I’m not begging, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop using Internet Explorer as your primary web browser (hmmm, okay, that was begging). I’m just worried there are casual computer users out there who don’t realize that they are voluntarily subjecting themselves to such obsolete software. Even the upcoming release is a horrible browser compared to the current open source competition. If you’re not sure what I’m referring to, please read on.
My browser of choice happens to be Safari 4 (the developer edition). This browser will be native to the next release of Mac OS X, dubbed “Snow Leopard”, which should be on the market within the year. It scores a perfect 100 on the Acid3 test, a test designed to assess how well a browser follows web standards such as DOM and JS. Firefox 3 and Google Chrome also score rather well (in the 70s); however, Internet Explorer fails miserably with scores no greater than 25 (for even the upcoming release). Not only is the “newest” version still behind the current version of Safari, but it’s getting more and more bloated with extra “features” that the average user will have virtually no purpose for.
I see absolutely no reason to be using Internet Explorer anymore, but sadly enough, the majority of the Internet community thinks otherwise. For a commercial browser which our friends in Redmond have done little to improve, it sure has brainwashed a lot of computer users.
I use Safari 4 (Mac OS X), Google Chrome (Windows XP), and Mozilla Firefox 3 (Ubuntu Linux) on a daily basis and all of them are far superior to Internet Explorer in speed, extensibility, and stability. If you’re one of those Internet Explorer users who either a.) did not know about other free options or b.) knew about them but was afraid to switch, then I’ve compiled a list of my top three choices below:
- Safari 3.1.2 (download)
- Based on the WebKit rendering engine
- Upcoming version, Safari 4, has shown a perfect score on the Acid3 test.
- Simple yet powerful browser with tremendous speed
- Compatible with Windows and Mac OS
- Mozilla Firefox 3 (download)
- Based on the Gecko rendering engine
- Open source
- Highly customizable
- Vast library of plugins
- Compatible with Windows, Mac OS, and Linux
- Google Chrome (download)
- Based on the WebKit rendering engine
- Open source
- Incredibly fast and stable for a beta release
- Created by a company who knows the Internet pretty well – Google Inc.
- Still in beta testing but expected to also have a plugin library
- Compatible with Windows… for now.
If you have questions about the pros/cons of the aforementioned three browsers, leave me a comment! Hope to see more of you jump on the bandwagon of a good Internet experience rather than one controlled by a corporation with no regard for creativity and advancement. Trust me, you won’t regret it. And it’s not like these browsers “overwrite” Internet Explorer, so if you’re dying to ever revert back, the option will always be available. So go, loyal Internet Explorer user, and join the side of good.
Leave a Reply