Google Chrome

Introduction

After fiddling with Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 (IE 8) for some time, I do feel that it is best for me to try out some other alternative browsers in the market. I don't particularly like IE 8 when it crashes whenever I'm browsing a website which uses adobe flash although I have updated the flash player to version 10. I then told myself that I need an alternative browser badly and so I have to choose.

Opera

At this moment, Opera has released their latest version - 10.10 for Windows. I have read on the internet about how good Opera is after all these years. They were behind the sole alternative browser for smart phones until recently that they have intensified in building a world class browser for the Windows platform.

I do find that the Opera 10.10 is pretty fast but I do have problems when it comes to using their turbo mode. Not many websites are in supportive of the turbo mode and most of all, it does not load up websites supporting flash properly. Although pages do load up pretty fast, it lacks Mozilla Firefox's user friendliness. It will also show up many additional functionality which I think is a lot of junk.

Safari

Apple has been quite busy in releasing their Safari browser on the Windows platform. You might have noticed that the Safari browser was originally used on the Mac only platform. Since conception on the Windows platform, it has been quite useful as an alternative browser to the IE 8. However, I have to stress out that Safari is back to back on course in defending their "which-is-the-fastest-browser" with Mozilla Firefox at this moment. Don't fight as Google's Chrome browser is playing catching up with them.

Safari does not load up flash websites properly. In fact, by all means it is quite a fast browser but you can get stuck when you are trying to gain access to some websites and you do not want to be stuck on those situations. On the whole, I do think that Safari is good for the Mac platform but it might not be the ideal browser for the Windows platform.

Firefox

The browser was originally created using source codes from the old Netscape Communicator which was then sold to AOL.com, Mozilla's Firefox is pretty quick in loading up websites and not problem in getting through to all websites including flash websites. It has solved IE 8's problem of any "illegal operation" and it does not succumb to any possible internet website attacks as it has an in-build security features which I think is much better than IE 8.

I do believe that Firefox is doing well. It has positioned itself as the number two browser after IE 8. Actually, I would believe that with Firefox, you can install add-ons like the weather channel on your browser. You cannot do so with IE 8 as it will crash!

Having said that, Firefox 3.5.6 still have some problems with opening websites which needs flash. I do get slowdown in opening such websites and sometimes the page will just crash. At this time, it will be as good as IE 8...

Chrome

Google is a powerful company. It is not that they are great in launching their very first Android smartphone with the HTC G1 on T-mobile, right now, there are more than three smartphones supporting the Android OS. The latest Android 2.1 promised to fix lots of bugs and create more user friendly features.Google has also launched their Google Chrome OS which is installed on many laptops/netbooks. We have yet to see about it.

Their browser, Chrome, had a better luck. The latest version of Chrome, version 4.0.226.0, allowed users to install extensions, just like add-ons on the Firefox. The browser is fast and stable. It allows better access to flash websites than IE 8 ,Firefox 3.5.6 and Apple's Safari 4.0. So far, Google Chrome is the best browser to surf such websites at the moment.

So far, I have no problems in using Google Chrome. However, it does not have a private browsing function as you would do so on IE 8, Firefox 3.5.6 and Safari. This is the only criticism which I have on the Google Chrome. I don't think it is much of a problem as users could manually delete their browsing history manually just before shutting down the browser.

Conclusion

What can I say about which Internet Browser to use? To me, the Google Chrome is the best browser to use right now.