Gone are the days when Microsoft’s Internet Explorer was the only viable browser program available for surfing the web. In 2001 Internet Explorer boasted a massive 96% market share; today, however, it’s more around 70% and falling.
Microsoft has been slowly losing the web browser war to newer, more user-friendly web-browser programs such as Firefox, Safari, the new Google Chrome and more. A few months ago, in an effort to improve its position, Microsoft launched the latest version of Internet Explorer.<!–more–>
The new, improved Internet Explorer 8
The introduction of tabbed browsing in Version 7 was a huge step forward from Internet Explorer 6, (although it was a long time after Firefox had tabbed browsing as standard). In Version 8 Microsoft seeks to build on this with some other useful features. These include:
- An in-Private Browsing mode, which conceals the user’s online activities.
- Search suggestions being made as you type, with images where relevant.
- Session saving, to allow you to pick up where you left off.
- Crash recovery, so you don’t lose your open tabs if the program (or your PC) crashes.
- An improved screen filter for protecting surfers against malicious websites.
- Additional right click options for highlighted content.
Microsoft is calling Internet Explorer 8 its fastest browser, but in tests against its main competitors, Firefox and Chrome came out quicker.
What about the Competition?
If you haven’t used any of Internet Explorer’s competitors’ browsers, you may be denying yourself of a richer web-browsing experience. Here’s a round up of the top alternative browsers, together with some of their key features.
Firefox 3 – Mozilla’s Firefox web browser has the second-biggest market share after Explorer. The open- source browser’s main strength is the number of add-ons available to enhance your browsing experience. If you have ever thought of a nice function missing in your browser, you will probably find a Firefox add-on for it.
Opera 9 – The Opera browser doesn’t get as much publicity as some of its rivals, but it has been a reliable and innovative option for a long time. Some key features include an integrated email client and news reader, excellent file download tools, wide-screen monitor support and the ability to synchronise your favourites over the web. Coming soon, Opera Turbo is anticipated to take surfing speeds to a higher level.
Google Chrome – The Google browser has made huge inroads into the web-browsing arena. Chrome has a sleek, minimalist design, which maximises the viewing window. It’s early days for this browser, so we can expect more features to be added with updated versions. The lack of tools in comparison to its rivals is not all bad though, as the flip side means it opens and renders web pages quicker.
Safari – The Safari web browser is the default web browser on Apple Macs. Recently, Apple extended the browser’s reach by making a PC version available. As you would expect from Apple, the browser is fast, looks great, and adopts the now familiar iPod thumbnail image Cover Flow view.
Other browsers include Flock, Lunascape, Maxthon, Songbird and more, each sporting unique features and tools that appeal to surfers’ niche interests and business processes.
What it Means for Your Website
An increasing number of web-browser options is good for end-users (no one likes a monopoly), but be sure to check that your website presents correctly in each rendering engine.
