage your user information and passwords - even
if you have hundreds of usernames and passwords - with aplomb
Finally, a 'Great' Browser should have features that YOU want - even
features that you had not yet imagined existed! And your choice of 'Great'
Browser need not coincide with your brother's/ sister's/ friend's choice
too!
We at
WellOiledPC have a special
corner for Browsers. Maybe even an obsession. Would you believe us if we told
you that we use all the following Windows-based Browsers - and use them all
fairly regularly too? It does help that today, all Browsers are free: we
couldn't have checked, leave alone run THIRTEEN different Browsers at the
same time, if they weren't all free! Well, here is the list of Browsers, along
with the current versions that we use - all of them the latest versions as on
date:
Apple Safari for Windows 4 Public Beta 528.17
Avant Browser 11.7 Build 26
Google Chrome 2.0.172.28
Maxthon Version 2.5.1.4751
Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0.6001.18702
Mozilla CometBird 3.0.10
Mozilla Firefox 3.0.11
Mozilla Flock 2.5
Mozilla SeaMonkey 1.1.16
Netscape Navigator 9.0.0.6 (Support for Netscape ceased on March 1, 2008)
Think us crazy? Well, our defense is that we do need to test our site (and the
sites we build for our clients) on all Browsers... we also love reviewing
software... and (here is the truth) frankly, we confess we're unable to make up
our mind on the best Browser yet... :)
Honestly, all the above Browsers are very good. In fact, we wish there was a
Browser that was distinctly superior to the others! So, instead of a traditional
'software shoot-out', we describe each Browser and let you decide what works
best for you! We do it alphabetically: the Table below presents our summary
analysis, while a click on each of the Browser logos will take you to our
detailed analysis of the Browser concerned!
Browsers Comparison
Browser
Download Size
Setup Ease
Startup Speed
Crashes/ Freezes
Aesthetic Value
Features Innovation
Comments
Setup file size - about 22.4 MB.
Installed folder size - about 60 MB
Easy
Very fast at start up, perhaps the fastest at rendering pages too
Very stable.
Simply the best, in the looks department!
Watch this space! We mean it!
Needs a bit of adjusting to, if you are an old hand at using
Browsers. Great choice if you are changing over from the Mac. Great
choice if you like experimenting too. And if you DO change over, you
may not want to go back to your old Browser!
Perhaps the fastest Browser, where start up is concerned
Very stable
Looks very similar to Maxthon and Orca Browsers - looks good!
Under testing
Easily the
fastest-to-start-up Browser! Not too many innovations, though all basic features
are present. If your requirements are simple browsing, you could benefit from
Avant!
Almost as fast to start up as Avant, very quick at rendering Web
pages too
Very stable
Very frugal looks that maximize screen area
Has all features of the other Browsers, including Opera's Speed Dial
(though Chrome's is inferior) and Firefox/ Flock's URL AutoComplete
feature
Needs zero adjusting to, has clean interface and all standard
features. Definitely too plain for those used to features-on-click!
Lack of Plug-ins is a major issue! Big disappointment, despite big
expectations from Google and the post-release hype !
Setup file size - about 15 MB. Installed folder size - about 4 MB,
with more files strewn all across your hard disk!
Easy
Not the fastest, by any stretch of imagination!
Crashes & Freezes, thanks to unceasing targeting by hackers
Drab looks, long in the tooth now. Even the IE shipping with the
latest Windows 7 RC has the same looks...
Of late, have been working seriously at introducing innovative
features and its beginning to pay off!
Stick with it if you aren’t tired of its looks. But ensure that your
System Security Software, Anti-Phishing and Security software is
always up-to-date!
Setup file size - about 8 MB. Installed Folder size - about 30 MB
Easy
Reasonably fast to start up
Very stable. Consumes less memory in comparison with Firefox, yet earlier
versions had memory leakage problems, with the latest versions being very stable
again
Sooo-very similar to Firefox in terms of looks and features
Seems to have everything that Firefox has, except for Norton 360
support...
Dislike Internet Explorer, find Firefox too slow to start up, yet love Firefox
for its Plug-ins? Then Comet Bird could be for you!
Setup file size - about 7 MB. Installed folder size - about 27 MB
Easy
Ought to be faster - can be a huge drag, if you have many Firefox
Add-ons and Plug ins installed!
Version 3 onwards is rock-stable, though the next few versions had a memory
leakage issue, which was corrected in Version 3.2.
Pleasing to view and use
Excellent!
The Browser with the largest market share! Preferred by Web
Developers for the large number of innovative plug-ins it has. Check
it out if you haven't already - you could get addicted to it!
Setup file size - about 11 MB. Installed folder size - about 31 MB
Easy
Not very fast
Very Stable
Beautiful looks, easy interface. Next best to Safari.
Social Networking features, links to popular social networking sites
Flock is for the Social Networking freak. Though its developers take
time between updates, it is a good, solid Browser. However,
late-comers Orca, Avant, Maxthon and company might catch up, if
innovations and updates are slow to arrive!
Setup file size - about 13 MB. Installed folder size - about 39 MB
Easy
Not very fast
Very Stable
Beautiful looks, a few customization Plug-ins are available too
Separate Plug-ins, a-la Firefox. Much fewer Plug-ins, in comparison
with Firefox
Check it out if you liked Netscape Navigator for its all-in-one
features. Sea Monkey isn't fast, but is an all-in-one Internet Suite
in the mould of Netscape Navigator that you could get to like!
Setup file size - about 5.5 MB. Installed folder size - about 10 MB
Easy
Very fast
Very Stable
Refreshing change
Working real hard at it & it shows. Have pioneered many features
that are now standard features on other Browsers as well.
Excellent, innovative Browser. if you are tired of the drab looks of
Internet Explorer, want a feature-rich Browser and do not want to
spend too much time re-learning how to use a new Browser, Opera
could be your best bet!
Setup file size - about 9 MB. Installed folder size - about 25 MB
Easy
Very fast
Very Stable
Refreshing change
Runs many Mozilla add-ons, is blazing-fast in comparison with
Firefox and has a number of useful customization options!
Avant Browser's
Mozilla-engined cousin, it isn't as fast as Avant, nor does it work with all the
Mozilla Plug-ins. Honestly, we had higher expectations from Avant's Mozilla
cousin...
Setup file size - an
UNBELIEVABLE 663 KB! Installed folder size - about 1.5 MB
Easy
Ranks right up with Avant and
Safari, as the fastest Browser to start up!
Stable - extended testing on
at our end
Similar to Maxthon and Avant
in terms of looks and features
Basic and extended features
are available on tap. Does not have anything as a USP though!
Developers should segment the
market and cater to their chosen segment, rather than try to put up a Browser
that meets everyone's requirements - there are many "General Browsers" in the
market already and TheWorld is too new to tackle them all in one go!
Phew - so are we any wiser now with respect to the best Browser? Each of the
Browsers has it's good points, each has negatives too. This is quite natural
when one tries to compare five extremely competent software in a closely-fought
software niche, with each one determined to grab both eyeballs and market share
from the others! However we trust you have a fair understanding of which ones
you need to check out for your special requirements and thus, select the one for
you! Firefox has already eaten into Internet Explorer's market share. We believe
it is the best bet, to replace Internet Explorer, though it will be a while
before it does so... Having said that, we are aware that there are die-hard
Opera fans as well, who believe it is Opera that will one day replace Internet
Explorer!
At
WellOiledPC, we use Firefox
most regularly: its Plug-ins let us check out the Alexa Ranking and Google Page
Rank of sites very easily.
CometBird looks and feels so muck like Firefox, runs all the extensions and
plug-ins and is, as a bonus, much faster starting up too! Our only crib with it
is that it does not allow Third-party security solutions to add on to itself...
We love Safari too - its beauty keeps us from firing it up again and again,
although its completely different interface puts all of us off just a little...
Next, we use Flock for its super-quick loading, lovely looks and easy-to-use
features.
To continue, one of us was quite heart-broken, when Mozilla announced that they
would be discontinuing Netscape...
We feel quite sheepish for not having discovered Maxthon a lot earlier. It has
everything a choosy, opinionated user requires from a Browser, is super-fast and
crash-free so far too. We are extensively testing Maxthon - stay tuned and
re-visit for final verdict on Maxthon!
Finally, we are all quite comfortable with SeaMonkey as a Browser, though we
messed up our website when we tried to compose HTML using its HTML editor! Not
once, twice! We do not like its e-Mail feature too much too, but that is true
about Flock, Opera and Maxthon's e-Mail feature too!
In our reviews here, we have awarded a Thumbs Up (as shown to the left here)
to Apple Safari for its beauty and rock-solid stability.
We have awarded the same to Firefox as well, for its time-saving Plug-ins,
great usability, integration with 3rd-party Security solutions and well,
sheer market presence!
Opera too earned our Thumbs up recently, after version 9.50 addressed our
concerns with the way it handled Javascript and web page layouts. The Thumbs
Up goes to Opera, for, despite its tiny size, it has a number of innovative
features.
Its like this:
Apple Safari - Technically most solid, most beautiful, extremely fast,
innovative. However, non-standard interface for most Windows users. (Mac
users 'forced' to work with Windows would not touch anything else though, in
all probability!)
Avant - Maxthon clone, without the top-of-the-line features that Maxthon
has. If you ARE planning to shift, Maxthon is a better option than Avant
Google Chrome - Lots of borrowed features, extremely fast to start up.
Wait and watch, though it is unlikely Google will be able to bring in too
much innovation...
Maxthon - If you are looking for something quite different from the
usual Browser and are willing to put up with a different interface (for the
first few days at least, that is), then Maxthon is a feature-rich Browser
that you might want to consider
Microsoft Internet Explorer - Long in the tooth, subject to constant
hacking attempts. Yet, cannot be ignored as it has the largest installed
base and will not give up easily, since it is shipped with every new
Computer and is added every time Windows is installed. Web Developers cannot
ignore Internet Explorer due to its huge installed base. A few sites do not
even open, if you use a different Browser!
Mozilla CometBird - Almost like Firefox's twin, it looks and feels like
Firefox, has all the features and yet, consumes less memory and starts up
much faster! It could very well be the preferred choice of more and more
users, in the times to come! We are currently studying it further - do
return for our CometBird updates!
Mozilla Firefox - Fastest-growing Browser, second only to Internet
Explorer. Takes long to start up, does not give up all occupied memory, even
when closed. However, a joy for web developers, thanks to the number of
useful plug-ins for Firefox
Mozilla Flock - The Social Networking folk's Browser choice. Not much
else going for it so far...
Mozilla Sea Monkey - Navigator clone, useful if you like using Browser
Suites. However, keep off its HTML Editor!
Netscape Navigator - Dead and Buried! RIP!
Opera - Fine Browser with good, innovative features. Has many die-hard
fans the world over, is definitely worth checking out
Orca - Maxthon-clone, with support for Firefox Plug-ins!
So there you are, ladies and gentlemen - a Hung Jury!
