High Tech Household

Anyone who has a computer these days browses the Internet.  The web browser has become as important as the operating system in meeting a user’s personal or business computing needs.  When the World Wide Web began its life 15 years ago, the dominant web browser was Mosaic, which later became Netscape.   In 1995, Internet Explorer entered the marketplace with Windows 95, coming free with every new computer.  As Netscape and Microsoft competed in the “Browser Wars”, Netscape became a bloated piece of software and died a slow death.  However, before Netscape’s dominance ended, they created an open source group to develop a new web browser called Mozilla, which ended up providing the engine for the popular FireFox browser.  Microsoft’s dominance in the web browser has been deteriorating in recent years because of the introduction of several new, powerful, and fast web browsers.

Since the battle between Netscape and Internet Explorer ended, different web browsers have come and gone, with varying levels of success.  The Browser debate also garners a lot of passion as people get very attached to their personal choice of web browser.  While there are countless minor web browsers out there (which we will examine at some point in the future), we focus on the five major web browsers currently in use:  Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla FireFox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, and Opera.

Internet Explorer: Internet Explorer (IE) is the default web browser as well as the browser with the most market share, because it is made by Microsoft and is automatically installed on every single instance of Microsoft’s Windows operating system.  Since IE beat out Netscape in the original browser wars a decade ago, it has had the majority of the market share.  That market share, however, has eroded in the past few years as people have become more Internet-savvy, the availability of more powerful and faster browsers has become commonplace, and the stagnation of the IE browser in terms of a development roadmap has frustrated users.  With the latest release (8.0), Internet Explorer adds many more features  and improves performance, but still lags behind compared to other browsers.

• Latest Major Release: 8.0
• Pros: Standard with Windows, no installation necessary.  New version has some neat features such as color-coded tabbing and Accelerators to increase productivity, and somewhat catches it up with other browsers in terms of standard features.
• Cons: Still bloated and slower than other browsers, doesn’t support latest HTML5 web-standard.  Only available for Microsoft’s Windows Operating System.  Doesn’t meet web rendering standards.
• More Info: Internet Explorer 8 Home

FireFox: FireFox was created from the Mozilla Open Source project as an alternative to Netscape.  Introduced in 2004 as a lean, fast browser, FireFox has always led IE in both performance and features.  Firefox is a fast, feature-rich, and efficient browser, and is the favored web browser of techies (and also my own personal browser of choice). It is cross-platform, meaning it can work on any of the major operating systems (Windows, Mac, and Linux), and has a rich library of plug-ins that allow anyone to easily extend the browser’s capability.

• Latest Major Release: 3.5
• Pros: Fast and light, recent version speeds up JavaScript.  Plugin capability and best memory utilization.  Perfect balance of performance and features.
• Cons: New version is a bit more bloated than past versions, not as fast as some of the lesser browsers.  Doesn’t have some of the new usability features of IE 8.
• More Info: Mozilla FireFox

Safari: Safari has been the default browser for Macintosh computers since the release of Mac OS X in 2003.  Safari quickly gained a following among Mac fans, and was touted for its speed.  In 2007, the browser was ported over to Windows.  The Safari browser is known for its speed, being among the fastest browsers, but lacks many key features present in other browsers, and suffers from some website compatibility problems.

• Latest Major Release: 4.0
• Pros: Fast, nice graphics and interface.
• Cons: Memory hog, no plugin support, lacks many standard features found in IE and FireFox, no Linux version.
• More Info: Apple Safari
  

Google Chrome: Chrome is Google’s entry into the browser space.  It gives a new, different spin on the web browser concept, giving the browser a minimalistic frame and focusing more on the web pages themselves.  Chrome, being a Google product, also integrates Google’s search expertise right within the browser, allowing users to type in URLs  and search terms (or both at once) directly into the address bar.  Still being a relatively new entry into the browser market, Chrome has a tendency to be buggy, and although it allows plugins (unlike Safari), it has very few of them.

• Latest Major Release: 2.0
• Pros: Fast, light interface.  Different web browsing experience, more about the pages and less about the browser.  Unique address/search bar allows for a more intuitive browsing experience.
• Cons: Few features, buggy, prone to crashes.  Currently only available for Windows.
• More Info: Google Chrome
  

Opera: Opera has the least market share of the major web browsers, but it has its own loyal following.  Known more for their mobile and non-PC based browsers (Opera’s browser powers the Internet Channel on the Nintendo Wii), the Opera Browser has its own unique features that make it a compelling choice for a browser.  Opera has always been known for coming out with new, advanced features that eventually make their way into other browsers.  For example, Opera invented the concept of browser tabs that have become a de-facto standard in any web browser.  With Opera 10, Opera again pushes the envelope and also makes some major inroads in performance, making Opera a compelling alternative to the other browsers.

• Latest Major Release: 10.0
• Pros: Unique, powerful features, and new, fast level of performance.  Cross-browser platform available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
• Cons: Less add-ons than FireFox, no privacy mode.
• More Info: Opera

In the end, the choice of a browser is a personal one.  All of the major browsers have their pros and cons, and the available choices provide the browser world with much-needed competition to keep innovation happening.  What looked to be a Microsoft monopoly a few years ago has now turned into a rich software marketplace that gives end users multiple good options.  So if you’re still on the default Internet Explorer 6 or 7, try a new browser.  Even if it’s just an upgrade to IE 8, you’ll be pleasantly surprised, and the alternative browsers offer features and performance benefits that will make you wonder how you ever lived without them.