Browser Wars Heating Up

The long standing browser war continues on with some new gainers and some losers. Internet Explorer (IE), Microsoft’s browser has long been the preferred choice for browsing the internet, but has been plagued with exploits which have caused a decline in it’s usage. Apple announced it’s version of a browser for Windows… Safari… and fast gained popularity propelling itself to the number 3 most used browser quickly after it’s release for Windows users. Then came Google, when Chrome first was released, it quickly became popular mainly due to Google’s vast popularity. Opera, which has always been the “long shot” in browser popularity continues to maintain a steady usage percentage.

Internet Explorer, as stated above, is still the most popular browser being used currently, but Mozilla’s Firefox browser has been steadily gaining on the browser empire that Microsoft has created. Recently, Google Chrome overtook Safari as the third most utilized browser, mainly I think, due to Google’s release of versions for the Mac and Linux operating systems. Opera is simply holding it’s own.

Now, in my opinion, which browser is the best? I am going to rate each of the most popular browsers based on three important criteria….the 1st… Speed, the 2nd… Security, and lastly…..Reliability. Now these recommendations are not based on any scientific research, but on my own personal usage experiences. All of these are ranked from Best (#1) to worst (#5).

Speed

Using Windows

1) Google Chrome

2) Opera

3) Mozilla Firefox

4) Apple Safari

5) Internet Explorer 8

Mac (OSX)

1) Safari / WebKit

2) Google Chrome

3) Opera

4) Mozilla Firefox

Note that IE is not available for OSX

Now keep in mind that the speeds are very close, but I have seen a noticeable difference, especially in the top three listed above. The speeds of all four of the browsers, on the Mac, were not very noticeable.

Security

Windows

1) Mozilla Firefox

2) Internet Explorer 8

3) Google Chrome

4) Opera

5) Apple Safari

Mac

1) Mozilla Firefox

2) Safari / WebKit

3) Opera

4) Google Chrome

I do not like the way that Apple’s Safari works on Windows machines. I think the lack of security features is due to Apple’s general lax of the need for security. Although all the browsers have comparable security features, I think that Firefox’s security and the ease of setting it up is, far and above, all the other browsers.  I tend to use Firefox on all my machines due to this fact. The minor speed disadvantage is outweighed by the security that is offered.

Reliability

Windows

1) Google Chrome

2) Opera

3) Mozilla Firefox

4) Internet Explorer 8

5) Apple Safari

Mac OSX

1) Safari

2) Mozilla Firefox

3) Opera

4) Google Chrome

Again, Safari for Windows did not fare well in my tests, but was the best on the Mac OS. This may be due to Apple’s venture to just get the browser out there, but crashes and stalls were frequent on a Windows machine and are non-existent on OSX. Google Chrome did so well on Windows mainly that it has a feature in which all the open tabs run in different “processes”, which means that should a particular tab running a web page crash, it will not crash the entire browser but only that particular tab. This is something that Firefox is supposedly going to add when version 3.6 is released. Firefox 3.6 was supposed to be released in early 2010, but has now been delayed. When this functionality is available in Firefox, the reliability may need to be updated.

OK, now for my overall favorites…..based mostly on “usability” and “speed”, but I never forget “security” either. The “usability” criteria also takes into account it’s ease of use, meaning that the UI (User Interface) is well designed.

Windows

1) Mozilla Firefox

2) Google Chrome

3) Internet Explorer 8

4) Apple Safari

5) Opera

Mac

1) Mozilla Firefox

2) Safari / WebKit

3) Google Chrome

4) Opera

Although I rated Firefox as my top choice on the Mac, Safari is just as capable and could easily be put at the top spot, especially because it is faster. My personal preference is Firefox though, based mostly that it is, far and above, my favorite when using Windows. Google Chrome, although a competent and very fast browser on Windows, is lacking in the new version for the Mac, which is currently in Beta. I am quite sure that Google will update this browser in the future and may very well move up on the list, especially regarding the Mac. As far as Opera goes, it is not a bad browser, my biggest issue is the UI, I just cannot get used to it. Safari, for Windows, has a lot to be desired, it just is not a fully functioning browser for Windows that I have any trust in. On a Mac though, like I said, could very well be rated #1.

Here are the most recent browser popularity results…..

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=0

What are you preferences?  Do you Agree? Disagree?

Let me know your thoughts, leave a comment or take these short Polls.