Web Corner
Which browser works for you?
Oct 6, 2005 4:11 PM
I hate to mention this to the Intelligent Design folks, but Darwinism is alive and well on the Internet. Right now there is a new struggle for dominance in the browser wars. Internet Explorer (IE) is the tyrannosaurus rex at the top of the food chain, but now other theropods are taking a bite out of T. rex’s digital domain.
For those who basically use the Internet only to check e-mail and to chat with friends, the browser wars don’t add up to a dinosaur egg. And America Online users who see a morphed IE may never need to venture out of AOL’s directory to find what they want. In addition, IE is the browser used by most Internet service providers. But some people don’t realize that they have a choice. Other browsers like Firefox, Netscape and now a free version of Opera may be better.
A browser is software that views html pages on the Internet. It uses hyper-text transfer protocol (http) to locate and view content at URLs; for example, http://www.uft.org. Some browsers include chat tools, access to newsgroups and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed compilers that let you search the blogosphere.
Depending on the source, IE owns about 70 percent of the browser market share. That’s not because it’s the best browser, but because it comes installed on computers that use Windows operating systems. That’s what those lawsuits by Netscape and others were about in the late 1990s. But according to industry experts, Microsoft hasn’t kept up with the pace of browser innovations. It certainly is plagued by popups and like all MS products is frequently attacked by virus-generating vandals.
However, let me qualify this by saying that IE is enough browser for most of us and with tools like popup blockers (not very effective), automated Windows software updates, and customizable privacy controls, it may be all you need or want. Yet, if you’re concerned with security, then maybe you should look elsewhere.
Firefox (www.mozilla.org/products/firefox) is a free browser that is easy to download and offers many features with fewer security issues. (But, the incidence of security breaches has increased as it has gained popularity.) There is an automated popup blocker that works, but it also requires you to remove the control for sites that use them positively.
Another feature is tabbed browsing that saves time and makes it possible to view many pages from one browser window. This feature alone makes Firefox a real pleasure to use. Now add a built-in window in the toolbar for Google searches and you have even more convenience.
Firefox has customizable toolbars and a theme manager so you can change the look and feel of the browser. And, Firefox automatically searches for updates and lets you know when one is available. Setup is easy and it comes with an e-mail reader, Thunderbird, that has very good spam filters and controls. I’ve been using it for a year and it’s now my default e-mail software.
If you listen to the adherents of Netscape (http://browser.netscape.com/ns8), that browser is the be-all and end-all of Internet browsing. But through neglect it became an Internet “has-been” until it was recently rejuvenated with version 8.0. It’s packed with features that include advanced security protection with more customizable controls. It allows for tabbed browsing, multiple tool bars and you can get live scrolling headlines and the weather without having to change pages.
The one feature that intrigues me is AutoFill/Passcard (IE and Firefox have similar features) that asks if you want to store user names and passwords and other info whenever you register on a site. I have a nasty habit of getting creative when I register for sites, but I rarely remember that moment of poetry the next time I go to login. This feature would remember what I did the last time and ask me if I wanted to use the stored info and then just fill in the fields. Of course, you still have to remember your master password.
Finally, there’s Opera (www.opera.com). This is another feature-packed free product that up until recently charged a fee for its browser. It started out in Norway and maintains its international flavor because it is offered in multiple languages that can be changed on the fly. It also boasts popup blocking, tabbed browsing, a download manager, Google searches and provides Web page writers with page validation. I have no experience with Opera, so I’m reluctant to say more than that there are a lot of dedicated users who paid for the privilege of using it and would never switch.
Internet browsers make your life on the WWW easier. But some of them do it better than others. If you’re not happy with IE, try one of these and you may never go back.
