Gateway to the World Wide Web
Is Google Chrome slowing down your
computer? Are you still stuck with the Internet Explorer? Perhaps it is time to
start afresh
The
Web browser, that simple app you use on your PC and phone to access the World
Wide Web, isn’t as simple as you might think. Every Web browser has a different
set of features which may or may not be relevant for you, in the same way that
gadgets and apps that work for one person may not necessarily work for another.
On
7 April, Jon von Tetzchner, a former chief executive officer of Opera, a
company that makes Web browsers, launched the Vivaldi Web browser, focused on
enhancing productivity. Microsoft is constantly adding to the Edge browser, the
latest being Skype plug-in support. Mozilla has announced that it is starting
Project Tofino as it struggles to make more headway with the current-generation
Firefox browser. Google’s Chrome, which has released its 50th version, remains
the undisputed leader globally.
We
take you through the highlights of the five major Web browsers for Windows and
Mac OS X devices. The results may surprise you, and even help you make a
smarter switch to a Web browser that suits your usage better.
Google Chrome
Windows 10/8.1/8/7, Mac OS X 10.9 or later, Linux
Even
after 50 versions, Chrome retains its easy-to-use interface, and in terms of
website rendering performance, it’s still faster than Firefox and Opera—only
the Microsoft Edge is ahead in some aspects. A Sync feature for bookmarks,
passwords and browsing history across all your devices is very helpful. Chrome
still has no competition when it comes to extensions—add-on apps that can be
bolted on to the browser—and they make certain tasks extremely convenient, such
as accessing notes, tasks and saving Web pages to read later.
Over
the years, however, the addition of new features has seen Chrome gain weight.
That has resulted in a bigger resource footprint—it consumes more RAM than any
other Web browser while running exactly the same websites, and can slow down
the performance of computers that don’t have the latest specifications.
Despite
this, a lot of users are still sticking to Chrome just because of the wide range
of add-ons and extensions. But rivals are now beginning to offer similar add-on
features, and this will diminish Chrome’s uniqueness.
Alternative: Vivaldi or Opera
Vivaldi
Windows 10/8.1/8/7, Mac OS X 10.7 or later, Linux
What
stands out is the clean design and the amount of space given to Web content.
The Stack Tabs feature lets you merge tabs—useful if you have multiple tabs of
the same website open. It also has the Hibernate Tab feature, which turns off
features such as auto-refresh to save system resources as well as battery life
on laptops and hybrids.
Vivaldi
has added a very important feature to the side panel—Notes. This is extremely
handy if you have to copy text from sites for reference, jot down notes, even
add screenshots and links.
You
can also add specific websites to open from the sidebar as a smaller tab within
the same window and share the same screen space with other website tabs—this is
the killer feature for us, because it means you can keep your mails or Twitter
open all the time while skipping through other tabs. Vivaldi is our new
favourite Web browser.
Alternative: Opera
Microsoft Edge
Windows 10
Edge’s
interface, quite slick and minimal, is tuned to the overall design language of
the Windows 10 operating system. Features and settings can be accessed from the
sidebars, which makes it relevant for touch-screen computing devices. In terms
of performance, this is much better than the Internet Explorer browser it
succeeds. Those who load their browsers with extensions might want to look away
now, because Edge doesn’t have any. But what you can do is scribble or write
directly on a Web page and share that note with friends or colleagues. The only
problem is that Edge is only available on Windows 10 devices, since it is made
on Microsoft’s Universal Apps platform—but you might be in luck if you have a
newer and adequately powerful PC that is eligible for the free Windows 10
upgrade.
Alternative: Vivaldi or Chrome
Opera
Windows 10/8.1/8/7, Mac OS X 10.9 or later, Linux
The
layout of the browser, with its compact sidebars, crisp icons and straight
lines, is a blend of the design and layout of Google’s Chrome and Microsoft’s
Edge browsers. In terms of sheer performance, Opera is better than Firefox, but
still cannot match the outright speed of Chrome or the optimized memory use of
Vivaldi. Opera can also support Google Chrome extensions, which is great news
for both productivity as well as functionality. It is also easier to reopen a
tab you may have closed by mistake, and Opera can be configured to show you the
latest news on the home page itself.
This
is now the world’s first Web browser to offer native Virtual Private Network
(VPN) support, which will be extremely useful for enterprise users who need to
access the company’s network through a secure connection while working
remotely.
Alternative: Vivaldi
Mozilla Firefox
Windows 10/8.1/8/7, Mac OS X 10.9 or later, Linux
The
Firefox browser is at a crossroads. What users demand of a Web browser, and how
Web content looks across websites, has changed a great deal, and Firefox has
been unable to provide a compelling reason to switch to it. So Mozilla is now
embarking on a project called Tofino, which will most likely be built on Google
Chrome’s open-source software, called Chromium.
At
present, Firefox remains firmly behind Chrome in terms of Web page rendering
speeds and performance, and in some cases, Vivaldi and Opera also pip it in
performance test scores. What makes it stand apart is the customization
possibilities, with themes and extensions—the Firefox browser will also be able
to run Chrome extensions. For the moment, however, Firefox isn’t really the
browser you should switch to, or stick with.
Source | Mint
– The Wall Street Journal | 27 April 2016
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan
& Co
Best Paper Award |
Received the Best Paper Award at TIFR-BOSLA National Conference on Future
Librarianship: Innovation for Excellence (NCFL 2016) on April 23, 2016.
The title of the paper is “Removing
Barriers to Literacy: Marrakesh VIP Treaty”
Note | If anybody use these post for forwarding
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