Browser Battle: Which Browser Suits You Best?

A Web browser is a software application which enables a user to display and interact with text, images, videos, music, games and other information typically located on a Web page at a Web site on the World Wide Web or a local area network. Web browsers allow a user to quickly and easily access information provided on many Web pages at many Web sites by traversing these links.

Leading Web Browsers

Windows Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) is the latest web browser developed by Microsoft in the long running Internet Explorer browser series. The browser was released on March 19, 2009 for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 and is the default browser for the upcoming Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems.

Mozilla Firefox is a web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. Firefox had 22.05% of the recorded usage share of web browsers as of March 2009, making it the second most popular browser in terms of current use worldwide, after Internet Explorer.

Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google and based on the WebKit layout engine and application framework. In March 2009, Chrome became the world's fourth most widely-used browser, with 1.23% usage.

Safari is a web browser developed by Apple Inc. The current stable release of the browser is 3.2.1 (Macintosh) and 3.2.2 (Windows), but the Apple website more prominently displays the Safari 4 Beta, a pre-release version, for users to download. A public beta of Safari 4 was released on February 24, 2009. Safari has an 8.23% market share as of March 2009.

From Microsoft IE to Mozilla Firefox to Google Chrome to Apple Safari, all have upgraded their browser adding a variety of new elements, security updates and a host of next-gen navigational features. Now which is the best browser among the four, lets’ check on different parameters.

Speed

IE8 by Microsoft is faster in almost every respect. It loads faster, switches pages faster, and renders complex graphics and videos faster than previous versions. Firefox 3 claims that improvements to the javascript engine as well as profile guided optimization have enhanced the performance of Firefox 3.0. Safari 4 by Apple claims it to be the world's fastest Web browser which may makes it up to 30 times faster than Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 3, and Google Chrome. Updated version of Chrome by Google aimed at the general public since Google entered the browser business six months ago.

Security

IE8 provides protection against malware and known phishing scam sites and also protect against threat, "cross-site scripting," in which hackers insert code into legitimate Web pages that compromise peoples' computers without them knowing it. New version of Firefox 3 has enhanced malware protection which warns users when they enter a site which can install viruses, spyware, Trojans or other malware. Updated version of Safari 4 includes phishing and malware protection, anti-virus integration, cookie blocking, parental controls and option to customize offline database storage size. Chrome regularly keeps on downloading a list of harmful sites. This is the Internet search giant's attempt to fight malware and phishing attacks.

Navigation

IE8 by Microsoft browser introduces Tab Groups, in which, when one tab is opened from another, the new tab is placed next to the originating tab and color coded, so that users can quickly see which tabs have related content. New version Firefox 3 makes it possible to install extensions from third-party sites in fewer clicks. Safari 4 has new preview for favorite websites and new tabs. Called Top Sites, the new feature lets users preview a listing of favorite websites without navigating to a new screen. Chrome puts the tab buttons on the upper side of the window, not below the address bar. The browser has an address bar `omnibox' with auto-completion features. It offers search suggestions, top pages that a user visited and pages he didn’t visit but are popular.

Key feature additions

IE8 packs a new feature called Accelerators which allows users to highlight text on a website and choose from a variety of functions, including search engines, language translation or map displays and Web Slices, which is designed to allow you to subscribe to frequently-updated portions, or "slices," of certain websites. Firefox 3 promises secured data protection. Safari 4 debuts a new feature called "Cover Flow" which provides easy reviewing of site history and bookmarked websites, which presents previews on what the pages looked like when a user visited them. Chrome offers a Seed Dial feature, which gives users a view of their most visited Web pages in 9 screenshot thumbnails. It will also prevent the whole browser from crashing.

Bookmarking

IE8 can save Favorites, RSS Feeds, and Web Slices to the Favorites bar that appears across the top of the browser, quickly navigating to the sites and content they want. Firefox 3.0 can add bookmarks from the location bar with a single click. Through Smart Bookmarks Folder users can access recently-bookmarked and tagged pages, as well as most-frequently visited pages. Places Organizer will help users view, organize and search through all bookmarks, tags, and browsing history with multiple views and smart folders to store frequent searches. Safari 4 has Auto-Click bookmarks feature that lets users automatically open the bookmarks inside a bookmark folder, each in a separate tab. Chrome has a bookmark manager (Ctrl+Shift+B) to better organize bookmarks and folders.

Private browsing

IE8 includes a mode for Web browsing that does not remember what sites were visited nor stores small data files called cookies. Chrome’s Incognito mode lets users create an "incognito" window where "nothing that occurs in that window is ever logged onto your computer." Firefox 3 clears private date from the Edit - Preferences - Privacy dialogue box. Safari 4 can protect your personal information. Safari doesn’t save or cache any personal information you enter or pages you visit.