Best Free Web Browser

Go straight to the Quick Selection Guide or check out the summary below:

• Most powerful customization capabilities - Try Firefox (Review)
• Fastest browser - Try Chrome (Review)
• For feature richness and pioneering innovation - Try Opera (Review)
• Want to stick with Microsoft's - Try Internet Explorer (Review)
• Mac's leading browser on Windows - Try Safari (Review)

Here's a set of COMPARISON tables of the above mentioned web browsers.

Here's a list of the LAYOUT ENGINES used in the browsers described across various sections in the article.

This article is divided into three sections: 1) MEGA WEB BROWSERS includes the most popular, powerful and heavyweight browsers; 2) LIGHTWEIGHT WEB BROWSERS includes the browsers that provide the best performance with respect to memory and CPU consumption; and 3) OTHER BROWSERS includes browsers that haven't been discussed in the both categories above.

Back in the early 1990s when the World Wide Web was young, there was only one web browser worth using: Netscape. Then Microsoft gave us Internet Explorer and subsequently started bundling it with their OS. Thus it began the first browser war and IE eventually emerged as the clear winner with over 95% share of the market.

But this monopoly stifled innovation and Microsoft made few substantive enhancements in the ensuing years to Internet Explorer until a real competitor in the form of Firefox emerged in 2004. Since then of course there has been a virtual explosion of browsers. Some are designed to be minimalistic while others target specific users such as those focusing on social networking. There are also clones of established browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome which seek to improve on the original by being “leaner” or offering different features.

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

• Speed - How fast does the browser load a page? Important in any browser, but not the only criterion for judgment.
• Security - How well can the browser handle exploits in web coding as well as keeping your online information safe? Some browsers today even have a "Private browsing" mode that leaves no trace of your browsing history on the PC.
• 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 (eg tabbed browsing, handling of bookmarks, etc.)?
• Flexibility and Expandability - Can the browser handle badly coded or non-compliant HTML pages? Is it expandable through add-on programs? Does it display included content (such as flash video) properly?

MEGA WEB BROWSERS

The latest figures at StatCounter show that we've a new king in the browser market worldwide in terms of popularity. And with good reason as it offers the best mix of features, with broad extension support, of any of the browsers. Based on the open source WebKit engine and Google's V8 Javascipt engine, Google Chrome has emerged as one of the fastest browsers available across multiple benchmarks. It's also highly competitive in features and has ground breaking technology support.

Installation It's a bit disappointing for me that the standard installation process of Chrome requires network connection though I must admit that it is a smooth and seamless procedure. Once installed, new releases update silently in the background.

Interface Chrome has always been known for its impressive usability with a clean minimalistic streamlined interface complemented with powerful tools. Chrome's fantastic design gives maximum space to the pages you are viewing. The tabs are dynamic and detachable and support drag and drop. When opening a new tab you can get a visual sample of most visited websites, recently closed windows, applications and bookmarked pages. Downloads appear at the bottom of window. The 'star' icon bookmarks a page and the 'spanner' one provides access to Chrome's controls and customization options. Both of these appear on the right. On the left, an 'earthly' icon provides the security level information about the website you're visiting (when not using SSL, in which case a 'lock' icon appears). Chrome extensions appear only as icons to the right of the location bar, thereby maintaining a uniform look though at the cost of reducing customizability. Sidebars are not yet available.

Features Chrome was one of the first browsers to offer the Omnibox (an all-in-one purpose bar for web search, history, address bar and suggestions) along with an Incognito window or private browsing mode. Adding to the user perception of speed is the Chrome Instant search which displays search results obtained in the background from web/history almost immediately. Also impressive is the Instant Pages feature that preloads webpages in the background by pre-guessing which link you'll be clicking next. WebGL support - the cutting edge hardware accelerated 3D graphics - gives support and access to Google's new Chrome Web Store to find web applications and extensions for the browser. Google Cloud Print lets you print remotely to printers connected to another PC or to Google Drive. (tools -> options -> under the hood). Chrome excels in Account Syncing and you can sync themes, autofill entries, applications, extensions, passwords, bookmarks and preferences via a Google account.

Extensions It's interesting to see that Chrome has overtaken Firefox to now have the largest number of extensions in its repository of all the browsers. The Extensions page opens up in a new tab from Preferences->Tools->Extensions and you can choose your favourite extensions from the Extensions Gallery that sorts extensions into most popular, most recent, top rated or featured entries. Feel the new fond power of Chrome after installing useful extensions from the 10,000+ strong database.

Security The existence of Sandboxed Tabs gives you more control and security over the browser, because when a page crashes in one tab the issue doesn't spread to the others (though memory leak seems to be a concern here). Chrome is the only browser that has Built-In Flash support, so you don't need to install Adobe flash externally. The browser also has Built-in PDF support (which also supports copy-paste and print preview), thus making usage of external plugins for the same purpose redundant. Chrome offers Silent Updates and also has a Malware Blocking feature that blocks harmful url's.

Chrome provides broad search engine control and customizability. It's easy to tweak privacy settings and toggle flash plugin, inbuilt pdf reader, javascript, pop-ups etc. A Translation feature is built into the browser, which auto-detects webpages that are not in English and offers translation to your native language. Being a leader in HTML5 implementation, Chrome is surely making waves and lets his presence felt dearly in the browser market.

What's HOT! (CHROME 21)

• Media Stream API (getUserMedia) enabled by default. (E.g. webcam access via JavaScript.)
• Improved Flash security and stability on Windows (PPAPI)
• Gamepad API prototype available by default.
• Added support for (pointer) and (hover) CSS media queries so sites can optimize their UI for touch when touch-screen support is available.
• HTML5 audio/video and WebAudio now support 24-bit PCM wave files.

Mozilla Firefox has long been the top rated browser here at Gizmo's and a personal favorite of many of our editors but in recent years it seems to have lost its way and has been overtaken by more innovative browsers such as Chrome. Thankfully in the last 12 months Firefox has shown a resurgence with many substantial improvements through its new hyper-accelerated release cycle.

User Interface Firefox 13 offers the most substantial update to the user interface since version 4. The New Tab Page now presents a Speed Dial, a feature already offered by other browsers, that shows nine of the most visited websites. The New Homepage now has quicker access to Downloads, Bookmarks, History, Add-ons, Sync and Settings. Background tabs now load on-demand during session restore.

The new UI is minimalistic, pretty and polished. The tabs lie above the address bar (Awesome Bar) and are easily draggable, while cycling between tabs has become a lot easier. The status bar is gone, but floats into view when you mouse over a link or while a page is loading. Add-on Bar now replaces the status bar, and gives quick access to add-on features. The orange Menu Bar is now squished into the top left corner, where it lets you pull down a list to access to all options. The search box lies to the right of the location bar, and various search engines can be easily customized.

Features The new Smooth Scrolling feature lets you scroll through and access tabs easily. If you type/select in the location bar the address of a tab which is already open, the Switch to Tab feature will let you switch straight to the open tab of interest. App tabs pins tabs as favicons in the tab bar on the far left, which glows when updated. Tab panorama organizes tabs into manageable groups that can be named, organized and edited (press Ctrl+Shift+E). The address bar has a dual function (paste&go and paste&search). Firefox Sync lets you synchronize browser bookmarks, history, passwords and even open tabs between different computers. Firefox can be personalized through add-ons and themes (Personas). Add-On manager opens up as a tab with various options Add-Ons (popular & featured), Extensions, Appearance and Plugins; of note, the Get Add-ons tab includes a search box to call up available add ons from AMO (addons.mozilla.org) and add-ons are now compatible with every new version. Video rendering supports Google’s WebM and the open source Egg Theora format.

Performance, Memory Usage, Stability The new Jagermonkey javascript engine and HTML5 support have improved greatly and Mozilla has done a lot of work on Memory handling and improving Start-up time, though it should be added that installing add-on's increases the memory usage considerably. Plugin processes are now separated from the main process by plugin-container.exe, thereby providing better stability and crash protection. FF uses Hardware Acceleration of the CPU (harnessing the power of the GPU rather than the CPU to render web page graphics) and has full WebGL and 2D experimental support. It seems that FF15 has optimized add-on memory usage, so that the increase is not much noticeable.

Security FF15 now offers Silent Updates like Chrome. Minor security improvements like Content Security Policy (blocks cross site scripting attacks) and HTTP Strict Transport Security (prevents login info from being intercepted) have been implemented. Instant WebSite ID gives users personal analytics data about websites. Do Not Track blocks websites from installing cookies. Forget This Site removes any evidence of the site on computer. Plugins can be configured to load on-demand.

The customization capability of Firefox is the best of any of the major browsers. The new rapid release cycle of Firefox, following the footsteps of Chrome, has done a great job in fixing security holes faster and adding new features (though no considerable changes between releases). HTML5 support, hardware accelerated graphics, improved CSS3 support, good looking fonts, 3D video, multi-touch in Win7, crash protection, and Firefox sync are some of its features that show to the internet world who the real KING is!

What's HOT! (FIREFOX 15)

• Silent, background updates
• Support for SPDY networking protocol v3
• WebGL enhancements, including compressed textures for better performance
• Optimized memory usage for add-ons

Opera, has always been known for pioneering innovative features right from its first release. This includes browser tabs, speed dial, pop-up blocker, browser sessions and clearing private data. Its eye candy interface combined with speed, security and lightness gives us a rich browsing experience. But one thing it still lacks is a strong user base which is a shame given the quality of the product.

Installation This is as simple as it gets requiring just a few clicks. Opera also gives you the choice to install it as a portable version rather than the standard installation. Opera cut its disk space usage by one third in its previous release and that has been maintained in the current version 12.

Interface Opera's interface is pleasant both in looks and functionality and follows the minimalistic look favored by most modern browsers. An orange icon squished to the top left gives access to all options and settings which are neatly organized inside. Visual tabs brings a Thumbnail view of the webpage while hovering around tabs. SpeedDial, as the name implies, lets you open a webpage in a new tab faster through a single click and it is highly configurable. A smarter and safer Address bar hides protocol information and provides information on site security level (Ash Web, Yellow Secure, Green Trusted, Blue Turbo). Visual mouse gestures allow you to perform most basic actions with a flick of the wrist, and holding down the right button brings up a visual guide.

Features Opera is known for its impressive feature set, right out of the box. Opera's v12 adds a host of new features and at the same time kills off some features that were present in earlier versions. This means that it no longer supports Widgets, Unite and Voice to reduce the bloat but these were not much used except for Unite. Opera includes a BitTorrent client and a Mail Client built-in, which are accessible via a browser button. SpeedDial extensions bring SpeedDial tiles to life. Tab stacking makes working with multiple tabs a whole lot easier by letting you drag and drop tabs one over the other to create a stack. Tabs can also pinned. Opera link syncs the browser across different platforms even including Opera Mobile and Opera Mini. Opera 12 includes Camera Support that allows web apps to utilize your webcam. Quick find helps users to recall the pages they visited, by typing any text of that page in the address bar. Notes feature lets you copy text to the notes in the panel just like bookmarking but with useful notes for the site.

Themes & Extensions Opera adds Theme support in its newest release and provides hundreds of them to choose from its Gallery, for a sleeker look. Extension support that was implemented in its previous release has been further enhanced and includes many more useful extensions to compete against its rivals Firefox and Chrome.

Performance, Memory Usage, Stability Experimental Hardware Acceleration is available on an opt-in basis. Opera Turbo is a unique life saver feature for users having slow connections, as it compresses the data sent across for faster loading and appears as a speedometer icon at the bottom. Opera has On-demand plugin feature which can be manually turned on and loads plugins only when needed, thus improving performance and security. Note that Opera was the only major browser that ran with multiple tabs smoothly on my low-end system without consuming much memory.

Security Opera 12 implemented Out-of-Process plugins for better stability but was later dropped with v12.02 due to frequent crashes. Private browsing can safely erase all logs of browsing activities. Do Not Track feature is new in the latest release which tells sites not to collect your info for an ad-targeting profile.

Other notable and respectable features include search engine customization, a personal bar, pop-up blocking, newsgroups support, built-in session manager, password and download manager, page zooming, Google search predictions and an inline spell checker with support for over 51 languages. Despite its promising offerings and pioneering features, Opera does not have the benefits of back up from a large organization or user community - unlike other top browsers such as IE, Safari, Chrome and Firefox. Although recent news claims that Facebook is planning to buy the browser which might be for the better good of Opera in financial support.

What's HOT! (OPERA 12)

• Out-of-Process plug-ins
• Support for Themes
• Experimental full hardware acceleration
• 64bit Windows versions
• Address field enhancements
• Opera Unite, Widgets, Voice discontinuation
• Added support for DoNotTrack, HTML5 Drag and Drop, WebRTC

The once "class leader turned class lagger" Internet Explorer now roars back into the browser competition, responding to the heat from Chrome and Firefox with its newest version 9, which includes some highly commendable (and much needed) changes.

Interface The stripped down interface is clean and simple, more focused on web content within the browser frame, with transparent top and side borders. Square edged tabs lie alongside the address bar by default (they can be moved down via the context menu). The status, menu and tool bars are all gone by default, while the button icon uses new artwork. The New Tab page opens up thumbnails of frequently visited websites (which can be disabled for privacy), with a bar showing the frequency of visits. Reopening closed tabs and previous browsing sessions with In-Private browsing is also included along with a ‘Discover other sites you might like’ icon and a Suggested Sites feature in the new tab window. The Home button with the Favourites star button (managing bookmarks) and a gear shaped Tools button (controlling access to all options) lie to the upper right corner, while the back (significantly larger) and forward buttons are present to the left.

Features “One Box” combines the search box within the location bar. Hence, navigation to sites and viewing of browsing history and favourites can be done in the same box. The Auto-suggest feature is turned off by default and various search providers can be customized. The new Pinned Sites feature docks sites to the taskbar (click, hold & drag tab) as favicons and custom jump lists and overlays can be provided. Multiple sites can also be added to a pinned site icon. Tab sandboxing prevents a single tab crash from taking down an entire page. In-Private browsing provides an anonymous browsing mode. The IE9 Notification Bar alerts users when visiting webpages containing secure or insecure content, and this in-turn is less intrusive by appearing at the bottom of the browser. The long awaited new Download Manager is now included.

Performance, Standards and Stability Inclusion of GPU acceleration now shoves the rendering tasks to the graphics card. This especially accelerates rendering of HTML5 graphics. The new JavaScript engine Chakra is now light years faster than its predecessor. IE9 now utilizes the efficient WebM video codec. Crashing has now been almost eliminated and the browser is highly stable. For the tabs, Hang Recovery mechanism comes into effect when a website script runs forever and Crash Recovery restores unresponsive tabs or reloads groups of tabs to the last good configuration. Add-on performance advisor provides an intuitive page which shows the time taken to load the installed add-ons while disabling unwanted ones.

Security A Tracking Protection feature which blacklists bad sites auto-populates while visiting them (sites can be manually added too) and prevents the browser from downloading various tracking devices (JavaScript and pixel images). A Do Not Track feature compliments it by a header based solution, preventing advertisers from tracking your activities. The new ActiveX filter blocks all ActiveX content by default, while allowing you to activate it when needed (by toggling a ‘line crossing circle’ icon). Unsafe downloads are flagged using a reputation mechanism through the SmartScreen filter which protects users from phishing sites.

Internet Explorer has now resurrected from the re-cycle bin to a respectable position, earning a sweet spot in this category for the first time. IE has finally found its ground and made its best shot to stop the market erosion caused by Firefox and Chrome. Its image as "Yesterday's browser" has clearly changed.

Apple's new Safari is certainly good news to MAC fans. Not much has changed in version 5 except for some neat features, but with a modest improvement in performance and standards support, Safari remains the best browser for MAC.

But it is the latest Windows version that is of more interest. Frankly I've never liked the look of Safari in Windows mainly due to the lack of Aero. But is it fast? Definitely, and its new Nitro javascript engine (formerly SquirrelFish) on top of Safari's WebKit engine sure makes it feel very zippy - in fact almost one-third faster than its previous version, rivalling even King Chrome. Performance has been improved thanks to graphics hardware acceleration (smoothing rich media), DNS prefetching and improvements in the Nitro Javascript engine and page caching.

The url bar is smarter and shows previously visited sites and top hits, as well as URLs in the history and bookmarks, but it still isn't smart enough, as Chrome provides a unified one (location bar and web search). The new tab page is vivid and presents a 3D gallery view of the 12 most visited sites and a cover flow history view. Tabs are kept below the navigation bar with forward and back buttons, location bar, search box, current page menu and preferences menu. The customization options, which add a new spicy feel, include opening into new tab, tab focus, confirmation when closing multiple tabs, and visual indicators for multi-tabs. The search box is alongside the address bar and the search engine of choice can be customized (default Google, Yahoo, Bing).

Extensions in Safari are disabled by default (ever wondered right now it's useless) and sandboxed (for child protection, security and scalability). Also, the browser extension framework urges developers to create extensions in html, javascript and css, and to fill forms to package and distribute them through the Safari Developer Program. The best feature yet in v5 is the Safari Reader, an adaptation of bookmarklet "Readability". Safari identifies a web page as an article by heuristics and thus presents a "reader button" in the location bar. At the bottom of the reader window the window buttons let you zoom in and out, e-mail and print. The reader actually strips out pictures and video, and we have pure scrollable text view without any ads, widgets, sidebars, header, footer in a white overlay window (note images still don't print).

Safari learns which sites are your favorites and presents them under the top sites icon on the left in a cover flow navigation layout along with the history by switching tabs. The bookmarks bar brings forth "Collections" which can be customized to display by default history, bookmarks menu, RSS feeds, and imported favorites. Other features include pop up blocking, inline find, snapback (go to the first level without hitting back buttons), resizable text fields, private browsing and more. While scoring 100% in Acid3 test, surfing has been a near pleasure on Safari.

COMPARISON OF WEB BROWSERS

If you're really keen to compare the web browsers described above, along with tens of other browsers, you can look at the big comparison tables here (Wikipedia).

Alternatively, the following tables summarize results of benchmark tests reported at Tom's Hardware website here. The main numbers in these tables are rankings from 1 to 6, where '1' is best. (The rankings for performance, efficiency and conformance were made after rounding up exact results.) The overall rankings at the foot of each table also take into account relative differences in performance in multiple tests. The browsers tested were Firefox 13, Opera 12, Google Chrome 20, Safari 5.1.7 and Internet Explorer 9.

• Best Free HTML Editor
• Best Free Download Manager
• Best Free Browser Protection Utility
• Best Free Browser Scrubber
• Best Free Bookmark Cleaner
• Best Free Add-ins for Internet Explorer
• Best Internet Safety Check Freeware
• Best Free Parental Filter
• Best Free Web Site Ripper
• Best Free RSS Reader-Aggregator
• Best Free Download/Upload Meter
• Best Free Search Toolbar
• Best Free Popup Stopper
• Best Free Website Link Checker
• Best Free Web Form Filler/Password Manager

Thank you for reading this article. If you think, it could be improved or your favourite Web Browser is not present in the article please do post your feedback and suggestions in the comments section below. Also don't forget to rate this article

This software category is maintained by volunteer editor George.J. Registered site visitors can contact me Here.