Software Review: Who Has the Best Web Browser

Way back in the days of Internet Explorer 3 I abandoned IE and became a Firefox user. For many years Firefox was my web browser of choice and then Firefox 7 hit. For me and for many others I encountered, Firefox 7 was essentially unusable in a Windows environment. For no reason it would stop loading web pages and leave the user with the sense that they had lost connectivity.

It was during the reign of Firefox 7 that I realized I must abandon Firefox and find a new web browser. But instead of picking one I picked five browsers, deciding I would use a different one each day of the week. Now after months I'm ready to write down my thoughts on each browser. I didn't conduct any speed tests or security tests, these will simply be my thoughts on the experiences I've had using the browsers over the past months.

These browsers were all run on a Dell Precision T1600 with an Intel i3-2100 3.10GHz processor, 4GB RAM, and an on-board Intel graphics card running Windows 7 SP1, 64bit. I have a gig connection to the university network, so network speeds are no issue. I will list these in the order in which I use them during the week Monday to Friday. These are all standard installs of the browser with just a minimal set of plugins, like Flash, running.

Internet Explorer 9
When I first started running all of these browsers I decided to make notes anytime I ran into a site that didn't load properly or anytime the browser crashed. For the first month in which I kept track of such things IE was the only browser which never crashed. In terms of application stability it has proven over time to be the best. I like the interface for IE and I find it to be fast to load sites and get on with the work.

However, there are two major problems with IE 9. There are a number of pages with which I have run into issues. Either the page doesn't load properly, or there is a problem with forms, or more commonly there is a problem with handling HTML5 code, especially video. IE 9 does provide a compatibility mode to overcome sites that don't load, and for the most part that works, but still it's a step that I feel I should never have to undertake. The biggest problem though is the HTML5 problem. I myself ran into this issue when developing my own HTML5 code and I've seen it across multiple sites.

So IE is fast and stable, but you will run into web sites and pages that simply will not work properly. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.


Firefox
Once Firefox 8 hit the market this browser went back to being more like its old self. You will never meet a site it doesn't like, unless that site was specifically designed to only work in another browser. And it is now stable again. I don't believe since 8 came out, and they are now up to 11, that I have had Firefox crash.

The biggest problem with Firefox however is its sluggishness. It's as if 7 wounded Firefox in a way that it has never full recovered from. Everything will seem fine all day and then you'll hit a spell where it is slow to load a page, slow to get the next page, etc. I don't know what's changed, but Firefox is no longer the browser it was for such a long time. Also because of such a bad experience I find myself worried each time they push out the latest version that it will return to being a dog.

As it stands Firefox is again a solid browser. I wonder sometimes how many users they lost because of version 7. The best feature of Firefox has always been that it works with any page out there, it's just that now it seems to run like a wounded animal. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.


Opera
For whatever reason I've always liked Opera. It runs light and quick and doesn't seem to bog down the machine it's running on. All of these things I love about Opera, but there are some big problems with Opera.

All too often you will hit web sites that simply don't work right in Opera. I've run into problems with sites like Blogger and purchase sites like Dell. But there are many others I've run into where it just doesn't display properly or pieces don't work. I can go to the same site in another browser and have no problems. The other problem is that at least once a day Opera crashes on me. There is no pattern to it, it just happens. And in those moments it seems a bit fragile to me.

I'm an Opera fan and I like using it on Wednesdays, but I'm pretty sure that I won't make it through the day without having to turn to another browser at some point, and I'm pretty sure something will bring it to its knees before the day is over. I give it 2 out of 5 stars.


Chrome
I'm not a Google fan, I should get that out in the open, but these days Chrome has become the browser I recommend to people who want an alternative to IE. Though it will crash on me at least once a day and some sites are painfully slow, it works. Like Firefox it can load any page you want it to load and for the most part it will do it quicker than Firefox. In fact I don't have a lot to say bad about Chrome in part because it does what it's suppose to do.

All that being said like the other browsers it has problems. The biggest problem is that it is painfully slow for certain sites, like WhatIfSports for instance. When I want to manage my Soccer team at WhatIf, I have learned to bring up another browser for the job. On Chrome it will just be too too slow. Chrome also doesn't work all that well with Yahoo mail. At least once a day I have to close Chrome just to come back and get Yahoo working properly again. It's the only browser where I consistently have that problem.

All in all if you want to move away from IE, I think Chrome is the logical choice. I really can't recommend Firefox now that they've had a version 7 and so far Chrome has avoided that one bad version. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.


Safari
I don't understand why Apple makes Safari for PC. As good a browser as it is on a Mac, it's that bad on Windows. It's slow, it slows down your machine, it can't load half the pages you go to without problems, quite simply it's just a bad browser. I can't really say anything good about Safari and so I'll just leave it at that. Fridays are always the worst day of the week when it comes to browsers. I give it 0 out of 5 stars.


So to conclude I would say go with either IE, Firefox, or Chrome. If you just want one browser I would probably point to Firefox. Even with its troubles it is a good browser that will just have a few hiccups throughout the day. I would recommend Chrome, but there are too many sites for me where Chrome is just a dog. And IE, well there are too many sites that simply won't load properly on IE. Personally I've become more of a two browser person at home between IE and Chrome. I like the speed that I get with IE and I turn to Chrome for those sites that don't load properly in IE. I just can't bring myself to go back to Firefox and trust that it will remain stable over time.