Archive for the ‘Web Browser’ Category

Internet Explorer

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

With Microsoft’s browser dominance being challenged by many different browsers, not the least of which being Mozilla’s Firefox browser, Microsoft has redesigned its Internet Explorer in order to compete. In Internet Explorer 8, you’ll see a lot of cool and convenience features that will help add to your overall web browsing experience.

With the addition of tabs to Internet Explorer, Microsoft has incorporated one of the most important features in the new generation of browsers. Internet Explorer’s tabs vary from other browsers because of its color related tab feature. This feature will allow you to group related web pages together, and keep your browser in order.

Another cool feature that Microsoft has included in its Internet Explorer is the new Accelerator function.  If you highlight any text and click on the blue Accelerator icon that appears above it, you’ll be given a large selection of choices.  Ranging from driving directions all the way to translating the text into a foreign language, this feature is convenient and useful.

Microsoft has also included a new feature named Web Slice.  This feature will allow users to check frequently updated web pages from their favorites bar. While Microsoft has done quite a bit to improve its browsers convenience level as well as its usability, it still lacks many of the features that other browsers have had for years.

Internet Explorer 8 still does not have a save sessions and close function, even though almost every other browser on the market does. Internet Explorer also does not have the drag and drop tabs feature that makes moving tabs to other windows easier.

Sadly when this is coupled with several security flaws that Internet Explorer has had for quite some time, it showcases just how behind the times Microsoft’s browser really is.

Hopefully with Internet Explorer 9 still being in development, Microsoft will address many of these flaws and come up with a browser that can really compete with the other browsers on the market.

Opera

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Opera 10 has all of the marking of a top rated Internet browser. Just from the sheer amount of features this browser has equipped, Opera 10 is giving all other browsers a run for their money. Opera allows you to keep your task bar in order through the use of tabs.  Instead of having to open up many different windows to see more than one web page, you can now open many different web pages within a single window. Opera also comes equipped with its signature “Speed Dial”, which allows users to get to their favorite websites super fast. Whenever a user opens a new tab within Opera, they are directed to a homepage in which all of their most commonly visited web pages are listed.

Another great feature, that Opera has included in its browser, is it’s page zoom feature. Unlike other browsers, Opera’s zoom feature actually re-sizes the entire web page, not just the page’s text. This will enable Opera users to not only view a web page’s text in a much larger font, but to view a web page’s graphic in much more detail.

The next intriguing feature that Opera has equipped is the “Opera link feature”. This feature allows you to synchronize not only Opera’s speed dial with your bookmarks, but to synchronize all of your settings across all of your computers. This really is a lifesaver, when you have more than one computer.

Operas interface is very tidy and clean looking, but is a bit crowded for my taste. The designers of Opera tried to provide its users with as many options as possible, the downside of such being that many of Opera’s menus and toolbars are stuffed with options.  While this may not seem like much of a flaw, when you take into consideration that most of these options never have to be tweaked, it lowers the browser’s overall usability.

While Opera is not without its flaws, it is still one of the best browsers that I’ve seen.

Google chrome

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Google has entered into the Internet browsing arena with its new browser, named Chrome. Although Chrome lacks many of the features found in other browsers, it makes up for them with its simple design and user friendly interface.

Google seems to have designed chrome with its users in mind, as it incorporates some of the best features from Firefox and Opera. Chrome’s tab bar syncs perfectly with the application’s title bar, creating a very aesthetically pleasing application. The tab bar is situated along the top of the browser window, right above the URL text box. This layout reminds me of Opera’s design and it’s a pleasant surprise to see here.

One of the most innovative things about Chrome is its new tab system. While tabs are not a relatively new innovation, as they were first seen in Mozilla’s Firefox browser, Google’s take on these tabs are entirely different. Each of Chrome’s tabs are entirely independent of each other and if one of the tabs crashes the others are virtually unaffected.

Another cool feature that Google has incorporated into its tabs, is the ability to drag and drop them. Unlike other browsers where you’re stuck with your tab placement, in Chrome you can reorganize your tabs easily.

While Google’s chrome browser is very impressive, there are a handful of flaws that hopefully Google will tweak in the future. While Chrome’s tabs seem to be one of its strong suit, it’s also where one of its key flaws show up. The more tabs you have opened, the less of the web page title you can see. This becomes a big problem, when you don’t have your browser maximized.

Another issue that I’ve found with the chrome browser is that when you double-click on the browser’s tab/title bar, the window is automatically maximized. While this may seem like a small problem, it brings down the overall usability of the browser.

Overall Google’s new browser has a few flaws, but seems to be one of the best browsers currently on the market.