Webupon

Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome. These names may sound very familiar for most of you. Indeed, these are the tools we use the most when accessing the web. There are our friendly browsers. I am sure some of you might prefer one versus others, which is fine. Beyond our preferences, what are their real differences, why and, which browser to use?

Let’s start with a short history on the browser, and examine its importance. Browsers become very popular with the advent of the Internet, mainly in the late 90’s with familiar names such as AOL, Netscape, and Internet Explorer. These browsers were the ones mostly used to access the web. Now, although there are many browsers available, AOL and Netscape are either not used or not popular at all. And more, there are new browsers that have entered the browser space, such as Google Chrome. The main interest in entering the browser space is to control the way software get to the public. Compared to the last century, it’s a true paradigm shift in how people are getting and using software, i.e. from the CD-Rom installed on a desktop, to the Web (Cloud computing). Therefore, the one who controls the browser space will have more dominance on the software market as a whole. Before we start, we may want to note the respective companies behind the major browsers. Internet Explorer is a Microsoft’s product, Firefox is a Mozilla Foundation’s product (non profit organization), Safari is an Apple’s product and Chrome a Google’s product.

Now, what are their differences? 

There are several aspects we can look at to address this question: interface, features, security, and performance. 

• Interface: Chrome has the cleanest design of all, which makes it easy to use for users. It has the best rendering of the full-screen mode, which truly utilizes the entire screen. 
• Features: Firefox is the strongest browser in this arena, especially with its ability to extend the browsers native functionalities with other adds-on developed by thousands of developers and available for free on the Mozilla’s web site. The adds-on range from “News and blogging”, to “Appearance”, where you can completely change the look and feel of your browser. 
• Security: Safari and Chrome do the best job in protecting users against spyware (software that get downloaded on your computer ton collect information about your browsing habits, without you knowing it), and ads.
• Performance: Chrome is the best browser in terms of performance. It handles browser crashing better, by running each open tabs as its own process (Internet Explorer 8 does that too) and has the best JavaScript engine. According to TechRadar.com, when tested on a same machine running Microsoft Vista, Chrome has the smallest memory footprint while IE8 has the biggest one (IE8: 86Mb; Safari: 44Mb; Firefox: 39Mb; Chrome: 36Mb); In terms of speed, again Chrome was the fastest while Firefox was the slowest, due to the fact that it has to load adds-on before starting-up. IE8 and Safari have an average speed with Safari performing better than IE8.

Now, to the question, which browser to use? 

It depends on what you want to do and the aspect of browsing that you value the most. If you prefer simplicity and speed, then Chrome is the one to use. If you prefer to customize your browsing experience, I recommend Firefox. If you are a Mac fan, you should go with Safari; it comes native on a Mac, but can be installed on a PC. If you don’t want to go through the pain of downloading and installing another browser, just use Internet Explorer, just as Safari, it comes pre-loaded on your PC.