Electronics

Web browsers

Updated: 12 Feb 2010

Introduction

We put 5 leading free web browsers to the test to find the fastest, safest and most versatile.

Used for communication, shopping, fact-finding and online entertainment, web browsers have changed the way we see and interact with the world. The better your browser, the quicker and easier you’ll find what you’re looking for.

We tested Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 8, Opera 10 and Apple Safari 4 to see how they performed.

Why browsers matter

Why is your choice of web browser important? Because browsers are arguably the most used programs on personal computers, putting access to almost any information at your fingertips.

Features such as tabbed browsing, RSS (Really Simple Syndication) information feeds and customisation with widgets, plug-ins, add-ons, extensions and other programs enhance your internet browsing experience.

A good web browser will also provide security measures against malware such as spam, spyware, objectionable material and ID theft.

Two important features of any web browser are speed and compatibility. Although the speeds of your internet connection, your computer and the site you’re looking at will ultimately determine how fast you can operate on the internet, the speed of the browser itself also makes a difference. Our testing shows considerable differences in how fast web browsers start up and run, and how accurately they process major web languages such as HTML and JavaScript.

You’re not limited to using just one browser – you can switch between them for different browsing tasks. But whichever browsers you use, it’s important to configure the settings carefully, especially for privacy and security.

International market share

Internet Explorer 63%
Firefox 25%
Safari 5%
Chrome 4%
Opera 2%

Many others share the remaining 1%. (Source: online marketing consultants Net Applications, January 2010.)

Safari is more popular here in New Zealand with over 10 percent of visitors to consumer.org.nz using it.

What to look for

Speed

Slow browsing will turn the worldwide web into the worldwide wait. All the browsers we tested claim to render at lightning speed, but our testing shows Google Chrome and Apple Safari are streets ahead of the competition.

Expandability

Expandability is one reason browsers gain loyal users. The ability to personalise the look and feel of your browser and add extra abilities via themes or skins, add-ons and plug-ins can make it more attractive, easier to use and more functional. Note that loading up any browser with add-ons will probably slow it down, so exercise restraint and only use the ones you really want.

Security

Security is vital because browsers are big targets for malware. Most browsers have built-in security features ranging from ad blocking to anti-phishing but it’s important to check the security settings of each browser you use.

Some browsers have a privacy mode that clears your tracks from the PC you use, but this doesn’t necessarily mean you’re browsing anonymously. Without specially configured tools, browsing still leaves tracks on the internet. It’s important to exercise caution when browsing and to keep your browser up to date. Updates often include patches that fix security vulnerabilities.

While every browser has vulnerabilities, Chrome, Firefox and Opera have no known security issues at the time of writing.

Shortcuts

Shortcuts built into the browser can create significant time savings over the course of a web surfing session.

One of the simplest is Tabs (included in all the browsers we tested) which let you open multiple sites in one browser window, reducing time and window clutter.
Opera’s Speed Dial, Safari’s Top Sites and Chrome’s Thumbnails provide easily accessible thumbnails of websites you visit frequently.
Both Opera and Chrome have a timesaving paste-and-go feature which helps navigate quickly to new links with a single click.
Some browsers, including Chrome, Firefox and Opera, also give you the option to automatically open previously opened web pages when the browser launches.

Mobile compatibility

Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari are available for mobile phones.

Internet Explorer Mobile is available on Windows Mobile and Windows CE platforms.
Opera Mini is available for JAVA ME platforms and Opera Mobile can be used on Symbian and Windows Mobile platforms.
Safari is available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Chrome

Price: Free
Website: www.google.com/chrome
Version we tested: 3.0.195.33
Good points: Highest score overall. Equal highest performance score. Excellent ease of use. Small footprint for memory usage. Supports themes/skins.
But: Doesn’t support ad filtering by default. No third-party add-ons. No mobile version.

New kid on the block is Google's Chrome open source browser, released in late 2008. Chrome's emphasis is on speed, simplicity and style, using layout themes and an uncluttered look.

Like Safari, Chrome uses the open source WebKit rendering engine originally developed as KHTML under Linux and later adopted by Apple. It also borrows ideas from other open source projects and even from Firefox in a bid to bring the best features together in one browser. It also comes in beta versions for Linux and Mac, and Google has opened Chrome to developers to create third-party extensions but none are available yet at the time of writing.

One of Chrome’s most notable features is its stability - each tab works independently, so if one crashes, the others don’t go down with it. Another is the Omnibox - Chrome’s address bar that doubles as a search box. It also has an “incognito” mode for private browsing. Annoyingly Chrome doesn’t have a print preview feature, which is essential for printing certain browser pages and avoiding wasted ink and paper.

Chrome shouldn’t be confused with Google’s similarly named new open source PC operating system, Google Chrome OS, which is designed to work exclusively with web programs and intended for devices such as netbooks.

See the test results for more details of Chrome's performance and features.

Firefox

Price: Free
Website: www.mozilla.com/firefox
Version we tested: 3.5.5
Good points: Excellent ease of use score. Small footprint for memory usage. Largest range of third-party add-ons. Supports themes/skins.
But: Doesn’t support ad filtering by default. No mobile version.

Mozilla’s Firefox ranks a distant second behind Internet Explorer for market share, but can be customised thanks to third-party support for its extendable architecture. This helps keep Firefox relatively lean but allows individual users to add specific features that they like.

Mozilla claims more than 6000 free add-ons are available. Popular Firefox extensions include ad blockers, appearance enhancers, toolbars, video downloaders, social networking tools and security enhancers.

You can search for Firefox add-ons using the menu on the Firefox home page or via Add-ons in the Tools menu.

Many Firefox extensions also work in the SeaMonkey and Flock web browsers, which are also developed by Mozilla. Firefox 3.5 also includes a private browsing mode.

See the test results for more details of Firefox's performance and features.

Internet Explorer

Price: Free
Website: www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer
Version we tested: 8
Good points: Very good ease of use. Mobile version available. Supports themes/skins and third party add-ons.
But: Lowest overall score. Lowest performance score. No download manager. Windows only.

With the Microsoft behemoth behind it, Internet Explorer is probably the baseline for web browsing. Its massive market share means web developers have to take compatibility with Internet Explorer into account when creating any website. It’s now made for Windows only.

Like Chrome, the latest version of Internet Explorer runs each tab as a separate process to boost stability and security, and also features a secure mode for “private browsing”.

Despite its dominance of the market, largely due to it being shipped with every copy of Windows, Internet Explorer is well and truly the wooden-spooner in the web browser performance race, finishing with little more than half the score of the other browsers on test.

See the test results for more details of Internet Explorer's performance and features.

Opera

Price: Free
Website: www.opera.com
Version we tested: 10
Good points: Highest score for ease of use. Integrates email, chat, BitTorrent downloads and widgets. Supports themes/skins. Mobile versions available.
But: No privacy mode.

Opera, particularly the latest version, is more of an internet suite than just a browser. Its tools perform a wide range of tasks besides browsing, including email, managing contacts, chatting on IRC clients, downloading files via BitTorrent, and reading Web feeds. It also has its own widgets - small web applications that start from within Opera.

Opera has historically been a trailblazer, leading the way with features that are now common on modern browsers including tabbed browsing, speed dial (web page previews for navigation) and mobile browsing. It is widely cross-platform and even has versions for the Nintendo DS and Wii game consoles. Two unique features are mouse gestures and voice control.

Version 10.10 was released after we had finished testing, but is notable as it has several major improvements. These include Opera Unite, a platform for developers to include programs within the browser such as a web server, file and photo sharing, chat room hosting, and streaming media.

See the test results for more details of Opera's performance and features.

Safari

Price: Free
Website: www.apple.com/safari
Version we tested: 4.03
Good points: Equal highest performance score. Mobile version available. Supports third party add-ons.
But: Large footprint for memory usage. Doesn’t support ad filtering by default. No support for themes/skins.

Apple’s own browser is available for Mac OS X and for Windows, powered by the speedy WebKit engine and with mobile versions for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Safari incorporates the look and feel of Mac OS X with the Cover Flow feature that lets you flip through pages of your browsing history and bookmarks, and also includes tabbed browsing, page previews and private browsing.

See the test results for more details of Safari's performance and features.