Browser Wars – But Don’t They All Do The Same Thing?

First lets start off with the basics. What is a Browser. Every time you visit a website, check your email online or check Facebook, your using a browser. A browser is a software application that translates all the crazy code people who make websites use and makes them into an easy to read, eye pleasing format.

For example, if you look above you will see my wonderfully constructed header image. Its nicely placed and sized, but the code needed to put that there looks like this:

<img title=”browser wars” src=”http://www.pctantrums.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/browser-wars.jpg” alt=”browser wars” width=”330″ height=”180″ />

Not nearly as pretty is it? So a browser simply translates the line of code to show the pretty picture above.

So now your asking, “If they all do the same thing, what’s the difference”?

Good question. The easiest analogy would be to compare them to cars.  A Honda Civic and a BMW will both get you from A to B, the differences are in the bells and whistles and speed in which they get you there. There are also other differences like security and reliability but we will get into that later.

First lets identify the main players in the browser game:

1. Internet Explorer (IE)
2. Firefox (FF)
3. Safari
4. Chrome

If you look at the graph (that I stole borrowed from Wikipedia) you can see the percentage of usage per browser as of May 2009.

As you can see IE (shown in blue) is by far the the most used, but that is mainly because it comes installed in every Windows computer and most people don’t know they
have a choice of other browsers. Following IE is FF, then Safari, Chrome Opera (not worth mentioning) and other.

So now let’s get to the differences. While IE is the most popular, it does have it’s issues. Critics will say that it is the most vulnerable but that can be attributed mainly to the fact that it is the most used. It suffers from the Apple vs PC syndrome where Apple users boast that there are very few viruses designed to attack Apple systems, but virus makers look at them and say “why would we waste our time attacking something only 7% of people use?” Now that more people are using Mac’s we are seeing at least 2 new viruses released every week.

Since most people use IE, it has been picked at more and more vulnerabilities have been uncovered. There are however, some very nice advantages to using IE. When designers are making websites, they make them with IE compatibility in mind so you are more likely to have a consistent browsing experience with IE. It also integrates useful applications like accelerators, tabbed browsing and Phishing Filters.

Accelerators are Quick Access options for actions people use every day. If you are looking up an address that you found online, instead of highlighting it, copying it, opening a new window, launching Google maps and pasting it into there, you simply click on a little blue box that comes up and select the operation you would like to preform. Other Accelerators include Define, Translate, Search, Send and Shop.

Firefox is the second most used Browser on the market. As with the other browsers, it is free to download and use. This is the second most used browser and the most used by Geeks around the world. It is fast, stable and customizable. Because most Geeks use Firefox, they also make add-ons called “Plugs-Ins” that can drastically increase the functionality and usability of the browser. This can be great except for one major drawback. Not all coders are created equal and adding poorly coded plug-ins can cause more annoyances and frustration then they are worth.

Third is Safari. This is number three because it is the standard browser included in Mac Operating Systems. People that know better use either IE or FF on their Mac, those that don’t, continue to use Safari and suffer. It is by far my least favorite browser.

Coming in at number four is the new kid on the block and one to keep your eyes on. Chrome is made by Google and is one of the fastest browsers on the market. Unfortunately I find it to be to young and under developed a browser to use all the time. Google knows that more and more is being done in the browser. More people are using online applications like G mail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and so on. Chrome is designed to take full advantage of this.

So what one is the best? Unfortunately no one can answer that one but you. I love IE’s Accelerators, Firefox’s Plug-Ins and Chromes speed. While I  find my self using Firefox more than the others, I really enjoy using the other two as well.

The defining two features for me are being able to drag tabs out of the window to create new windows, and being able to view all the tabs at one time. Unfortunately there is no browser on the market that can do both. IE can show a preview of all open tabs but you can’t drag a tab out and make it into a new window as you can in Firefox and Chrome. But you can’t preview all open tabs in  Firefox and Chrome. (sigh)

As I mentioned, all of the browsers are free to download and use to feel free to try them out using the links below.

Please feel free to share your thoughts or questions in the comments section below.

IE 8 – DOWNLOAD
Firefox – DOWNLOAD
Chrome – DOWNLOAD
Safari – DOWNLOAD