In the U.S., the most “popular” web browsers (in order) are, the ubiquitous Internet Explorer, AOL’s Netscape, the Mozilla Foundation’s Mozilla and Firefox, Opera Software’s Opera, and Apple’s Safari. Internet Explorer commands a suffocating 94 percent of the market, with all the other browsers combined making up the remaining six percent.

Let’s examine for a moment the definition of “popular” as it relates to web browsers. Do the overwhelming majority of computer users do their web surfing with Internet Explorer (IE) because it renders pages faster? Because it’s the most secure? Because it offers the most features? You can guess where I’m going. Most likely, the vast majority of people use IE because they don’t really know there’s anything else. Some people even believe that Internet Explorer IS the Internet. These people, of course, were disappointed to learn that the handy pop-out cup holder on the front of their computer was actually the CD drive tray. But, I digress.

The point is, by definition, “popularity” infers a choice. Certainly more people live in China than in the U.S., but does that make socialism more popular than democracy?

Are you ready to be liberated from your Internet Explorer shackles? Are you tired of aggressive pop-ups and slow page loads? Do you worry that every password you enter is going to be intercepted and exploited by some form of malware? Are you concerned that programs are being installed on your computer behind your back? I mean, besides the programs installed by your spouse or your kids. If so, you should consider one of the alternative browsers in the list up there in the first paragraph. And the beauty is, you can try them all “risk-free”.

In other words, unlike, well, IE, these browsers will not take over your computer at the first launching. Now, what features should you look for in choosing an alternative browser?

Blocking pop-up windows. A must. Think about it. Don’t settle for getting things, especially advertising, that you don’t ask for. If it’s worthwhile, there’s a link on the page for it you can choose to click. Period. All of the above browsers have (and have had for some time) the ability to block pop-up windows. Except, of course, for IE, which is just now gaining this ability in the version included in the recent Windows XP Service Pack 2. Why did it take Micro$oft so long?

Tabbed browsing. A little difficult to explain on paper, but once you see it in action you’ll wonder how you could do without it. Let’s say you visit certain websites on a regular basis, perhaps the different sites that track your investments. Being a savvy surfer, you use your browser’s bookmark manager to you group these sites in a folder, which is easily accessible from the bookmarks bar or menu. Each day you visit each site by selecting the individual bookmark. If you need to return to a previously viewed site, you use either the BACK button or the HISTORY menu.

OK, fine. But wouldn’t it be great if you could click just one button, and all your investment sites would begin loading at once, in the same browser window? Obviously, you can’t view them all at once, and that’s where tabs come in.

In a “tab bar”, just below the Address bar, tabs appear bearing the names of the sites in the group. The first site in the group immediately begins loading into the open window. You can view the first site while the others are loading in the background. Cool, eh?

More on alternative browsers next time. Oh, and did mention, they’re free?

© 2004 Peter F. Zimowski