Today's Browser Choices

By Surendran Nambiath

Browsers have been around since the 1990s. Long enough to have caused a bitter war, a famous litigation & an epochal decision by the Honorable Courts! Despite all this action, one Browser has held onto a staggering market share (and mindshare) for the majority of the time so far. So is it time to change your Browser? Read on to check out the best-of-breed Browsers today, in the Windows world!

1. Apple Safari for Windows(http://www.apple.com/safari/download)
Safari is the de-facto Web Browser for the Apple Macintosh, where it ruled for decades and continues to rule. It is a beautiful Silver and White Browser that loads up fast, displays real beautiful pages even on the relatively poor displays of IBM-compatibles (poor in comparison with Apple's own dazzling-sharp and colorful display, that is). Besides, you just cannot miss the blue, 'alive' scroll bars, a unique feature of the Safari. Open the same site side-by-side on the Safari and any of the other Browsers, and you will notice just how much more beautiful the Safari is!
Beauty is one thing - nice, but not essential. But then, Safari for Windows is also wonderfully fast to load - whether it be the first time of the day, or to load a site, anytime during the day. Now that is indeed a useful feature!
The download version of Safari comes along with i-Tunes, which is a piece of software that none of us at welloiledpc fancy - we would stick with Windows Media Player or WinAmp, any day! The download size of Safari (leaving out i-Tunes) is the second biggest, after Internet Explorer. Guess all those beautiful appendages require megabytes of programming effort and it shows!
Quick loading is wonderful indeed. But we are talking about Browsers... your interface to the Net, along with all its spyware, viruses and other avoidable evils! On this point too, the Safari scores highly. It has the same kind of invulnerability that the Mac version always had! However, this is not to say or imply that Safari for Windows cannot be 'cracked'. Any piece of software can be cracked open, if enough people try enough number of times! One reason for the 'invulnerability' of Safari is the fact that it is not too common. The Macintosh is itself used by about 7 of Windows-based Computer users!
Safari for Windows did go through frequent upgradation initially. With bug-fixing complete or near-complete now, the frequency of upgrades has come down - a sure sign that it is ready for the next stage of development. Knowing Apple, it is possible that we will see a spate of developments in Safari, pushing all Browsers to a new peak
Overall, despite its beauty and quick-loading nature and general 'invulnerability', we would not really recommend Safari. This is because it is unlike other standard Windows Browsers. We however would advise you to take a close look at Safari for Windows if;
1. You are an absolute beginner at using Computers and have never used a Browser before
2. You are changing over to the IBM-compatible PC after working with an Apple Macintosh

If you are an old hand at using Browsers, we strongly recommend that you give Safari for Windows a miss and try out some of the other Browsers listed above, if the itch to change your Browser is strong!

2. Microsoft Internet Explorer
(http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/default.mspx)
Today, this is the Browser of choice, the de-facto Browser the world over. It is a much used, abused, misused, over-used and whatnot Browser. The plus of using Internet Explorer is that any site will display exactly the way its creators meant it to display, on your screen. Only a suicidal idiot would design web pages that aren't tested thoroughly for Microsoft's Browser!
Internet Explorer was the last to introduce Tabbed Browsing (where you can open multiple websites on different Tabs, much like the Tabbed Worksheets in Excel). In terms of looks too, Internet Explorer easily looks the worst - largely due to its popularity.
Security suffers the most, due to Internet Explorer's popularity. Despite hundreds of bug-fixes, Internet Explorer continues to be cracked into at regular intervals. Therefore if you are using Internet Explorer, you MUST install a program like Norton 360, that protects you against Browser Hijacking (where your Home Page is ruthlessly changed, without your knowledge) and Phishing (sites claiming to be what they aren't - for example, a Yahoo-like site that tries to make you think it IS the Yahoo site)
Internet Explorer is also the biggest download, at over 15 MB. You need to download a link that is less than 512 KB, then run it to download the real package. However, Yahoo has a version of Internet Explorer 7 (customized for Yahoo, as claimed) that can be downloaded directly onto your Computer. That version is over 17 MB...
The only recommendation we have for users of Internet Explorer is, to use the latest version at all times. Check frequently for updates and get them immediately - because, you never know when the next Internet Explorer security hole is prised open! We'd HATE being in the Microsoft team that develops Internet Explorer!!!
All said and done, Internet Explorer is a standard product that will allow you to browse the Net safely and satisfactorily, despite the repeated (and successful) attempts of Microsoft-haters who work round-the-clock to pick holes in the product.
3. Mozilla Firefox
(http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox)
Firefox is an extremely capable Browser that is tops on innovation. Yet, its download size is a fraction of Internet Explorer, at 5.7 MB versus over 15 MB for Internet Explorer). Firefox was the first to let you save the user login and passwords to sites that required you to log in to them. Firefox was also the first Windows Browser to introduce the Tabbed Browser. Firefox is also piggy-backing on Google's enormous popularity - if you use Google (and who doesn't!), you cannot avoid seeing ads recommending you switch to Firefox!
While Firefox is indeed fast to load up and does have all the useful features (and a few more!), we are not as happy with it as the large numbers of Firefox supporters would have us think. We experience niggling little problems while exiting Firefox (this is after the Browsing is over and you close Firefox). Both the Windows Report as well as Mozilla's own Feedback Agent pop up, reporting that Firefox crashed, would you like to send feedback to Microsoft/ Mozilla on what you were doing when the crash occurred? This has happened with the last 3 versions of Firefox - 2.0.0.4, 2.0.0.5 and the latest 2.0.0.6 version as well. We really do not know the causes - is it something that Windows does to Firefox? Is it a bug in Firefox? Is it something else that we are running, that causes Firefox to shut down abnormally? We do not know!
This is our only crib against Firefox and the guys at Mozilla would do well to study this issue in earnest (we have sent feedback a number of times to Mozilla, it is time they work on it and iron out the issue!). Firefox is a neat Browser that is easy to fall in love with! Firefox is a neat Browser that is easy to fall in love with! Firefox is beautiful to view and work with and could be a very welcome change, if you are fed up of Internet Explorer

4. Netscape Navigator
(http://browser.netscape.com)
There was a time when Browsers were a new piece of software. There was a time when you paid for a Browser, much like you pay for Antivirus and AntiSpyware solutions today. There was a time when Windows did not include Internet Explorer. This was the time when the Internet was itself new, people were just beginning to explore and understand the power of the Internet. Search Engines were not as organized as they are today, nor was Internet Commerce what it is today - it was merely a promise of great things to come in the days ahead!
This was the time when a company called Netscape introduced Navigator, a Browser that you had to pay for. Yes, Netscape Navigator was the first big daddy amongst Browsers, with its e-Mail client, Netscape Communicator forming yet another popular product. This was the 1990s and Netscape Navigator then held over 85 of the Browser market worldwide!
Indeed, Microsoft - never one to do things half-heartedly - built Windows in such a way that you could not uninstall Internet Explorer and install Netscape! The importance of winning the Browser Battle had finally dawned on Microsoft! Many readers would remember the famous court case against Microsoft, and the ruling that Microsoft must allow third-party software to be installed onto Windows. Internet-savvy people call it the First Browser War! If Microsoft had not lost that case, there would have been just Internet Explorer today. And there would have been just Microsoft Office. And there would have been just Windows Media Player. And one does not know where else Microsoft would have built monopolistic products! Luckily for us all, the court termed this practice monopolistic and Microsoft had to re-build Windows such that other Browsers, Media Players, e-Mail clients and everything else could run along with Windows. Even today, Internet Explorer and Outlook Express are free with Windows, but you are at perfect liberty to uninstall them and use your favorite brand of software instead!
Netscape Communications Corporation the parent company of Netscape was purchased by AOL in 1998, but the brand name Netscape continued to be used by AOL, with a discounted Internet Service Provider and a Social News Website being other business streams under the Netscape brand name. Today, Netscape is free – developed by Mozilla, the Open Source Community that has its own Browser, Mozilla Firefox and is today designed to support all Firefox add-ins. Indeed, if it weren’t free today, they would have to discontinue it altogether! As a result of the court’s wise ruling, we Computer users have multiple Browsers to choose from, multiple e-Mail clients and multiple other software products as well!
So how does Netscape Navigator fare today? Well, it is extremely fast - perhaps the fastest. It continues to be extremely stable and free from freeze-ups or crashes. It is has a beautiful interface as well, with standard buttons and controls as well as now-standard features like the ability to store website login details, Tabbed Web Interface, etc. it is easy to fall in love - all over again - with Netscape Navigator, specially since AOL/ Mozilla have retained the old look, feel and colors!

5. Opera
(http://www.opera.com/download)
Unless you follow the world of Computers very closely, it is quite likely that you did not know about Opera the Browser. Opera is, in our opinion, the dark horse in the race! It is the smallest download (a mere 4.7 MB!) yet has all the features - including the facility to save login details and an elegant Tabbed Browser! it is no slouch in the looks department too - we would not argue with anyone who puts it a shade higher than Firefox in the looks department!
Opera is extremely fast - perhaps the fastest to work with, and is completely trouble-free: no crashes or unexpected freeze-ups for Opera! Best of all, it has a Speed Dial feature that lets you store up to 9 URLs (websites) as thumbnails. Click on the saved thumbnail, and you reach the concerned website in mere seconds! This is an elegant way to store, support and display offline Browsing - all the other Browsers have this feature too, but none have implemented it in such a nifty, visually-appealing fashion!
Opera does have an unusual method for displaying the progress of sites loading up - it separately shows the progress of images and text that is loaded. One gets used to it after a while, though the exact purpose and utility of this non-standard feature is likely to play on your mind for a longer period...
Opera has no issues working alongside the other Browsers. It has one other feature - one that we do not use at all, though it could be useful for those who like such stuff. Widgets, or tiny applications whose sole purpose in life is to one little thing and do it extremely well, have been around for a while now. Apple's Widgets were the first off the block, followed by Yahoo Widgets and then Google's version, called Desktop Gadgets. Today, Microsoft has a collection of Widgets too... Opera too has Widgets of its own - freely downloadable from the Opera site. They cover a range of applications from checking out the presence of Wi-Fi Hot Spots to Dictionaries to e-Mail Notifiers, etc. If you like Widgets, here is yet another collection that will fill up your Hard Disk that much more!

Phew - so are we any wiser now with respect to which is the best Browser? We don't think so... each of the Browsers have their good points, each has negatives about it too, which is quite natural when one tries to compare five extremely competent software in a closely-fought software niche, with each one determined to grab eyeballs & market share from the other! However we trust you have a fair understanding of which ones you need to check out for your special requirements, thus finally selecting the one for you!

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