Choosing Your Browser…

I recently had an argument (a discourse, really) with a friend on which, among the most common that we have seen or used, is the best internet browser. Any mortal that has ever used the internet will have either heard of, or used one of Mozilla Firefox, Slim browser, Opera, Safari, Google chrome and the more common Internet explorer which is usually the default browser that comes installed with the operating system.

A recent survey of the leading browsers both in popularity and performance had Mozilla Firefox leading the pack, closely followed by Google chrome, internet explorer, Opera and Safari in that order. Maxthon (anyone heard of this before?), Flock, Avant, Deepner and PhaseOut complete the list.

Perhaps conspicuously missing from this list is slim browser, which could have missed out because of one reason or the other. A personal favorite of mine, its (slim browser) main downside is the constant crashes it experiences when one opens several tabs-usually three or more.

It is thus recommended for users that use few tabs at a time, and may not be quite effective for websites that have relatively higher band consumption, such as u-tube and video and music sites.

Mozilla Firefox, on the other hand blends top–notch features and blazing speed into a tidy, intuitive interface that will help you navigate the web the way you want to. Other outstanding features include tabbed browsing, an integrated search engine and several add–ons of different types and functionalities.

The tabbed browsing functionality helps one to easily jump from site to site and open more than one website in the same browser window. Firefox also allows you to change the order of your tabs, and has a redo function for when you accidentally delete tabs.

This high-performance browser also has a massive selection of great customization features and tools to help you personalize your web experience. Firefox’s newer version, 3.5 has improved speed, a private browsing mode and more security than in previous versions. It also has a bunch of additional improvements for open audio and video formats.

Google Chrome has a unique approach to browsing the web, combining top notch features with speed, compatibility, and simplicity. It also supports tabbed browsing where each tab is run independently in the browser, ensuring the whole browsing session will not be affected in case one tab crashes. Google Chrome features an incognito mode, so you can browse in private. This stealth browsing mode allows you to open sites and even download files without affecting your histories.

Internet Explorer 8 is Microsoft's current version of Internet Explorer. It incorporates tabbed browsing, where one is able to switch quickly between open websites supports private browsing mode, which stops the browser from adding any sites you visit to your history.

Private browsing mode also prevents your computer from picking up temporary Internet files, form data, cookies, usernames, and passwords. This is quite helpful, especially if you occasionally forget to sign out of your e-mail, where other users may maliciously use your e-mail address.

It, however, is quite resource intensive-in terms of memory and all, so you need to be certain of your memory specifications and what you intend to do before you elect to use this latest version of internet explorer.

Opera has all of the entertaining and practical features that include interactive voice, quick find, thumbnail previews, mouse gestures and customizing skins. This is one of the few browsers that have interactive voice commands.

You can navigate the web by talking to the browser, and Opera will read text to you. One can configure Opera to fit one’s needs and style, arrange panels, toolbars and buttons and choose from several unique skins and various widgets (portable chunks of code that can be installed and executed within any separate web page by an end user without requiring additional compilation, usually appearing in form of on-screen tools -clocks, event countdowns, auction-tickers, stock market tickers, flight arrival information, daily weather etc).

Like most good browsers, Opera also supports tabbed browsing, though with some fairly serious compatibility issues-such as some windows XP versions. It is also a quite resource intensive, often hanging when so many tabs have been opened.

- Dan B. Atuhaire