Software : Round up: The best web browser 2016 |
Round up: The best web browser 2016 Posted: The best web browserThe best web browser 2016Are you getting the best of the web? We all have our preferred web browser, and we tend to stick to it. We generally won't even think about changing unless something goes disastrously wrong. According to the statistics, most of us opt for Chrome - but is it the best? We've selected 10 top contenders - Chrome among them, of course - to show that there's much more to viewing the web. Perhaps you're looking for raw speed, high levels of customisation, or rock-solid privacy for your browsing exploits. Maybe you're just looking for a change for the sake of making a change. Whatever your reason, read on. 1. Google ChromeA powerful and adaptable browser, if your PC has the resources
But there are downsides, and potentially big ones. It's among the heaviest browsers in terms of resource use, so it's not brilliant on machines with limited RAM, and its performance doesn't quite match up to others in benchmarking terms. And with Google's tentacles running through it, you might be uncomfortable with the ways in which your browsing data may be used. 2. OperaAn underrated browser with a superb Turbo mode for slow connections It's sad that Opera makes up only around 1% of the browser market, because it really is a quality browser. It launches fast, the UI is brilliantly clean, and it does everything its rivals can do with a couple of extras thrown in for good measure.
It reduces the amount of data transferred too, handy if you're using a mobile connection, and this re-routing also dodges any content restrictions your ISP might place on your browsing, which can be mighty handy. Opera automatically ducks out of the way if you're using secure sites like banks so your traffic is free and clear of any potential privacy violation. There's also an integrated ad-blocker - which can be switched off if you're morally inclined in that direction - and a battery-saving mode which promises to keep your laptop going for longer. 3. Microsoft EdgeMicrosoft's new, user-friendly browser is fully integrated with Windows 10 The default 'browsing experience' on Windows 10, Edge is an odd one. Quite why Microsoft needs to be running a pair of browser products in tandem is beyond us. The company's reason, it seems, is that Edge represents the more user-friendly end of Redmond's offering while Internet Explorer scales a little better for enterprise.
Curmudgeonly grumbles aside, actually using Edge is a perfectly pleasant experience. It's super-quick, hammers through benchmarks, its integrated reading mode makes complex sites more palatable, and by sandboxing it away from the rest of the operating system Microsoft has ensured that Edge won't suffer the security breaches of its older brother. 4. Mozilla FirefoxA divisive choice these days - flexible, but a little sluggish Once the leader in overall popularity in the browser war, Firefox is now now a slightly sad third place. It's not clear why; while it lags behind its main competitors in terms of design, keeping the search and URL boxes separate and leaving buttons on display where others have removed them, it's regularly updated on a six-week schedule and has a raft of extensions available.
If you're looking for an alternative take on the same structure, Waterfox may fit the bill. It's built on Firefox code, removes many of the restrictions and integrations of the main release, and purports to be one of the fastest browsers around. 5. SafariApple's browser is fast and now available cross-platform Safari may be Apple's flagship browser, but you don't need to own an Apple device to use it, at least technically. There's an abandoned Windows version out there if you can find it, which you can also run on Linux through Wine – only Android (predictably) misses out. Don't expect it to interpret many modern pages well, but it's at least super-fast.
Everywhere else, though? If you're after speed, perhaps; Safari certainly zips along, and its reading list - recently aped by Microsoft Edge - makes saving articles for later consumption rather easy. We'd usually plump for an alternative, but Safari is good enough to warrant a try. 6. ChromiumAn open source browser that's essentially Chrome sans Google Fancy running Google Chrome without the 'Google' bit of it? Chromium is its open source fork, and it's the software from which Google gets the code that makes up Chrome itself. You'll often find it bundled with Linux installations because it avoids proprietary technologies and trademarks which would otherwise breach their licenses.
Stability-wise we'd plump for Chrome itself every time, but if you really want to stay on the cutting edge then Chromium is the right choice - nightly builds are available, so you can always try the most up-to-date (and potentially catastrophically broken) version. 7. VivaldiBuild your own interface with unique docking and tab-stacking features Here's something a bit different. We all spend probably far too much time sitting in front of our web browsers, and up-and-comer Vivaldi wants to make that as pleasant and personal an experience as possible. Itself build out of web technologies like Javascript and node.js, Vivaldi can adapt its colour scheme to the sites you're using, and indeed the structure of its interface is entirely up to you.
It's not the fastest and it's not the most fully featured, lacking any official support for extensions, but Vivaldi is relatively new and we don't doubt it'll receive further expansion as time goes on. It's a refreshing and creative take on web browsing, and one to watch in the next couple of years. 8. Microsoft Internet Explorer 11Fast and efficient, but less expandable than Firefox and Chrome Microsoft's browser has seen some ups and downs in its long tenure, from dominating the browser charts to languishing behind its main two competitors. This is partly an issue of choice - particularly the browser choice that Microsoft was forced to give customers after a court ruling - and partially because older versions fell behind the rendering and compatibility curve.
That's not to say it's perfect. Google's V8 benchmark sees it struggling, and IE isn't quite as able to handle addons and extensions as many of its competitors. So while there's no reason to avoid IE like there might once have been, if you're looking for a more customised browsing experience you're out of luck. 9. Tor BrowserA package of browsing tools with security at their heart Tor is, perhaps unjustly, most regularly associated with the seedy underworld of the dark web. While it's true that you can use it to access otherwise unlisted sites, Tor's privacy aspects - where your traffic is routed through random nodes the world over, making it very hard to track - are its real asset.
You'll need to alter your browsing habits to ensure that you don't perform actions online that reveal your identity - Tor is just a tool, after all - but for a secondary browser useful for those private moments it's a great choice. Run it from a USB stick and nobody need even know you have it at all. 10. Baidu BrowserStill commonly used, but now out of date Chinese search giant Baidu is beginning to make waves outside its home country, and like main western rival Google, it has its own browser. A lot like Google, as it turns out: Baidu Browser - formerly known as Spark - seems to be the company's own re-skin of Chromium, complete with Google sign-in options, support for Chrome extensions, and use of the Blink rendering engine.
Yes, sadly - despite its popularity - we can't recommend Baidu Browser. Perhaps if you can get hold of an older version you might make some (entirely legal) use of its download tools, but we wouldn't ever recommend using an out-of-date browser. |
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