Which is the best internet browser? This is one question that I have been asked in almost all of my BCA classes by students. I was a fan of Mozilla FireFox ever since it was launched, but still wondered is it better than IE or safari? Then came the Google Chrome which claimed to be the fastest internet browser. This put me into a greater confusion. So I decided to do a little research myself and see which is the best internet browser today.
Lets us first list all the major browsers available. Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE), Mozilla FireFox, Google Chrome, Safari (Apple/Macintosh), Opera and there are some more but need no mentioning. Now how do we find out which is the best browser? We will rate them according to their Speed, Security, Customization and Looks (Themes/Skins), and then I will let you decide.
Speed:
The Acid Test
The Acid Test is a simple was to see your browser's performance. All you have to do is open the browser you wish to test and visit this site, http://acid3.acidtests.org and find out for yourself.
Results
Chrome: Pass
Opera: Pass
FireFox: Fail
Safari: Fail
IE: Fail
Well we start with the most unexpected results I had imagined. I was sure Firefox would pass the test and I was sure Opera will not but that is not the case.
Security:
The most important factor if you are transferring funds, internet banking, shopping online or trading at the stock market through the internet. This is an argumentative topic because the level of security will differ user to user and according to one's requirement. Security and Speed can be inversely proportional. The more check point in security chain more time it takes for the data to be sent and received. Thats not 100% true in case of web browsers.
IE is by far the most preferred web browsers by most of the banks and shopping sites. Opera fails at security check as it takes ages to process secure data. Everyone one else stays in the middle as average.
Customization:
A casual surfer or a developer, both have one think in common. Need for some hand tools at your side to get that work done asap. Customization can play a huge role in getting some work done in few moments which generally take up minutes. Firefox being an open source application has a lot of contributors to it and supports a huge variety of add-ons that can be downloaded from the Firefox site or searched on the search engine. Chrome also offers customization and supports most of the add-ons available for Firefox. IE has some add-ons but the amount and quality of those add-ons are limited. Safari plays average in this sector due to its lack of add-ons. Opera basically does provide no room for add-on installations.
Customization can be the difference between "doing the work and getting it done".
Looks:
Not a very important factor in deciding a web browser but still it may matter to some. Looks also considers changing and customization allowed by add-ons. The results are simple:
Firefox: Great
Chrome: Great
IE: Basic
Opera: Basic
Safari: Basic
These are my findings. I will not chose on your behalf which is the best browser. For myself I can say I have migrated from IE to Firefox, and now from Firefox to Chrome. Let me know your comments and if you would like to mention something I forgot or I have gone wrong.
You can also use the poll that I have started and let me know which browser fits you the best.
Lets us first list all the major browsers available. Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE), Mozilla FireFox, Google Chrome, Safari (Apple/Macintosh), Opera and there are some more but need no mentioning. Now how do we find out which is the best browser? We will rate them according to their Speed, Security, Customization and Looks (Themes/Skins), and then I will let you decide.
Speed:
The Acid Test
The Acid Test is a simple was to see your browser's performance. All you have to do is open the browser you wish to test and visit this site, http://acid3.acidtests.org and find out for yourself.
Results
Chrome: Pass
Opera: Pass
FireFox: Fail
Safari: Fail
IE: Fail
Well we start with the most unexpected results I had imagined. I was sure Firefox would pass the test and I was sure Opera will not but that is not the case.
Security:
The most important factor if you are transferring funds, internet banking, shopping online or trading at the stock market through the internet. This is an argumentative topic because the level of security will differ user to user and according to one's requirement. Security and Speed can be inversely proportional. The more check point in security chain more time it takes for the data to be sent and received. Thats not 100% true in case of web browsers.
IE is by far the most preferred web browsers by most of the banks and shopping sites. Opera fails at security check as it takes ages to process secure data. Everyone one else stays in the middle as average.
Customization:
A casual surfer or a developer, both have one think in common. Need for some hand tools at your side to get that work done asap. Customization can play a huge role in getting some work done in few moments which generally take up minutes. Firefox being an open source application has a lot of contributors to it and supports a huge variety of add-ons that can be downloaded from the Firefox site or searched on the search engine. Chrome also offers customization and supports most of the add-ons available for Firefox. IE has some add-ons but the amount and quality of those add-ons are limited. Safari plays average in this sector due to its lack of add-ons. Opera basically does provide no room for add-on installations.
Customization can be the difference between "doing the work and getting it done".
Looks:
Not a very important factor in deciding a web browser but still it may matter to some. Looks also considers changing and customization allowed by add-ons. The results are simple:
Firefox: Great
Chrome: Great
IE: Basic
Opera: Basic
Safari: Basic
These are my findings. I will not chose on your behalf which is the best browser. For myself I can say I have migrated from IE to Firefox, and now from Firefox to Chrome. Let me know your comments and if you would like to mention something I forgot or I have gone wrong.
You can also use the poll that I have started and let me know which browser fits you the best.
Reason for IE8 failure (By Microsoft):On April 2nd, the Acid3 test changed. The change doesn’t add new tests, but instead of showing ‘LINKTEST FAILED’ under the score, the test now shows ‘YOU SHOULD NOT SEE THIS AT ALL’ in the upper left corner. The change also reordered script so Acid3 now checks for failure prior to removing an iframe during test 80. Internet Explorer fails the test, so the script to remove the iframe never runs and leaves the empty white box in the middle of the page. As we said at MIX10, we will continue to build standards support into the IE9 platform and as a byproduct our ACID3 score will increase.
ReplyDeleteFound on: http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/benchmarks/Acid3/Default.html