Which is the best browser? That all depends on the purpose. Here’s a short summary comparison of the three browsers:
Internet Explorer 7.0/8.0: It launches slow, loads pages slow and has many irksome features in the general bloated fashion of Microsoft. I have little use for IE for home use. However, on an enterprise level, IE makes a compelling argument for it’s use with integrated authentication and compatibility with its Office and SharePoint products.
FireFox 3.0: Still a mainstay on my desktop, FireFox has an amazing array of browser add-ons that make it a browser of choice for developers. FireFox is hands-down the most flexible and feature packed browser with a large developer community. For an all-purpose browser FireFox takes the cake. One important caveaut, add-ons can slow the launch of the browser down to that of IE which is paltry.
Chrome: The fastest browser by far. It launches quick, loads pages rapidly and simply a slick browser. It’s streamline design, not surprising coming from Google, allows for more screen space. I hope that Google doesn’t get the itch to over engineer the browser as it evolves but leaves the simplicity of it alone. For Mac fans, Chrome is on its way; Just hang on.
One Comment
Hi Phil,
I mostly agree with your thought spars about the mainstream browsers. And please allow me to add “Opera” – the fastest browser in the galaxy – to the list.
Browser wars from my web developer perspective:
Internet Explorer: I don’t why those guys still are trying to continue to working on browsers. Come on guys, accept it, it’s not working! IE is kinda a nightmare to me.
Firefox: Web Developers’ best friend. The ultimate answer to the ultimate question. Huge number of add-ons are very helpful for web developers especially debug and developer tools.
Chrome: I think this was created to show more Google ads. By the way, there is a solution for the linux users like me out there called “Chromium” http://code.google.com/chromium/
Opera: Flies like a butterfly, stings like a bee.
P.S. I really miss the good old days, when I was surfing – yeah we called it surfing before – the web with text based browser “lynx”