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Review of Browsers
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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.
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 - not just one or more of the above, to ensure a healthy, safe and trouble-free computing experience at all times!
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? Do believe us, it is the truth...! It does help that today, all Browsers are free: we couldn't have checked, leave alone run TEN 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 being the latest versions as on date:
Apple Safari 3.2.1 (525.27.1)
Google Chrome Beta 0.4.154.25
Maxthon Version 2.1.5
Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0.6001.18241
Mozilla CometBird 3.0.4
Mozilla Firefox 3.0.5
Mozilla Flock 2.0
Mozilla SeaMonkey 1.1.12
Netscape Navigator 9.0.0.6 (Support for Netscape ceased on March 1, 2008)
Opera 9.62
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!
If you would rather go by market share, here is the link that tracks Browser usage on a monthly basis: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
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!
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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 and great usability.
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!)
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...
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
So there you are, ladies and gentlemen - a Hung Jury!