Best Free Web Browser

Back in the early 1990s when the World Wide Web was young, there was only one web browser worth using: Netscape, which evolved from Mosaic. Then Microsoft gave us Internet Explorer and subsequently started including it with their OS. Thus began the browser wars, and IE eventually emerged as the clear winner.

Today Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) is Microsoft's latest browser.  A major update from version 7, it has been playing catch up with other major browsers on the market... especially when in the area of security and features.  It is a competent browser with enough features to meet the needs of most users.  Version 8 is by far the most secure version I have seen yet from Microsoft, but IE8 is still difficult to recommend due to on-going security concerns. In the past IE has been a focus for security attacks, and there is little to suggest that this will change with this new version.  Additionally, Microsoft has a poor track record for speedily fixing IE defects.  This has left users open to drive-by attacks and other forms of zero-day exploits.  A big plus for IE8 is that it now supports an Add-on architecture, allowing the program to be enhanced, but the downside is that eventhough there are a growing number of IE8 add on programs available, very few are worth using (though that may change in the future).  The end result is that even with IE8's security enhancements and new features, there is still a huge need for alternative browsers that are feature rich, very secure, and super fast.

When it comes to web browsers, everyone has an opinion.  Every web browser will have a specific feature set that appeals to some while not appealing to others.  The criteria used for selecting browsers in this review are the following:

• Browser speed - How fast it can load a page.  Important in any browser, but not the only criterion for judgement.
• Security - How well the browser can handle exploits in web coding as well as keeping your online information safe.  Some browsers even have some sort of  "Secure" mode that leaves no trace of your browsing history.
• Ease of use - How intuitive and easy to use is the browser?
• Feature set - What kind of features are available to enhance the browsing experience (Example:  Tabbed browsing, handling of bookmarks, etc.)?
• Flexibility and Expandability -  Can the browser handle non-compliant HTML pages?  Is it expandable through add-on programs?  Does it display included content (such as flash video) properly?

When it comes right down to it, the best web browser is one that allows you to view the Web the way that YOU want.  The browsers listed below are, in this editor's opinion, some of the best at doing this by offering ease of use, flexibility, expandability, security, and great feature sets, while simultaneously doing their prime function of displaying HTML pages.

Mozilla Firefox 3.5 is my first choice. It's safer than IE, so safe in fact that many users have reported no spyware infections since they started using the product. It also browses a tad faster than IE, is very stable and is more standards compliant. When Firefox hit version 3.0 it fixed a whole slew of issues that its predecessor suffered.  Version 3.5 makes Firefox even faster and more feature rich with such features as Private browsing (Similar to "Incognito Mode" in Chrome), the ability to create new windows from existing tabs, and better session control.  With tabbed browsing and over 2000 free extensions (add-ons) that allow you to customize your experience, it provides the most flexibility, expanibility, and features of any browser to date. Firefox continues to be my everyday browser, though I still leave IE8 on my PC for the occasional web site that's designed around IE's non-standard features. If you need any further convincing then check out Gizmo's IE to Firefox migration guide.

An equal first choice is Opera.  This safe, full featured, standards compliant, browser, is a speed demon.  Now at version 10.0, there are several enhancements.  The biggest is "Opera Turbo".   When enabled, it will use Opera's servers to compress web pages, thus making pages load faster.  This means if you are on any kind of a slow connection (shared public Wi-Fi, mobile phone, dial-up), you can greatly improve your page load times.  Just as Firefox is extensible through add-ons, Opera can be enhanced using Widgets, though there are not nearly as many of these available as there are Firefox extensions. Then again, it doesn't need as many extensions because a lot of the features added by Firefox add-ons are already built into the standard Opera browser.   In addition to being a top rate web browser, it also has a great email client, RSS reader, newsgroup reader, and IRC Chat client.  It also now scores a perfect 100 on the Acid 3 test.  There's just so much to like about Opera 10 that you could easily create a case that it's better than Firefox. Indeed, Opera used to be my first choice, and if I could get an Opera replacement for some of my key Firefox add-ons, I'd probably switch back.

Apple's Safari Browser has been making a lot of waves lately and with version 4 Beta it is setting the bar pretty high for its web browser.  It is safe to say that this is Apple's fastest browser yet.  Page load times rank right up there with Google Chrome and Opera.  It is also standards compliant, scoring a perfect 100 on the Acid 3 test.  Apple has definitely been doing its homework.  In addition to being faster and more standards compliant, the user interface is more streamlined with new features that have added a "Zen of Apple" type of user experience.  The biggest is the Cover Flow navigation feature, which allows users to scroll through bookmarks and Web sites like they are browsing an iTunes collection.  Very impressive!  Also, they have adapted the popular "Top Sites" page found on Google Chrome and made it look 3d.  There is some criticism over these and other features though.  One is that the interface looks too much like Google Chrome.  In fact, it could be easy to confuse the two if it weren't for the other enhancements.  Another is that tabs change size every time a new tab is added.  Probably the biggest criticsm of the new Safari is that it requires a lot of system resources.  On Windows XP or Vista it requires a 500MHz Pentium class processor or better and 256 MB of RAM.  To access the Cover Flow functionality and Top Sites, you will need a a Direct X 9.0 video card with 64 MB of video RAM.  Slower PC's should probably avoid this one, but if you have a newer PC, you will have no problems.

Now at version 2, Google Chrome is making a lot of waves in the browser world, and for good reason. The folks at Google did their homework when they created this browser. It is amazingly fast at loading pages due to it being based on the Safari rendering engine. Although the interface is minimalist, it won't take long to get used to and is very easy to use. There are two features that really impressed me with Chrome. The first is a feature called, "Create Application Shortcut". This will place an icon on your desktop that, when activated, will open any web page you specify automatically into Google Chrome, but without the navigation and search bar. This makes that page look as if it were a program installed on your PC. The second is "Incognito Mode". Setting the browser to this mode will prevent it from leaving any trace of your web history on your computer. Though these are amazing features, there are still some drawbacks. Presently, Chrome requires an internet connection to install. Users of Firefox will probably not like that Chrome has not support for add-on programs that enhance your browser. Also, the interface is not customizable. Overall, Google Chrome is an awesome product, worthy of consideration on this list.

For all of its positive reviews, Chrome does have its critics.  Their major complaint is that Chrome creates a unique ID through which a user can be theoretically identified.  If this is your concern, then SRWare Iron may very well be an option for you.  SRWare Iron looks and acts almost exactly like Google Chrome, but without sending any information back to Google's servers.  This means that there is no possibility of any browsing history or personal information being sent back to Google, yet you still get all the benefits of a lean and powerful browser.

Users who don't want to drift too far from the Microsoft stable can get some of the feature advantages of Firefox and Opera by using one of the many customized shells for Internet Explorer, such as Maxthon and Avant. The main selling point for these products used to be tabbed browsing, but now that this has been available since version 7 of Inernet Explorer 7 it's hard to create a case for their general recommendation. Still, if you need a specialized feature they are worth considering. On the downside, these shells share most of the same security problems as IE because they utilize the IE engine.

Last but not least is K-Meleon, a slimmed down cousin of Firefox that's optimized for Windows. Of the four browsers reviewed here, K-Meleon is the quickest loading and, along with Opera, the fastest for surfing. There are only a limited number of add-ons and plug-ins available, so you are pretty well limited to the features available in the standard product. If you're the type of person who prefers performance to bells and whistles, then you should definitely try K-Meleon.

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