What is the best web browser?

Answer 1

It really depends on what you mean by "best." For most people, "best" of anything means many things. When it comes to web browsers, there are several factors that I would consider important in making this determination:

1) Performance
2) Security
3) User experience
4) Customizability
5) Standards compliance
6) Stability

For the purposes of this question, I will answer based on the browsers I have the most experience with: Firefox, Safari, and internet Explorer.

For the first area, performance, I would say that Firefox for Window or Linux, or Safari for the Mac, would be leaders in this area. Firefox is a light and nimble browser based on the Gecko rendering engine, like Mozilla, but with less bulk. In my experience, it runs quite quickly on Windows XP and Linux. I have heard it is fast on FreeBSD as well. However, the Mac OS X port performs poorly, largely because it doesn't use the native Cocoa framework of OS X. On a Mac, Safari has come a long way, and has gone from chugging slow to blazingly fast. Part of what I do for my job is write Ajax applications, which are JavaScript-based programs that run in a web browser. I have noticed the Safari's JavaScript engine is amazingly fast compared to most other browsers I've come in contact with.

Next, there is security. Security has been a constant problem for Internet Explorer, because it allows access to certain areas of your system (purposely or inadvertently) via ActiveX. It is also a Microsoft product, which means that it tends to be buggy and doesn't follow a lot of rules. On the other hand, Firefox and Safari are quite secure, and exploits in both tend to be fixed quickly.

For user experience, it really depends on what you want to do with your browser. For basic visits to Yahoo! and MySpace and Wikipedia.org, any of these browsers would be fine. However, if you want a richer and more customizable experience, I would highly recommend Firefox. The Firefox development community is quite active, and it's also very easy to make Firefox extensions. The group that makes Firefox keeps track of all the cool add-ons people make for the browser [1]. Check out the site for a list of add-ons, or extensions, available for free download. Also, one thing that is really worth mentioning in regards to user experience: Safari and Firefox support tabs, and Internet Explorer doesn't. The next version of IE will, though. I consider tabs to be mandatory for a web browser these days.

Per my thoughts on user experience, you can probably tell that Firefox is also quite customizable. You can install web developer tools, bookmarking enhancers, new themes/skins, and even advanced ad blocking. Safari doesn't really seem to have as active of a developer community, but there are plenty of powerful killer add-ons, like PithHelmet [2] and SafariStand [3].

As far as standards compliance, Safari is probably the current leader in standards compliance, with Firefox being a close second. This doesn't mean much to most of the population, but to some of us it is important. :) If you are interested in reading more about it, you should check out WebStandards.org.

Finally, there is stability. Firefox and Safari are very stable. Internet Explorer is very unstable. IE tends to crash a lot, while Safari is pretty stable for me, and Firefox is just about bullet-proof.

All in all, I would say that I like Firefox best, but on a Mac I tend to use Safari because it is quicker and looks a lot nicer. I would steer clear of Internet Explorer.

I hope this is helpful!

[1] https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions.php?app=firefox
[2] http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/18158
[3] http://hetima.com/safari/stand-e.html

Answer 2

The best browser would be Mozilla Firefox 1.5 mainly because of its security. It is the most secure browser known. Other than Internet Explorer which uses the Windows Operating System and is more prone to get viruses, spyware, adware more easily. Firefox prevents all of this from happening. It is simply the best!

Stronger Security
Firefox keeps you more secure when you’re browsing the Web, closing the door on spyware, worms, and viruses. The Firefox community of developers and security experts works around the clock to monitor security issues and release updates to better protect you.

Answer 3

Firefox - done and done. Stop using IE, it has many holes that hackers can use to get into your system. Firefox is free and allows you tab browsing.
Whats tabbed browsing you ask, well it when you can open two webpages in the same window. So for exampleyou are google somerthing for research, in IE you have to click on the linck or open the new window to see the new webpage. With tabbed browsing you can open the website in a new tabbed window, this way you don;t have to hitting the back button, b/c the search you were looking for is already there. Also, you can open several pages this way, which gives you time to let one page load, while you read another page.

Anyways, Firefox has bunch if extensions, things that make browsing fun and easy like getting the weather when you logg in or make so that if you closed a tab accidently it can bring it back, Its awesome I love it. I'll never go back to IE unless they improve it. Check it out you might like it.

Answer 4

Both C|Net and PC Magazine gave Firefox theireditor's choice awards:

http://reviews.cnet.com/Firefox_1_5/4505-9241_7-31516411.html

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1892102,00.asp


In addition, many other tech sites have given Firefox awards as well:

http://www.mozilla.com/press/awards.html


Firefox is generally thought to be a safer browser than Internet Explorer mainly because it doesn't run dangerous ActiveX controls. Also, Firefox is extremely customizable with themes and extensions: https://addons.mozilla.org/

You can get it for free at http://www.mozilla.com

Answer 5

I would suggest Nano Browser and Chrome.

Answer 6

The best one is the latest Version of Mozilla Firefox. It is really fast and easy to use.

Answer 7

I prefer Internet explorer

Answer 8

Mozilla Firefox by far. It has a pop-up blocker and other really cool features, way better than just plain IE.

Answer 9

Mozilla Firefox.....

Answer 10

I prefer Firefox 1.5