Time for another (Browser) War
Published May 19, 2005
There are three schools of thought these days when it comes to browsers, and Microsoft has the distinct advantage. Some believe that a browser ought to be packaged with the operating system, as this is the simplest for the average user. Others believe that a secure browser with "limitless" exstensibility is the way to go, a completely personalized web experience. And some, like me, prefer a browser that is preconfigured with many of those "extensions", and is a full internet suite (meaning that it includes a mail client, a chat client, among other features). There are drawbacks to all three, and obviously the consumer must decide which is worth their time and/or money.
Internet Explorer, being fully integrated into Windows has many security problems, and the fixes are coming too few, too late. We might have a beta test version of IE7, but it's uncertain what will be fixed, especially as it seems Microsoft is focusing more on aesthetic improvements, rather than security and usability improvements. Tabbed browsing is going to be nice, but honestly, what does it help? And, will it only be cosmetic like Firefox's, with all the resource hungry faults? No way to say until this summer. If you're using XP, that is. XP service pack 2, actually. There may be a version for Windows 2000, but don't bet on it. Now if you want to upgrade Internet Explorer, you will have to purchase a new Operating System. At $200 a pop, is it really worth it?
Firefox is, to be quite honest, much better than Internet Explorer. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much more than Internet Exploerer. Of course, there are extensions, which are kind of interesting. The problems I've had with extensions, though, are more than I'd rather write about. As they are not written by the Firefox development team (at least, not the majority), you have a severe quality problem. Granted, since it's all free, the fact that it exists is a bit of an anomoly in and of itself. Now, I'm not one to knock Open Source, though I do dislike some of the Open Source zealots, and I do believe that Firefox is one of the highest standard Open Source projects ever. But there are flaws. More and more people are complaining that spyware is now able to infect Firefox, although I'm sure the developers are going to fix it within reasonable time. But give it a try, over at www.getfirefox.com , it may not be the best (in my opinion), but I do use is from time to time. I can't criticize a product without fully using it, that's just dishonest.
- Time for another (Browser) War
- Published: May 19, 2005
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Sci/Tech
- Filed Under: Sci/Tech: Internet, Sci/Tech: Software
- Writer: Andrew Hughes
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Yeah, I haven't had time to completely go through Netscape 8 yet, but I plan on writing up a review within the next few days.
So what specifically does Opera 8 change in the current browser space that is a quantum leap forward? I can't see much that catches my eye.
They've cleaned up the UI (not that big of a deal, I know). It not prevents phishing through Internationalized Domain Names, support for gmail and other sites requiring xmlhttprequest, and user javascript (some geek tool that I don't use too often). Then there's the voice function, now you can browse by using a microphone (interesting...). But, aside from that, it's just a repackaged Opera 7, which is why 7's registration codes work with 8.
firefox owns all other browsers
Opera rocks! Its my browser of choice followed by IE and lastly Firefox. I've gone through several versions of Firefox and their name changes, but found myself going back to IE. I've found Firefox (including the latest version) to be slow, and the fanboy-ism is downright annoying. IE is way faster,and so is Opera minus the security problems. The F12 toggle is waay cool, and everything just works, and works real well and fast!
Opera is one of the coolest things ever with a feature called mouse gestures. I don't know if the other browsers have it, but I don't think they do. Mouse gestures let you do tons of stuff with a flick of the mouse, for example, you hold the right button and go down and up and let go pretty fast, and you open a new page. If you click right and then left, you go back, if you click left then right, you go forward. It is so conveniant.
OK - I'm running Opera 8.0 now - it's not bad - but not very different, as yet. They have continued the age-old tech tradition of messing with words, using 'page' to refer to 'tab'.
Will tell you how this browser pans out in a while
Well, it's not really tabs, actually. Long story, but look up Multiple Document Interface. That's what Opera uses.
Well, it's not really tabs, actually. Long story, but look up Multiple Document Interface. That's what Opera uses.
great, the comments section choked a little, and i come across as an idiot.
Could you repeat that just one more time
Andrew for those who missed it the first
six times? LOL! Just kidding dude.
It has happened to others before.
seems like all the other posts got modded out. Thank the good Cosmic Muffin.
Opera is smaller than firefox, and has more features. If you want speed and low memory/hard drive use... Operas the way to go.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/29764)
Netscape 8 was also released last week - worth checking out if one would like to play around with different rendering engines, and believe that the medium dictates the message.