What is the best web browser and why ? Just list 5 specific point/reasons in favor of your answer.?

Question

In recent times alternate browsers other than IE have created major debates among people. The debate circles around IE7, Firefox 2 and Opera 9 . Each fan base has strong support for each. But lets try to be more fair in this question. lets look at it from user point of view, just not fan club. If we take into consideration speed, security record, out of the box features, flexibility of customization without add on, scope of add on considering possible trade-offs, page rendering, web standard (like acid2, css etc)and anything else you think relevent, please give your honest comment here.
Lets not make it just fan boy emotion, but realistic.

Answer 1

When choosing products, I always look at statistics and feature comparisons to determine the best option.

With browsers, there's no need to argue - the statistics clearly show that Opera is the best browser. Firefox is good, but not as good as Opera. And if you use Internet Explorer, I pity you. Do yourself a favour and get Opera.

The four main criteria when selecting a browser are security, speed, standards support and features. Opera wins Firefox and IE hands down in all four.

Security:
Many cite security as a reason to switch to Firefox. However, if you want a secure browser, get Opera. Security vulnerabilities are rarely found in Opera, and when they are, Opera Software quickly issues a patch.
Check the Secunia reports for IE 6, Firefox 1.x and Opera 8.x.
IE 6 - 106 vulnerabilities, 19 unpatched.
Firefox 1.x - 36 vulnerabilities, 3 unpatched.
Opera 8.x - 15 vulnerabilities, 0 unpatched.
Lower numbers are better. It's pretty clear which is the most secure browser of the three.

Speed:
Several people have conducted tests to find out which is the fastest browser. I have provided links to 2 such tests: one is a general "browser speed comparison" and the other is a "JavaScript speed test". In both tests, Opera proved to be the fastest. In fact, Firefox is slower than Internet Explorer.

In the "browser speed comparison", the browsers were tested on 3 operating systems (Windows, Mac and Linux), and 7 different tests were performed on each, for a total of 21 tests. Out of 21 tests, Opera came in first place in 17 of the tests, and in all the Windows tests, won by a landslide.

The "JavaScript speed test" was done by a Firefox fanatic, and even he admits that "Opera beat the s*** of everything else", and was 3.5 times as fast as its competitors.

Standards Support:
The Acid2 test is the most widely recognised benchmark of standards support. Opera is the first Windows browser to pass the test, and the second browser on any operating system to pass it (the first is Safari, a Mac browser). Firefox does not pass the test, but is expected to do so in a future release. Microsoft has stated that IE will not pass the test.

Opera has the best support for CSS. This is not surprising, given that Opera was one of the pioneers of CSS.

However, Opera is slightly worse than Firefox in its JavaScript support. Again, this is not surprising, as Netscape was the inventor of JavaScript, and Firefox is a descendant of Netscape.

In addition, there are versions of Opera for mobile phones, and Opera has been designed to make browsing accessible for those with disabilities.

Features:
Opera has pioneered many browsing features we take for granted today - most notably tabbed browsing, session saving (my favourite!) and mouse gestures. In fact, Firefox has been copying Opera's features for a long time.

Many Firefox users love it because of its extensions. However, out of the box, Opera offers many features which Firefox would need extensions to implement. In addition, Opera has recently introduced widgets, which will increase the extensibility of the browser.

Others:
If you use Opera, not only will you be using the fastest and most secure browser available, you will also be supporting the development of web standards and browsing features. You will be supporting a good cause, while enjoying everything Opera has to offer.

I know of many ignorant fanboys who slavishly promote Firefox. I'm not saying that Firefox is bad - Firefox is quite good, but it's simply not as good as Opera. If you ever need help with Opera, or wish to promote this great browser, please check out the My Opera Community Forums. You will meet a lot of intelligent and nice people, instead of lots of fanboys. (My username there is Hildanknight)

Because of the ignorant fanboys, and partially due to a bad past (Opera was once an ad-supported browser), there are many misconceptions about Opera. There are also many websites which do not support Opera. Please don't let this deter you from switching to Opera - I'm sure you're smarter than the ignorant fanboys and greedy corporations.