It’s not all about Explorer

Most of us are happy to use our default web browsers – Internet Explorer for PC and Safari for Mac – but are there the better browsers around?

Below is a quick overview of some alternatives.

Safari - self proclaimed ‘The world’s best browser’ – is the default on a Mac but you can also download Safari for the PC. Faster than Firefox and Opera, sleek interface, tab browsing, built in RSS and many more features. I love the ‘Mail Contents of this Page’ feature which can put the content of a web page into an email with one click.
http://www.apple.com/safari/download/

Firefox - This is my default browser at work. I switched to Firefox a few years ago when it offered more features than Safari. Now I switch between Firefox and Safari. I like the fact that I can have my bookmarks visible all the time whereas in Safari I have to switch to a new page. Other features include; password manager, smart location bar, Tags, RSS feed, Add-ons (3rd party software add-ons), customise look and feel, integrated web search. Firefox is the second most popular browser after IE.
http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/

Flock - For anyone who is into Social Networking this is the browser for you. I was a little sceptical at first but I am considering switching from Firefox to Flock. Flock is built on top of Firefox so you know it’s safe and standards-compliant. Flock is packed with extras to help you keep on top of your blogs, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, RSS Feeds etc.
Once you have set Flock up and made it aware of your social networking accounts you can view status updates in the Flock sidebar, so you don’t have to open up a new page and log in to each of your accounts, plus you get quick access to your pages and friends.
http://www.flock.com/

Opera - I rarely use Opera, apart from when I’m testing websites. I always preferred the look and feel of Safari or Firefox. Opera is a very fast browser, images seem to render much quicker than in rival browsers. You also have the option of viewing ‘all images’, ‘only cached images’ or ‘no images’. The speed dial page is a great feature in which you can add nine pages to your speed dial and one click will take you to that page, you also get a small preview of the website.
There are some great add-ons, Widgets being the most notable. Mac users are already very familiar with dashboard widgets and Opera’s widgets work in much the same way.
http://www.opera.com/

Other browsers worth a quick mention...

Chrome - Google’s browser, only available for Windows at the moment.
http://www.google.com/chrome

Internet Explorer 8 - The next version of Windows based IE, soon to be released.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/Internet-explorer

Check out this link for detailed comparison information;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_web_browsers

Paul.