Funtime Xtreme

With the release last week of Safari 3 Beta, by Apple, has come a lot of hype about what this really means. Well, for those devout Internet Explorer/Firefox users, this means nothing…but for people like myself who like to try things out, and see what’s out there, this meant an opportunity to use something new and see how it affects my browsing session. So, for the last few days, I have been bouncing back and forth between Internet Explorer 7.0 (Windows only), Firefox 2.0 (Windows, Linux, and Mac), and Safari 3 Beta (Windows and Mac). I have come up with things that I like, and dislike, about all three browsers and have decided to put my results here.

Internet Explorer 7.0 (Windows only)
This Windows only browser, that dominates over 75% of the internet browsing market today, has many features that were introduced in this newest version, most notably Tabbed Browsing. Along with Tabbed Browsing, IE7 has introduced a Phishing Filter to ensure the website is legitimate, and you aren’t entering potentially sensitive information into a fake site. There are many things about IE7 that I absolutely love, and others that I could live without.

Pros
Tabbed Browsing: Microsoft finally caught up with the times, and realized that users don’t want to have multiple browsers open at the same time, but would much rather have a single browser open with multiple different tabs available to access multiple different webpages at the same time. Introducing tabbed browsing into Internet Explorer 7.0 allows for a cleaner taskbar, and an overall better browsing session.

Multiple Home Pages: Multiple home pages is another great addition to the IE7 experience. With multiple home pages, you have the ability to launch multiple different websites anytime IE7 is launched. This comes in especially handy if there is a list of sites that you open every time you launch your browser…like when I am at work, I have to open 3-4 different sites when I first launch my browser. This would save me some time, and effort, when it comes to getting started early in the morning.

Phishing Filter: The Phishing Filter that was included in Internet Explorer is a security tool used to assist in preventing identity theft. This tool queries the current site against a database, and provides a warning if the site is deemed unsafe.

Search Bar: Included in IE7 is a search bar in the upper-right hand corner of the browser. This comes in handy for getting searches to common sites (e.g. Google, Amazon, eBay). By default is is set to Microsoft Live Search, but other search engines are available.

Anti-Aliasing: The anti-aliasing, often referred to as font smoothing, within IE7 is incredible. The text looks much cleaner, and appears more readable, than previous version of Internet Explorer. Microsoft definitely got this part of the browser dead on.

Cons
Menu Bar: In an attempt to make IE7 look cleaner, the developers did not include the use of the Menu Bar by default. This can be viewed, by selecting the Tools menu, and clicking on Menu Bar, but this is extra hassle. After enabling the Menu Bar, it is then placed underneath the Address Bar, instead of above it, like all previous versions of IE, and like Windows Explorer. This attempt to make the browser look cleaner has in effect made it less resourceful to the average user.

Favorites Menu: The favorites menu, now accessible by clicking on a yellow star to the left of the visible stars, is not manageable unless you access it using the Menu Bar…previously mentioned to not be visible by default. The Favorites menu does look cleaner, once all your bookmarks are placed where you need/want them.

Its Still IE: Even with all the extra security measures in place, and the fact IE7 looks much better, and cleaner, than previous versions of Internet Explorer, it is still based on the core architecture of Internet Explorer. And, by dominating the current browser market, there are going to be MANY more viruses, and malware, written to exploit holes in IE7, than any other browser out there.

Firefox 2.0 (Windows, Linux, and Mac)
Over the last few years, Firefox 2.0 has been the only browser to cut into Internet Explorer’s share of the browser market in any significant way. Even then, it has only accumulated approximately 15-20% of the total market share.

Pros
Tabbed Browsing: Since its launch a few years ago, Firefox has included tabbed browsing in every one of its releases. Mozilla realized early on that users were going to want to simplify things, and minimize the amount of windows opened on their system. They took an idea, that was poorly implemented by Netscape Navigator, and made it mainstream. Tabbed browsing was one of the first things that brought me to Firefox, and one of the reasons I recommended it over Internet Explorer 6.

Search Bar: Firefox also included a built-in search bar in the browser from day one. It comes default with many different search engines built-in (e.g. Google, Amazon, eBay), but others can be added. There is a pretty good list of engines available with a single click, and other sites create their own search plugins that can be added through their website.

Plug-Ins: There are literally thousands of plug-ins available for Firefox. Most are from the Mozilla website, but there are some from independent developers that link back to their website. Some of the most functional plug-ins include IE Tab (allows tabs to be rendered using IE instead of Firefox), GMail Manager (checks Gmail account and shows unread messages), and Tiny Menu (allows the entire menu bar to be minimized to a single menu). Plug-ins are one of the main reasons Firefox has been able to continually increase its market value, even with the release of IE7.

Open-Source: Mozilla has the source code for Firefox available for download on the internet. This means any independent developer can look at the code, and try to make it better, faster, or more secure. After making changes to open-source code, most developers then submit their findings to the development team of the software for possible upgrades in the next release. Open source software is one of the best ways to get positive feedback, and constructive criticism, on new software.

Keyboard Shortcuts: Firefox has keyboard shortcuts that can do pretty much everything, and I don’t mean pressing ‘Tab’ to access the next field of a form. Ctrl+L moves the cursor to the address bar to type in a new URL, Ctrl+K moves the cursor to the search field in the top-right of the browser, Ctrl-Tab moves to the next tab in the browsing session. Firefox has hundreds of possible keyboard shortcuts that help make the browsing session that much faster, and more functional for the user.

Cache: By default, Firefox saves a large amount of the web pages visited in a cache file. This cache file allows Firefox to load the webpage faster the next time you access it, by saving some items that don’t change…like the layout of the site, or pictures that won’t be removed. This cache can be cleared out regularly, or set to a smaller size, through the Options menu.

Cons
Memory Hog: Firefox takes up a large amount of memory on your system, causing the machine to slow down. Some of the things that causes Firefox to take up so much memory include adding extra plug-ins, and storing so much in cache memory.

Open-Source: I know what you are thinking…isn’t Firefox being open-source listed in Pros? The answer to this is Yes. The fact that Firefox is Open-Source is both a positive and a negative. Open-Source not only allows software developers to see the source code, but it also allows crackers to see the source code, and then write malicious code to attack the browser. This makes Firefox both more secure, and more likely to be attacked by malware.

Safari 3 Beta (Windows and Mac)
Safari became the default browser for Mac computers sometime around 2003. Since then, they have been working on getting the browser to be a little more mainstream. Apple does still allow other browsers to be installed on their systems, and may Mac users do install other browsers (Firefox or Opera) on their Mac systems, but Apple does still develop Safari, and provide it for free download for all Mac computers, and as of last week Windows machines.

Pros
Tabbed Browsing: Now I know if all the browsers nowadays offer tabbed browsing, how is it a pro? Well the answer to that is tabbed browsing wasn’t so mainstream until recently. It was offered in different browsers years ago, but then fell out of focus until recent browsers started making it more mainstream. Safari by default offers tabbed browsing, but it has to be turned on within the Preferences window.

Clean User Interface: Safari’s interface is very sleek and professional looking. The frame of the browser is only one pixel, allowing for a cleaner look. The progress bar fills the address bar, instead of being included in a status bar at the bottom of the window. In fact, the status bar by default is not visible and has to be enabled in the Preferences window.

Performance: Safari has shown better browsing speeds than any other browser, on any other platform. Safari has been clocked by Apple as loading web pages up to 2 times faster than IE7, and 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2. This basically means when using Safari, you get to spend a little less time waiting for the webpage to load, and a little more time actually viewing the site.

Resizable Text Fields: Safari allows all text fields in forms to be resized, by including a resize meter in the bottom right corner of the field. Even after resizing the text fields, the website still maintains its appearance, by reflecting everything else in the same way. Nothing will overlap because the text field has been increased.

Cons
Keyboard Shortcuts: The keyboard shortcuts are Safari work differently than in other browsers. This makes learning the all new shortcuts a little difficult, especially if you are used to using the shortcuts in Firefox. Some of the same shortcuts exist, like Ctrl+T to make a new tab, but in order to change tabs, you have to use Ctrl+Shift+} (Next Tab) or Ctrl+Shift+{ (Previous Tab). Doesn’t sound like it’s that difficult, but changing from the default in Firefox, to this makes it just a little difficult to get in the habit of using the correct key combination.

Vulnerabilities: With all the hype of Steve Jobs announcing Safari 3 Beta for Windows last week at WWDC, many security developers decided to take Safari for a test run and see if they could crack it. In fact, within the first 12 hours of Safari 3 being available for download on Windows, three security researchers had come up with nearly a dozen different vulnerabilities for Safari. I’m sure Apple will patch these very soon, but that is not a good way to start your entry into the browsing world with Windows.

Summary
All three browsers have their fair share of pros and cons that help to determine whether or not you should, or should not use that browser as your main web browsing utility. Now it’s all up to the individual user to determine which browser is best for them. Personally, I will continue using Safari on my Mac, and Firefox on my Windows machine. IE7 will be reserved for things that absolutely need to be accessed using IE, and nothing else. Good luck determining which browser is best for your needs, and let me know which you decide on.

Download Links:
Internet Explorer 7
Firefox 2.0
Safari 3.0 Beta