Which Browser Should you Use?
Check out these Suggestions
Internet Explorer
Currently 80 percent of Web
users surf with IE. Most websites function well in IE, which
supports advanced features like dynamic HTML. The advanced features
often backfire, though, which is one of the reasons to use one of
the alternative browsers discussed below.
One advantage of IE is that it's
close to becoming integrated with the Windows operating system. The
Justice Department doesn't like this, but from a usability
perspective, integration is the best way to simplify user
interfaces. We are not there yet, though.
Netscape
Netscape's main advantage is
that it's not produced by Microsoft. Not only does it make some
people feel good to avoid Bill G's clutches, but Netscape is
available for many alternative operating systems and types of
computers.
Also, the newest version of
Netscape (version 6) is supposed to be much more compliant with the
official Web standards than Microsoft's software, which tends to
have its own proprietary quirks. Unfortunately, Netscape has
suffered from very low code quality since the beginning, so it
crashes much too frequently for my taste.
Opera
Only about one percent of Web
users use Opera, but this is enough to qualify it as the main
alternative browser. The code is much more efficient and compact
than anything produced by the big two, and the software is very
robust. Thus, Opera almost never crashes.
Opera is also fast, which can be
a major advantage if you have an older computer. By avoiding some
of the advanced features IE and Netscape support, Opera gives
surfers a more simplified and pleasant user experience.
iCab
"Your taxi for the Internet" is
only available for Macintosh. This makes it irrelevant for most
people, but of great interest to Mac enthusiasts who can relive the
exciting days in the 1980s when good software shipped for the Mac
first.
The iCab browser puts control of
the Web experience back into the hands of the users and offers
options for disabling some of the annoying "features" of many
websites, such as uninvited pop-up windows. It also gives users
more control over the appearance of webpages: certain over-designed
sites, for example, are easier to read with iCab. If you are
designing your own webpages, iCab has a useful feature that
highlights any errors in the HTML code when it is displaying a
page.
Lynx
Lynx is a text-only browser.
This means that it is great for people who cannot see images or who
do not want to wait while large graphics load. Use Lynx if you are
using an old mainframe terminal that cannot display images, or if
you have a very slow connection to the Internet.
Lynx is a useful tool for Web
designers, because it allows them to get an idea of how their
website will convert to browsers for blind users. If you cannot use
your website in Lynx, then it will not be accessible to many users
with disabilities.
