By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Browsers are getting better. Much better. The latest beta from Apple of Safari 4 shows just how much work is going in to making the modern browser fast, reliable, easy to use and standards compliant. Even Internet Explorer, while trailing the pack in terms of speed and compliance, is getting better. But is the new browser war a good thing for end users?
Best browser ...
Total Votes: 6,069
So, while I like Opera, Google Chrome and the new Safari 4 beta (I feel pretty indifferent about Internet Explorer 8 beta so far), I still consider Firefox to be the primary replacement for Internet Explorer. The reason is simple - it’s the most mature of the alternatives. While Chrome handles multiple tabs far better than Firefox, Opera has a built-in torrent capability, and Safari 4 is faster, but Firefox is a better all-rounder. not only that, but while Firefox remains the only browser that makes extensive use of add-ons, it’ll continue to remain popular amongst geeks (oddly enough, I don’t care much for the add-ons - too much hassle come time to upgrade the browser).
In my opinion, the only real alternative to IE is Firefox. It’s nice to have the other browsers (and on the Mac, an improved Safari is a good thing), but for now they’re just minor players.