A New Browser Must Be Chosen!

Let me start off by saying that I really like Internet Explorer. I was rocking version 6 for a long time until Youtube said I had to update or else I would lose support. They kind of stretched the truth because I would still be able to watch video I just wouldn't be able to do extra stuff that I don't care about. Regardless, I updated. And I liked it. The problem is I get viruses. As much as I like IE it has to be replaced for security reasons. Let's take a look at the challengers for the title:

Mozilla Firefox - Mr. Popular


After IE, Firefox is the most used web browser. Most of the people that use it are people fed up with IE or Linux users (people fed up with Microsoft in general). As a side note, In Japanese mythology, the fox is said to be able to set things on fire by resting its tail on them.


Google Chrome - The ProdigyWhen Google sets out to do something they usually do it right. Google is the most used search engine so it would make sense for them to have a web browser. This thing is fast, which is good. Also, being from Google, I can launch Google Chrome to Google and then Google using my Google bar. I don't like things being shoved down my throat and I bet the thing would explode if I set Yahoo as my homepage. It has a cool logo so I'll forgive it.

Opera Software's Opera - The Foreigner
Well, well, well, the little boy from Norway wants to play. That'll be fine Opera, as long as you got the goods. A little feature I liked in this guy was that you can have little images in the tabs that show what's going on on the page it represents. Neat!

Apple's Safari - The Uninvited
Hi, I'm a PC. I'm not letting this thing get anywhere near my computer. No thank you.


The reasons I like IE are as follows: It's easy to use, I like it's appearance, and I like the way it allows tabbed browsing. Let's see how each guy stacks up.

Ease of use - Because it is the most used browser, IE pretty much has to be idiot-proof.

Fire Fox: No real concerns. Works out.
Chrome: Super simple. No real issues.
Opera: No problems. I got my eye on you viking.

Winner - complete tie

Appearance - I like the menu setup in IE as well as the icons.

Firefox: traditional menu setup. Nice colorful icons. Plus I can move the icons where I want or remove them entirely.
Chrome: Icons are bland. Menus are off to the right. Not a fan of that.
Opera: Icons were generally not impressive except for that cool red menu button. He had some style. I did not care for the setup as it often had a menus coming from the side of the screen.

Winner - Firefox

Tabbed Browsing - For the longest time I refused to do this. I did not need tabs, I needed new windows. When Youtube made me upgrade I started using tabs and I've not looked back. The thing I like about IE tabs is that you can decide what website comes up in the new tab, say for instance, your homepage. I like that and want that.

Firefox - Open a new tab and it is completely blank. Seriously? Why blank? I did find something to download to make it open up new tabs to my homepage but I couldn't do it with just the program itself so it doesn't count.
Chrome - Open a new tab and it gives you suggestions on what site you might want to go to. I don''t want my computer thinking for me! Generally Google (my homepage) is one of the suggestions but I don't like the added step to get there. You would think that new tab to Google would be something Chrome would love to do. Sadly no.
Opera - Same type of situation as Chrome. I did notice with Opera that you can set it up so that certain websites don't come up as suggestions. Isn't that great? I like how web browsers are catering to the porn enthusiast who shares a computer.

Winner - complete tie for last place.

If it wasn't for security I would just keep IE. As can be seen by the subjects I'm grading on, my needs are very simple. One would think that any browser would work for me. But it can clearly be seen that the web browsers out there don't seek to satisfy me. I was actually surprised at how little I could change with Chrome. This whole experience was rather disappointing. The browser I currently use now is Firefox. There is a reason why it is so popular. It's good and I'll continue to use it.