And I'm sure there are more, but these are the four at the top of the list... in order.
- Internet Explorer (IE7 is the current, but there are a lot of people still running IE6)
- Firefox (Made by Mozilla, Ver. 2 is the current)
- Safari (Made by Apple, but available for XP and Vista, Ver. 3 is current)
- Opera (Ver. 9.25 is current)
These are mostly good products, although I have to begin by saying I'm not a fan of Internet Explorer. However, IE7 isn't too bad, and has finally entered the same realm as the others.
Let me start with IE. It is the most popular browser... just about every machine comes with it pre-installed. There is a problem with that popularity, though. That is that if one is hacking browsers, the most popular one is the first target. So, IE has the most security issues. Many of those are purportedly fixed in IE7, but there are still nagging reports of security issues. More importantly, IE7 finally introduces tabbed browsing to the IE line. If you are a devotee of IE, get IE7. It is a far superior product to IE6. There are a lot of corporate sites that only seem to run correctly on IE. I find that odd, since according to the programmers, IE needs special love to display a site properly... or at least IE6 needs it.
Firefox is the second place runner in the browser race. I have been using it for several years, and it has become my browser of choice. But, while it is the most popular of the "other" browsers, there are rumblings of it being less efficient than Opera or Safari. I do know that it doesn't seem nearly as fast as Opera does. On the plus side, it is quite modifiable. There are hundreds of add-ons available, mostly written by third party providers. There are also themes that can be applied to alter the look of Firefox. So, it scores VERY high for its ability to suit specific needs.
Originally developed for Apples operating systems, Safari has been available for Windows (XP and Vista) since last summer. It is still officially a Release Candidate (RC) it is a pretty stable product. I have worked with it less that the others, but it does have tabbed browsing, and is rumored to be less vulnerable than any other browser except Opera. Safari also claims to be faster than the other major browsers. Also, like Firefox and Opera, it allows auto-filling forms. If you like to use an auto-filling feature, it is a great time saver.
I picked up Opera a few days ago. I also noticed it seeming to run a bit faster than Firefox. It also has tabbed browsing (they say they invented it). Like Firefox, it is also quite modifiable. Themes can be changed, but there also a plethora of plug-ins (like Mozilla's Firefox Add-ons) available. While there aren't rumored to be as many, they are certainly varied. In some ways, they might be more variety. Radio and other music plug-ins, as well as games and even web-cams (I downloaded the feed for the Nurburgring). opera also has a built in "Notes" feature that is GREAT for bloggers. You can clip a section of a page to the notepad, and have the URL saved with it.
If you haven't stepped away from IE6, it is definitely time to step away. All of these are great products. Luckily, they are also all FREE. You might find that the increased functionality will save time, and make you a better blogger.
Unless otherwise noted, all content of this blog is the property of Lane Bailey, ©2012 Lane Bailey.
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