A person needs a web browser. Otherwise, no web browsing.
In today’s world, a plethora of web browsers are available for consumption. Some good, some bad, some so-so. Personally, I have used a lot of these browsers. This article is intended to outline my thoughts on the big 2 and give alternatives. All the browsers have pros and cons. It is up to you to decide which one is best for you and your needs.
Let’s start with the simplest of questions.
- what do you want to do with the web browser?
- Next question, what are you willing to put up while browsing sites?
Browsing the web is easy to do. But most modern browsers can do so much more. Chrome and Firefox are likely the two most well-known browsers. Each of these browsers has a huge following. And offer tons of functionality in the form of extensions.
What you want to do with the web browser? Perhaps you just want to open the browser, type in an address, and go to that site. Or perhaps your only site is Facebook. But let’s ask some deeper questions.
- Do you save/use bookmarks?
- Do you use multiple machines?
- Do you like using tabs in a browser? Or prefer multiple browser windows?
- Do you like having control over settings?
- Do you like being able to adjust settings and make things easier?
What are you willing to put up while browsing?
- Do you like ads?
- Do you like pop-ups?
- Do you like malware?
The answer to these questions will decide your fate regarding a browser. Like I mentioned earlier, most modern browsers have a wide variety of options along with extensions. And this functionality gives the user greater control over the browser and the sites visited by the person.
If you think I am completely full of crap, you might be 100% correct. Before you make up your mind, here are some things to keep in mind.
Ad blocking — some browsers have it, others don’t. Some browsers have native ad-blocking. Others provide ad-blocking in the form of an extension or plug-in. One of my favs is uBlock Origin.
Password Manager — If you have tons of passwords, it is nice to have a manager to easily populate username and password. Of course, if you use the same username and password for everything, a password manager is irrelevant. One of my favs is BitWarden but other popular choices are LastPass, 1Password, and Dashlane.
PInterest — A widely used tool/site. Chrome and Firefox have extensions that allow user to pin to a board with only a few clicks.
Read It Later — Not everyone has time to read every article. Sites such as Pocket and Instapaper provide the ability to read it later. But you have to save it to the site. A manual process unless the browser has an extension or native functionality. Guess what, some do.
Bookmarks, Extensions, Settings, Oh My — You spend all that time and effort getting things just right. If you have another PC, you have to go through the same laborious steps. It would be great if there was some type of sync functionality for settings and bookmarks.
Page Format and Layout — Are you truly happy with the format and layout of popular sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube, and more. If not, a simple extension, such as Stylus, can help a great deal.
A couple of last points to consider.
If you have a mobile device (likely you do), do you want the same browser (experience) on the mobile device? It is important as some browsers do NOT have an equivalent version on the mobile platform.
Last but definitely not least is security. Everyone needs to be cognizant of their own security which includes their browsing. Some browsers have top-notch security while others have little to none.
I could ramble on for days describing the cool features in browsers. I think it is safe to say no one would want to read my ramblings.
Let’s take a look at the two most commonly known and widely used browsers, at least from my perspective.
Google Chrome
Chrome is the most widely used web browser in the world. Why? My guess, because it was made by Google. In truth, Google took the Chromium base and decided to enhance Plus, it has alot of features. Is it the best in the world? A question that keeps getting asked over and over. And the answer is “only if you think so.”
Chrome is now my go-to browser. I used FireFox for over a decade. But FF had issues so I switched to Chrome a few years ago. It is rare that I find a site that has problems with Chrome. I cannot say the same for FireFox, where I find sites that have inconsistent and unreadable formatting.
Chrome has the Chrome Store which offers thousands and thousands of extensions. What is an extension? A plug-in for the browsr to perform a certain action. The action could be adjusting the layout of the page. It could be managing passwords or sites. It could be almost anything.
Google is consistently updating Chrome. I am currently running the official build, which is 69.0.3497.100. I have read articles about the upcoming v70, which will be released in the very near future.
Google Chrome is a hog on CPU and RAM (memory) on machines. If you have a really old PC that has an outdated CPU and low RAM, expect to have some issues with Chrome. I have an old HP 2000 laptop with an AMD processor and 8 GBs of RAM. I use Chrome on this machine and it is very slow. The processor is maxed out while using Chrome.
Mozilla Firefox
As I mentioned, Firefox was my go-to browser for many years. I could customize the browser based upon specific extensions. One of my favorite extensions was Tab Mix Plus. This extension was extremely powerful, giving control to the user regarding all things tab related.
Then Mozilla decided to take a different direction. The new direction was web extensions. And my world was shattered. It doesn’t sound like a big deal. But every extension for Firefox needed to be revisited and re-designed. Say good-bye to Tab Mix Plus. At this point, Firefox wasnt much different from Chrome.
Don’t be fooled by my saddened comments, Firefox is a very powerful web browser. Firefox offers thousands and thousands of extensions. Not just extenions but themes. I never really got into themes.
One of the best features in Firefox is the extensions that support audio downloads and video downloads. The browser has extensions for downloading audio from sites such as Youtube. Additionally, there are extensions, such as Ant Video Downloader, that provide the ability to download videos. Chrome has restrictions on Youtube so downloading is disabled.
Although the two most widely used browsers, these browsers are not the only game in town. If you like the “Chrome-like” look, feel, or extensions, there are a number of browsers to suit your fancy. Or perhaps you prefer “Firefox-like” look, feel, or extensions. Again, many alternatives to fit your needs.
Vivaldi Browser
From Website:
We live in our browsers. Choose one that has the features you need, a style that fits and values you can stand by.
Vivaldi is a new browser with unrivaled customization and control. Fast, secure and flexible — this is a browser made for you.
From the look and feel, to how you interact with your browser, every aspect of Vivaldi can be tweaked and customized. You’re in control.
Online privacy is more important than ever and how your browser handles sensitive data is crucial. Vivaldi doesn’t track or store any of your data.
Managing hundreds of tabs is a breeze, and built-in tools like Notes and screen Capture mean there’s no need to hunt for add-ons.
My Opinion:
I used Vivaldi since the initial alpha release (yes, that long ago). I will say the browser has come a very long way since that initial alpha release. Much of the focus in Vivaldi was (and continues to be) spent on UI customizations and tweaks. It is great to have power over the UI. The company continues to pump out release after release so it has very active development.
The browser is very slow and clunky, though. It seems to use more memory than other browsers, such as Chrome. Sync functionality was only introduced with the last year or two and it works sporadically.
If the company would focus on performance, I think this browser would be great. Until then, it is a no-go for me.
Comodo Dragon Browser
From Website:
The Comodo companies are innovative and prolific developers of online security and trust assurance solutions. The Comodo Dragon Internet Browser has taken the latest Chromium technology and beefed it up in the one way necessary to make it the optimum Browser to use on today’s malware plagued Internet. — Superior Security and Privacy. Comodo Dragon not only gives you the complete compliment of features offered by Chromium (key features listed above), it also gives you Comodo’s unsurpassed security and privacy features.
Comodo was one of the first companies to adopt a Chrome-like browsers since Chromium is open-source. Comodo is known for security, although it has taken a few hits in the last 5–10 years.
Overall, Dragon is a decent browser. The browser offers what could be considered the best security in the business amongst browsers. The browser has features for greater security and privacy.
For a long time, this browser suffered from infrequent releases. And the releases were plagued by problems, such as extensions not being supported in the new version. In recent years, Comodo became diligent about more frequent releases. In 2018, there have been 5 releases of dragon.
I will admit it has been a few years since I used Dragon. Maybe it is time to give it another look.
Brave Browser
From Website:
Much more than a browser, Brave is a new way of thinking about how the web works.
Brave is open source, and built by a team of privacy focused, performance oriented pioneers of the web. Help us fix browsing together.
The new Brave browser blocks the ads and trackers that slow you down, chew up your bandwidth, and invade your privacy. Brave even lets you contribute to your favorite creators automatically.
The Brave braowers was started by the co-founder of the Mozilla project. One of the claims with Brave is a feature to allow users to opt-in to receiving ads sold by Brave Software in place of the blocked ads.
My usage of Brave was limited. The browser offers protection from intrusive ads and website trackers. And the browser now has sync functionality.
Beyond that, the browser doesn’t really provide anything else for me. The UI feels clunky and offers little to no customization. In fact, the browser has a limited set of settings compared to other browsers.
One nice thing about Brave is it has a mobile version (at least for Android).
Chromium Browser
From Website:
Chromium is an open-source browser project that aims to build a safer, faster, and more stable way for all Internet users to experience the web. This site contains design documents, architecture overviews, testing information, and more to help you learn to build and work with the Chromium source code.
Chromium was the source for Google Chrome. You didn’t think Google actually started from scratch? :)
Chromium is open source so the code is available. If you want to create your own Chrome-like browser, feel free to pull the code. With that being said, companies that use the code base have the benefit of additional features. While Chromium focuses on the core functionality.
Chromium is akin to the vanilla version of Chrome. And finding the installer for Chromium can be a challenge. Unless you are hardcore, I wouldn’t recommend Chromium for every-day browsing of the web.
Pale Moon Browser
From Website:
Pale Moon is an Open Source, Goanna-based web browser available for Microsoft Windows and Linux (with other operating systems in development), focusing on efficiency and customization. Make sure to get the most out of your browser!
Pale Moon offers you a browsing experience in a browser completely built from its own, independently developed source that has been forked off from Firefox/Mozilla code a number of years ago, with carefully selected features and optimizations to improve the browser’s stability and user experience, while offering full customization and a growing collection of extensions and themes to make the browser truly your own.
Pale Moon has been around for a long time. As mentioned, it was forced from FireFox a number of years ago. It is touted as a streamlined version of FireFox. In my usage, I cannot say it is streamlined. The browser worked well but I didn’t find any improvements over FireFox.
Comodo Ice Dragon
From Website:
Comodo IceDragon is a secure, fast and feature-rich browser based on Firefox. It comes integrated with Comodo security. It scans webpages for malwares. Comodo IceDragon is fully compatible with all Firefox plugins.
My point of view is Ice Dragon is to FireFox what Dragon is to Chrome. This browser is an alternative to FireFox with enhanced security features.
I haven’t used Ice Dragon for a few years. So I cannot say how the latest version compares to FireFox. At one point, it suffered from some of the same pains as Dragon, with infrequent releases. But that appears to have changed. Maybe it is time to give it another look.
WaterFox
From Website:
Free, open and private.
Inspired by the incredible open source projects that have made the World Wide Web what it is today, we wanted to contribute our part and make a web browser tailored for the power user.
Waterfox is an open-source web browser for 64-bit operating systems, with an aim to be speedy, ethical, and maintain support for legacy extensions dropped by Firefox, from which it is forked.
I attempted to use Waterfox a few years ago and I wasn’t impressed. It was in the early stages and touted as a great alternative to FireFox. It might have been too early to try it and base an opinion.
SeaMonkey by Mozilla
From Website:
The SeaMonkey project is a community effort to develop the SeaMonkey all-in-one internet application suite (see below). Such a software suite was previously made popular by Netscape and Mozilla, and the SeaMonkey project continues to develop and deliver high-quality updates to this concept. Containing an Internet browser, email & newsgroup client with an included web feed reader, HTML editor, IRC chat and web development tools, SeaMonkey is sure to appeal to advanced users, web developers and corporate users.
Under the hood, SeaMonkey uses much of the same Mozilla source code which powers such successful siblings as Firefox and Thunderbird. Legal backing is provided by the Mozilla Foundation.
While FireFox is a web browser, SeaMonkey is more of an Internet Suite. In other words, it contains a browser, email client, newsgroup client, web feed reader, and more. It is the continuation of the same source code that grew out of Netscape Communicator. This browser has a more traditional look and feel. If you used Netscape, you know what I mean.
With that being said, I was not impressed with SeaMonkey. I didn’t need all the extra fluff that comprised SeaMonkey. I needed only a browser.
Fast, secure, easy-to-use browser
Try the Opera browser — now with a built-in ad blocker, battery saver and free VPN.
Opera has underwent a plethora of changes over the years. At one point, Opera was a third-party browser that stood strong against FireFox, Internet Explorer, and Google Chrome. But the browser was hit with bad times. Eventually, the company (browser) was purchased by a Chinese company in an effort to breathe life into the browser.
Now, Opera is closer to Chrome. It can support Chrome extensions, although I haven’t had the best of luck with some. One of the “claim to fame” features is the built-in VPN to provide more secure browsing. It wasn’t a feature I desired to use but it was nice to have all the same.
I haven’t been overly impressed with the recent versions of Opera. It is slow and I felt as though I was forced into how to use it. I am interested in settings to allow me to tweak the browser. And I had problems with the plug-ins for Opera.
Maxthon is a cloud browser with a unique dual-core design, which uses both Trident and Webkit. It offers cloud services, modes that make it easier for reading and features to make web browsing more convenient . It even provides easy screen grabbing and has great security and privacy functions.
At one point, Maxthon (formerly MyIE) was an awesome product. In the early days, it was considered a wrapper for IE. But wow, it was powerful. Over time, browsers such as Chrome and FireFox grew too popular and IE was left to waste away. And Browsers such as Maxthon were destined for similar fates.
But wait, Maxthon is still around. Yes, indeed. It is touted as a cloud browser. In my mind, it is a fancy way of saying it has nice sync features. The browsers supports its own “Extension Center” with some good extensions. I was not impressed with the navigation in the Extension Center, as it felt limited and slow. The number of extensions compared to Chrome/Firefox is much less.
Lunascape is a free web browser which harnesses 3 popular rendering engines (Trident, Gecko, WebKit). By clicking on the smart engine-switch button, one can easily switch the rendering engine from any of the ones included for any webpage displayed on the browser. This browser is ideal for technology geeks and web developers.
I read about this browser many, many years ago. The ability to harness the three search engines was intriguing, to say the least. Although touted for geeks (which I am), I didn’t like the browser. I would say it was one of the slowest and least useful browsers I tried over the years. The company has a great concept but I didn’t care for the implementation.
The world’s only private and secure web browser blocks ads, trackers, fingerprinting, cryptomining, ultrasound signaling and more. Stop 600+ tracking attempts in an average browsing session. Turn on network privacy with our free VPN (servers in 8 countries).
It is an Indian-made browser with security in mind. The browser feature the native ability for blocking ads, trackers, and so much more. This browser offers a very small subset of extensions: LastPass, Roboform, Pocket, Evernote Web Clipper and maybe one or two more. If you want more extensions, this browser is not for you.
Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security.
Alot of hype regarding Tor. The browser is known for privacy, which is great. But that privacy comes at a cost, which is speed and performance.
GreenBrowser is your best choice of a flexible and powerful green web browser. GreenBrowser is the least memory occupying browser, it is the fastest browser and also the most configurable browser.
Yandex.Browser is a very simple and user-friendly browser which is based on the Chromium technology platform. It loads the webpages very quickly and provides plenty of space for viewing webpages. It provides a cloud-based safe browsing technology with Kaspersky Lab security solution.
Midori is a free, fast and lightweight web browser which is specially designed for users concerned about their privacy. By default, it allows users to search through DuckDuckGo. It uses GTK+2 interface and WebKit rendering engine.
Superbird is a free, fast and alternative option to Google Chrome. It’s main emphasis is on speed, data security and stability. This light weight web browser with auto update functions comes with a variety of plugins. It has improved privacy as no data is sent to Google or other third parties.
BlackHawk is an easy to use web browser. It combines the operating speed of Chrome and the practical functionality of Firefox. BlackHawk provides exceptional cookie handling.
NetGroove is a light, fast and tabbed browser based on the Internet Explorer Engine. The main feature of this web browser is that you can use it directly from your flash drive without having to install it
