20 July 2006
Big news for browsers
For the first time in a few years completely new versions of the major browsers are coming out. Microsoft, Firefox, and Opera are all three releasing new versions of their browsers.
Based on popularity all of the browsers feature tabbed browsing, of course some have had it before. Also common to all is the use of addon modules to add features. Built in search engines are also included although really nothing that new. A new feature though is the use of a built in popup blocker and anti-phishing capabilities. Rather than only saving the content of one tab to a bookmark, a group of tabs can be saved as bookmarks/favorites.
Only Firefox and Opera have the ability to pause and resume downloads. IE users will of course still have the option of using a download manager separately to get the save features. Mac and Linux functionality are featured as well on Firefox and Opera but IE lacks both. Although only IE will offer a one click option to save bookmarks. Only Firefox will feature a spell-checker for text boxes for those of us who cannot spell. IE and Opera both have the ability to remember tabs between sessions.
It seems that most of the browsers will have similar features. Will people change to other browsers because of these updates, maybe, maybe not. The advantage of using Firefox or Opera will probably still be less adware and less exploits. Is that because it's a better browser or because more people try to find exploits in IE? I do know with Firefox being open-source and having many developers able to update the software it will allow updates and patches to be released faster than other browsers - that is one advantage.
Based on popularity all of the browsers feature tabbed browsing, of course some have had it before. Also common to all is the use of addon modules to add features. Built in search engines are also included although really nothing that new. A new feature though is the use of a built in popup blocker and anti-phishing capabilities. Rather than only saving the content of one tab to a bookmark, a group of tabs can be saved as bookmarks/favorites.
Only Firefox and Opera have the ability to pause and resume downloads. IE users will of course still have the option of using a download manager separately to get the save features. Mac and Linux functionality are featured as well on Firefox and Opera but IE lacks both. Although only IE will offer a one click option to save bookmarks. Only Firefox will feature a spell-checker for text boxes for those of us who cannot spell. IE and Opera both have the ability to remember tabs between sessions.
It seems that most of the browsers will have similar features. Will people change to other browsers because of these updates, maybe, maybe not. The advantage of using Firefox or Opera will probably still be less adware and less exploits. Is that because it's a better browser or because more people try to find exploits in IE? I do know with Firefox being open-source and having many developers able to update the software it will allow updates and patches to be released faster than other browsers - that is one advantage.
Labels: firefox, IE, microsoft, opera
