Download a good browser for games. The Best Internet Browsers That Nobody Uses
With the development of web technologies, the content displayed using a browser becomes more and more “heavy”. The video bitrate is increasing, caching and storing data requires more and more space, and scripts running on user machines consume a lot of CPU time. Browser developers keep up with trends and try to include support for all new trends in their products. This leads to the fact that the latest versions of popular browsers place increased demands on the system on which they are running. In this article we will talk about which browser to choose for a computer that does not have enough power to use the Big Three browsers and the like.
As part of the article, we will conduct a kind of testing of four browsers - Maxthon Nitro, Pale Moon, Otter Browser, K-Meleon - and compare their behavior with, as the most voracious browser at the time of writing. During the process, we'll look at startup and running speeds, RAM and CPU utilization, and whether there are enough resources left to complete other tasks. Since Chrome provides extensions, we will test both with and without them.
It is worth noting that some results may differ from those you get from such testing. This applies to those parameters that depend on Internet speed, in particular, page loading.
Test configuration
To conduct the test, we took a really weak computer. The initial parameters are:
About browsers
Let's talk briefly about the browsers participating in today's testing - about the engines, features, and so on.
Maxthon Nitro
This browser was created by the Chinese company Maxthon International Limited based on the Blink engine - a reworked WebKit for . Supports all operating systems, including mobile ones.
Pale Moon
This participant is a brother with some modifications, and one of them is optimization for Windows systems and only for them. This, according to the developers, makes it possible to significantly increase the speed of work.
Otter Browser
"Otter" was created using the Qt5 engine, which is used by the developers. The data on the official website is very scarce, so there is nothing more to say about the browser.
K-Meleon
This is another browser based on Firefox, but with the most reduced functionality. This move by the creators made it possible to minimize resource consumption and increase speed.
Startup speed
Let's start from the beginning - let's measure the time it takes for the browser to fully launch, that is, you can already open pages, make settings, etc. The goal is to determine which patient comes to a state of combat readiness faster. We will use google.com as the start page. We will take measurements until it is possible to enter text into the search bar.
- Maxthon Nitro – from 10 to 6 seconds;
- Pale Moon – from 6 to 3 seconds;
- Otter Browser – from 9 to 6 seconds;
- K-Meleon – from 4 to 2 seconds;
- Google Chrome (extensions disabled) – from 5 to 3 seconds. With extensions ( , Browsec, ePN CashBack) – 11 seconds.
As we can see, all browsers quite quickly open their window on the desktop and show readiness for work.
Memory consumption
Since we are very limited in the amount of RAM, this indicator is one of the most important. Let's look into "Task Manager" and calculate the total consumption of each experimental subject, having first opened three identical pages - Yandex (main page), YouTube and the website. Measurements will be taken after some waiting.
Let's launch a video on YouTube with a resolution of 480p and see how much the situation changes.
Now let's complicate the task by simulating a real work situation. To do this, we will open 10 tabs in each browser and look at the overall responsiveness of the system, that is, we will check whether it is comfortable to work with the browser and other programs in this mode. As mentioned above, we have Word, Notepad, a calculator running, and we will also try to open Paint. We will also measure page loading speed. The results will be recorded based on subjective feelings.
- Maxthon Nitro experiences slight delays when switching between browser tabs and when opening programs that are already running. The same thing happens when viewing the contents of folders. In general, the OS behaves quite well with minor lags. The page loading speed is not annoying.
- Pale Moon beats Nitro in terms of tab switching and page loading speed, but the rest of the system is somewhat slower, with longer delays when launching programs and opening folders.
- When using Otter Browser, page rendering speed is quite slow, especially after opening several tabs. The overall responsiveness of the browser also leaves much to be desired. After launching Paint Otter, it stopped responding to our actions for some time, and running applications were very slow to open.
- Another thing about K-Meleon is that the loading of pages and the speed of switching between tabs is very high. “Drawing” starts instantly, other programs also respond quite quickly. The system overall responds well.
- Even though Google Chrome tries to unload the contents of unused tabs from memory (when they are activated, they are reloaded), the active use of the page file makes the work completely uncomfortable. This results in constant page reloading, and in some cases, showing an empty field instead of content. Other programs also “don’t like” the proximity to Chrome, as there are high delays and refusals to respond to user actions.
The latest measurements showed the real state of affairs. If under gentle conditions all products produce similar results, then when the load on the system increases, some are left behind.
Since CPU usage may differ in different situations, we will look at the behavior of browsers in idle mode. The same tabs shown above will be opened.
All patients show good results, that is, they do not load the “stone” while there is no action within the program.
Watch video
In this step, we will enable the graphics card by installing the NVIDIA driver. We will measure the number of frames per second using the program in full screen mode and 720p resolution with 50 FPS. The video will be included on YouTube.
As you can see, not all browsers are capable of fully playing video in HD quality. When using them, you will have to reduce the resolution to 480p or even 360p.
Conclusion
During testing, we identified some important characteristics of our current test subjects. Based on the results obtained, we can draw the following conclusions: K-Meleon is the fastest in operation. It saves maximum resources for other tasks, but is not entirely suitable for watching videos in high quality. Nitro, Pale Moon and Otter are approximately equal in memory consumption, but the latter lags far behind in overall responsiveness under increased load. As for Google Chrome, its use on computers similar in configuration to our test one is completely unacceptable. This is expressed in slowdowns and freezes due to the high load on the paging file, and therefore on the hard drive.
Creating a new browser today is easier than ever - there is Chromium, which you can fork and add any functionality. Companies do this according to the same logic by which toolbars were once created - this is just an attempt to hammer their brand into the user and force him to use other company products. But when independent developers do it, the product's goal is to make its mark in a virtually static browser market. Don't get me wrong - I don't believe you'll switch to one of the indie browsers. But it's interesting to see what they offer, isn't it?
To switch or not?
When it seems like everything that can be said in some area has already been said, trying to do something differently is breathtaking: at first you think it’s wild and utopian, but as a result you begin to look at market leaders in a new way. For the same reason, in the December issue ][ we talked about such “strange” mobile OSs as Tizen, Firefox OS or Maemo. Therefore, in my opinion, when talking about alternative browsers, it is incorrect to pose the question bluntly: whether to switch or not. No, you definitely won't cross over. But you can try to repeat the functionality you are interested in in your favorite browser - for this, in each case, I tried to select the appropriate extensions.
The idea of creating a browser that closely interacts with popular social networks has long been exciting the minds of developers. There were many attempts to create such a combine, but, perhaps, the Rockmelt company did a better job. No wonder they were able to receive serious financial investments.
The project of the same name was launched in 2009 and immediately enlisted the support of one of the founders of Netscape. A year later, the first beta version, built on Chromium sources, was released, and in a short time it managed to gather a decent number of fans. The main feature of Rockmelt is its unobtrusiveness. Integration with Facebook and Twitter was implemented as additional functionality, and not an intrusive addition.
Rockmelt may have had a bright future ahead of it, but in 2012 the developers shut down the desktop version and focused on creating an iOS app. Despite the drastic changes, the mobile application was born quickly and turned out to be quite interesting.
So, we are offered a solution that is interesting primarily because of its interface. Browser control centers around a single input line. It is both an address bar and a navigator for various content groups. For example, you can select a specific topic and immediately receive a pack of thumbnails of new posts corresponding to it. The presence of additional gestures allows you to perform a number of operations (sharing, liking) with one click or swipe.
Thus, together with the browser we get a content generator. At the same time, we have the opportunity to quite easily influence the conditions for issuing materials. You just need to go to any website and click on the “Follow” pimp. The resource is added to the watch list (RSS feed is taken into account), and new materials will appear in the personal news feed.
Extensions:
- Content generator. Plugin for Google Chrome Feedly;
- New materials by category. Plugin for Google Chrome: StumbleUpon;
- Interaction with social networks (publications, sharing, etc.). Plugin for Google Chrome: Buffer.
SRWare Iron
Project audience: conspiracy theory lovers
The first releases of Google Chrome (as well as Chromium) caused a lot of noise. Users paid attention not only to the interesting interface and speed of operation, but also to a couple of clauses in the license agreement that deal a blow to privacy.
After this, a boom in articles on the topic “Big Brother is watching you” began, eventually forcing Google to reconsider its ambitions. Despite this, Chrome still contains several functions that somehow violate the user's privacy.
For example, everyone knows that immediately after installation, Google Chrome generates a unique identifier, which is transmitted to the company’s server. The "suggestions" function works in a similar way. All entered data is sent to Google for the purpose of providing search suggestions. The discussion about other nightmares is in roughly the same vein: the background update service, sending error reports, and so on.
SRWare is ready to solve all the problems raised. In fact, this is the same Google Chrome, but with the language cut off. It does not transmit any information to the Google server, but also brings several nice features:
- offline installer;
- built-in ad blocker;
- ability to change User-Agent.
Verdict: The solution is primarily for conspiracy theorists. The browser has few additional functions, and all of them are implemented using appropriate extensions. As a result, it turns out that all the advantages come down to providing an additional level of privacy.
CoolNovo
Project audience: web developers, enthusiasts
Another project that grew out of a Chromium fork, CoolNovo compares favorably with similar alternatives. Firstly, developers from the Middle Kingdom are setting ambitious goals for themselves, and not just creating another clone with a couple of additional extensions. Secondly, they position their solution as a full replacement for Google Chrome. The idea of such a solution managed to win the hearts of users, and the browser itself received a number of awards.
One of the most interesting and useful features is IE Tab. My main activity is partly related to the development of web applications, which means testing whether the layout is displayed correctly in browsers that use different rendering engines. IE Tab simplifies the testing process in Internet Explorer. It eliminates the need to launch a separate copy of IE, and allows you to change the rendering engine used for rendering with one click.
Gesture controls also deserve special attention. At one time I got used to using similar functionality in Opera, and I must say that the implementation in CoolNovo is no worse.
The developers share the same views on the inviolability of personal space as the guys from the SRWare Iron project. All secret transfers of information to the company’s servers are cut to the ground.
Other most interesting features worth noting:
- instant translation of pages into other languages (using Google Translate);
- taking screenshots of a page or selected area;
- quick history clearing;
- separate sidebar for placing frequently used widgets and extensions;
- ad blocker.
Verdict: CoolNovo has long been a leader among alternative Chromium-based builds. Today it continues to hold its position and remains a good solution for users who want to get a beefed-up browser out of the box. The only sad thing is that CoolNovo has been updated less frequently lately. If this continues, sooner or later a competitor in the form of Chrome will throw it out of the race.
Extensions:
- Fast and flexible cleaning of history, cookies and other network activity files. Plugin for Google Chrome Click&Clean Click&Clean ;
- Link shortener. Plugin for Google Chrome URL Shortener;
- Gesture control. Plugin for Google Chrome: CrxMouse or Gestures for Chrome;
- Reading mode (without displaying pictures and unnecessary layout elements). Plugin for Google Chrome: iReader or Clearly;
- Button for quick RSS subscription. Plugin for Google Chrome: RSS Subscription Extension;
- Super drag. Plugin for Google Chrome: Super Drag;
- Translator. Plugin for Google Chrome: Google Translate.
Maxthon
Project audience: All inclusive lovers
Maxthon is one of those projects that has experienced a rebirth. He first saw the light in the early 2000s under the pseudonym MyIE. Back then it was a convenient wrapper for Donkey IE and a number of useful functions. It had a built-in download manager, tabs instead of separate windows, and other useful features.
When Firefox and subsequently Google Chrome boomed, MyIE was forced into obscurity for a major overhaul. The total straightening brought it back with a new name, an updated set of functions and a completely different face.
Today Maxthon is more like a powerful Internet center than just a browser. Under the hood of the adventure game there are already two engines - WebKit and Trident (used in Internet Explorer). Moreover, unlike most similar solutions, Maxthon is able to independently determine pages for which the use of Trident is more preferable (as a rule, these are old sites). I specifically took one old project out of the closet, adapted for viewing in IE, and tried to view it in Maxthon. Without thinking twice, the browser immediately switched the display to retro mode and rendered the page using Trident. In addition to working with two engines simultaneously, Maxthon’s greatest strengths are its own cloud and the availability of versions for mobile platforms (Android, iOS). Your own cloud not only allows you to store various small information such as your browsing history, a list of open pages and similar things, but it is also quite suitable for storing files.
For example, I was very pleased with the ability to save files from a web page to the cloud with one click. This function looks most beneficial when working on a mobile phone/tablet. The usefulness of Maxthon does not end there, but rather just begins. Among them:
- Gesture support;
- SuperDrop function, which simplifies interaction with the browser interface in the absence of a mouse;
- ad blocker;
- a completely redesigned application interface (not another Chrome clone);
- simultaneous processing of search results from several search servers;
- viewing pages in reading mode (without unnecessary information);
- saving videos from YouTube;
- mute sound on any page;
- simultaneous viewing of several tabs in one window;
- download manager;
- own extension store;
- setting an arbitrary refresh time for open pages;
- night surfing mode. When this mode is activated, Maxthon darkens the bright background of pages, thereby reducing eye strain;
- increased productivity and much more.
Verdict: Maxthon will appeal to both casual users and hardcore geeks looking for new adventures. The presence of versions for mobile platforms and a full-fledged personal cloud are two key features that allow Maxthon to surpass many competitors. Add to this good performance, numerous victories in tests for compliance with web standards, and we get an almost ideal, but little-known browser.
Extensions:
- Retro mode (page rendering using the IE engine). Plugin for Google Chrome: IE Tab ;
- Taking screenshots. Plugin for Google Chrome: Webpage ScreenShot;
- Night mode. Plugin for Google Chrome: Hacker Vision or Turn Off the Lights for comfortable viewing of videos;
- Password storage. Plugin for Google Chrome: LastPass;
- Ad blocker. Plugin for Google Chrome: AdBlock;
- Built-in notepad with the ability to store notes in the cloud. Plugin for Google Chrome: Memo Notepad;
- Resource sniffer. Plugin for Google Chrome: Web Developer.
Project audience: lovers of everything fresh
Chromium became the father of many webkit-based browsers. It forms the foundation of almost every new browser, and it is hardly possible to shake its dominant position.
So, you probably already know that it is on this project that all new products are tested before they get to Google Chrome. Support for new HTML5 features, corrections of terrible bugs, new interface features - all this is primarily received by Chromium users. Unfortunately, the frequency of updates comes at the price of stability. Major problems that prevent you from working normally with the browser are rare, but accurate.
It’s quite difficult to single out some original interface features or capabilities, since they largely represent the implementation of new HTML5 features and are relevant for web developers, not mere mortals.
Nevertheless, Chromium still has a number of differences that can interest the average user. For example:
- no error reporting;
- the RLZ identifier is not transferred to the company servers;
- there is no Updater hanging in the background;
- Only open and free media formats are supported;
- productivity is very high.
Verdict: A special version of Google Chrome for enthusiasts and geeks. Everything new appears here, and these user groups will definitely like it. Chromium is unlikely to be suitable for mere mortals, since this is a product primarily for testing. And there are few users eager to be the first to test, say, the Battery API.
Avant Browser
Project audience: web developers
The primary goal of the Avant Browser developers is to provide users with an easy way to combine the work of engines within one application. It would seem that the task is not easy, but looking at Avant Browser, you are convinced of the opposite. The developers were not only able to bring together all the popular engines under one wrapper, but also came up with an easy way to switch between them. Changing the rendering engine is done in a couple of mouse clicks.
This is where the super useful functions end, and what remains are typical for such solutions:
- a simple cloud storage capable of storing RSS subscriptions, favorites, passwords and other information;
- ad/popup blocker;
- creating screenshots of pages;
- simple implementation of gesture control;
- creating aliases for pages, with which you can quickly navigate to frequently visited sites;
- built-in RSS reader;
- mail client.
Verdict: Avant Browser cannot be considered as a full-fledged application for everyday use. This is more of a specialized solution that can serve web developers well, but not the average user. There are simply no other interesting features in Avant Browser.
No user can do without one of the most important computer programs - a browser. It is a kind of conductor between the user and the World Wide Web and allows access to information. Their list is not limited only to well-known names. There are several dozen more interesting web browsers.
The popular Google Chrome browser was developed by the giant Google in 2008. It is the simplest and fastest due to the absence of many functions. This browser has a built-in Flash player, which eliminates the need to download videos to watch. The second most popular place is occupied by the free browser Mozilla Firefox. It has a convenient menu and can work with Linux, Windows, Ubuntu. This is the simplest and most flexible browser that allows you to manage a large number of plugins. With a lot of new innovations and stable operation, Mozilla Firefox is the best option for beginners.
Nowadays, no one can be surprised by the statement about the importance of the Internet both for entertainment and for serious work. It should be noted that the productivity of the work process largely depends not so much on the connection speed, but on the convenience and thoughtfulness of the browser used.
If you don’t know what browsers are and how they differ from each other, this article is especially for you. So let's get started! What kind of browsers are there? The list can be very long, but let’s list the main “players” in this market:
- Internet Explorer.
- Opera.
- Firefox.
- Google Chrome and all its derivatives.
We will now talk about all these “characters” in more detail.
Internet Explorer
This is a real legend. Whether it’s deserved or not, everyone decides for themselves, but no one will dispute the fact that the overwhelming majority of experienced users started with it. In 2001, when the Internet in our country was almost in its infancy, and even in large cities Dial Up ruled, the sixth “donkey” was the only association with the word “browser”.
Of course, someone knew about the Opera project, very few geeks in the vastness of our country used Netscape, but the palm definitely belonged to IE, since there were simply no worthy alternatives at that time. For information, the history of Firefox began only in 2004, and the word “chrome” was perceived only as the name of a chemical element until 2008! Yes, yes, the Google Chrome browser appeared relatively recently!
It must be admitted that Internet Explorer was good for those years, and many of its features were completely unique. Thus, IE 6 became the world's first browser that had on board the P3P platform tools, which provided an advanced (in those years) level of user security when working on the network.
It is not surprising that due to its widespread use and presence by default in the Windows operating system, it is “donkey” that has become the de facto standard for almost all government agencies in our country. To this day, normal work with the websites of government agencies, Sberbank, and all similar structures is possible only from this browser. This is largely due to its use of ActiveX structures, which greatly simplify the creation of software components for this type of resource.
Disadvantages of a “living legend”
It is no coincidence that we constantly used the phrase “at that time.” In 2001, IE was rightfully the leader, but... Its creators completely forgot that the browser should be updated from time to time. Until 2006, when Vista and IE7 appeared on the scene, there were basically no updates.
Competitors were not asleep; by that time they had already appeared: the legendary Opera 9, which is still revered by many as the best browser, Firefox 2, as well as several add-on browsers that used the IE engine (Maxthon, Avant Browser). All of them were more convenient, more functional and much safer than the hopelessly outdated Internet Explorer. The appearance of the seventh version did not save the situation, since IE7 was in many ways the same sixth “donkey”. Of the visible changes, one could notice only a slightly “refreshed” interface, and support for tabs, which Opera had had since the seventh version (2005).
Add to this terrible compatibility with HTML standards, disgusting page rendering and terribly slow loading speed. It is not surprising that only IE 9 finally “became like a browser,” as many publications wrote about it. Currently the latest is the eleventh version, which is really quite good.
The problem is that there are a huge number of old releases (IE6 somehow got rid of them), errors (!) from which had to be ported to the new Explorer. This was done so that old versions of sites created specifically for the “donkey” would be adequately displayed in Internet Explorer 11. This approach does not add either popularity or trust to the Microsoft product.
Alas, when working with state and municipal websites, you will not have any special alternatives. However, there are exceptions: several years ago, the German government officially encouraged municipal workers to use Firefox, since IE “does not meet modern security requirements.” So what other browsers are there?
Opera
Since we have mentioned this product several times, we will continue the story about it. It all started in Norway in 1994. Until 2005, versions were produced that were not particularly popular. Everything changed in 2006, when Opera 9 was released. At that time, it was ideal. Judge for yourself:
- excellent work with tabs;
- built-in email client;
- bit-torrent client, also built into the browser;
- work with most HTML standards;
- mouse gesture support;
- the widest possibilities for customization;
- the ability to block ads without using third-party utilities.
And all this in a 2006 browser! In addition, we forgot to mention one more “killer feature” of Opera. We are talking about the “Turbo” mode. What is the essence of this option? It's simple. When activated, all traffic to the user’s computer passed through Opera Software’s servers and was compressed several times along the way. In some cases, it was possible to save up to 80% of all traffic!
Taking into account the fact that in those years there was no normal high-speed and unlimited Internet even in large cities, this technology was a royal gift for users of our country and the entire former CIS. It is not surprising that in some regions the real market share of this browser was confidently approaching 50%, while in the world this figure rarely exceeded 3-4%.
In addition, Opera Mini appeared in 2009, which made normal Internet surfing possible even for owners of old phones. By the way, the phrase “free browsers” can only make modern users smile, while Opera for smartphones was paid for a long time, and for desktops (up to Opera 5) this browser was distributed on a fee basis.
Sunset
After the release of version 10.6, strange things began to happen to the company: constant reorganizations forced most of the old developers to leave, and users began to complain about the poor performance of their favorite browser. In 2013, a rather ridiculous event happened. The new management of the company announced a complete transition to the Blink engine, which is a product developed by Google, as well as the linking of Opera to the Chromium project.
It’s not hard to guess what emotions all this evoked among users. They said that almost all new browsers are already clones of Chrome, so the appearance of another player from the same series did not inspire anyone. In addition, the enormous dissatisfaction of both ordinary users and professionals was caused by the simple fact that from the old “Opera”, in fact, only the name remained.
No mouse gestures, no usual customization options... and there weren’t even bookmarks in the new version! The developers swear that everything will be fixed “in the near future,” but this has been going on for two years now, and there has been no particular progress. The company lost a huge number of users, who partially switched to Chrome, and some started using Firefox.
Almost everyone agrees that the Opera project no longer exists: even if the developers return some of the old functionality to the browser (it won’t be possible to “screw in” everything due to the features of the new engine), the entire cycle of creating the program will be tied to Chromium and Google itself. By the way, what browsers are there based on the Google product? We'll talk about this below.
Google Chrome and its derivatives
The history of this browser, as we have already mentioned, began in 2008. The very news that Google is going to create its own browser has caused a lot of controversy on the Internet. Some rejoiced, some experts were more cautious in their forecasts, but the fact remains that the event was clearly extraordinary. Today, the Chrome browser claims to be the “number 1 browser”, displacing not only IE, but even Firefox in this position. How did this happen?
When the new Internet browser first came out, everyone loved its incredible speed. Many people liked the ascetic and simple interface, which did not distract from work. However, the “first approximation” was not very successful, since almost all experienced users noted the complete lack of useful plugins, due to which the browser could not resist advertising, and poor integration with third-party applications (antiviruses, download managers, etc.).
The beginning of success
For someone else, this might be a failure, but not for Google! The company’s incredible capabilities and aggressive marketing policy did their job: at first, when using the company’s search engine, a suggestion was given to “try a new browser,” and today Chrome checkboxes are available in almost every second shareware application (included in the installation kit).
Soon this particular browser was on the computer of almost every second user, and professionals increasingly began to use it. The proactive policy of Google again played a role, which very soon achieved full integration of its product. In addition, using a Google account, users gained access to Google projects such as Drive, Mail, Documents and many others.
To be fair, it is worth noting that Google (the browser) is a very safe product: the process separation policy bears fruit. It is difficult for malicious code to penetrate from the virtual sandbox into the production system. Among other things, Chrome now has plugins for blocking ads and Flash content, integration systems with the most popular downloaders, and so on. In 2014, the official x64 version appeared, which became even safer and faster.
Flaws
Alas, there are enough of them. Firstly, those same fans of the old Opera really miss the ability to change the browser “to suit themselves”. The maximum that the WebKit engine gives is to apply a color scheme. All. A simple user is not entitled to anything more. Of course, you can use the Flag argument and “surf” the browser from the inside, but you can’t do anything special even from there.
Secondly, there are serious concerns about the privacy of user information. In general, Google has never hidden the fact that all your data can be viewed for the presence of child pornography and information that could be classified as a “terrorist threat,” but this does not make it any easier for suspicious individuals. The browser abundantly collects information about your search preferences and frequently visited pages, generating targeted advertising based on this data. However, all modern free browsers often suffer from this.
It is shown not only on the pages themselves, but even in GMail mail. The latter, by the way, is extremely disliked in large companies; sometimes employees are directly prohibited from using it. Of course, there is not a single proven fact of leakage of any corporate data, but this measure is not superfluous...
As for the “sky-high” speed, today it’s no longer possible to call the Google Chrome browser fast. With installed plugins and a connected user account, the application (especially on older machines) does not launch quickly.
Chromium
After the scandal with the Chrome license agreement, in which the developers allowed themselves to have rather frivolous clauses about user privacy (they were subsequently removed or changed), the Chromium project appeared. Unlike its “big brother”, this browser is based on open source software that anyone can change at their own discretion. In terms of functionality, it is not much different from the parent application, with the exception of the ease of creating your own plug-ins.
It was on its basis that a huge mass of “chrome-like” programs appeared, which we will now talk about. In general, almost all new browsers that appear recently are just that in 90% of cases. This is due to the ease of adapting the code to your needs, and you don’t have to worry about updating “your” product, since all the work will fall on the shoulders of Google programmers.
"Yandex" (browser)
Today it is the most successful fork (branch). The creator is the “domestic-Dutch” search engine Yandex. The first versions of Yandex (browser) differed from Chrome only in a different search engine and slightly changed design, but today the situation has changed radically. Thus, there appeared: support for mouse gestures, intelligent search menus and other “goodies”, which gave many users reason to call this browser “the successor of the old Opera”. This fact in itself is surprising, especially considering the biased attitude of professionals towards any Chrome fork. Thus, the free Yandex browser has very good prospects.
"Amigo"
This is the exact opposite of the project discussed above. Also a product of a domestic company, but this time the authorship belongs to the Mail.ru corporation. Alas, there are no “breakthrough” opportunities. Among the features is only close integration with all existing social networks, but it is quite difficult to consider this circumstance as a special advantage. In addition, Amigo (browser) also collects a bunch of advertising information, which is then shown in abundance to the user.
There's nothing special about it anymore. In addition, there are also such varieties of “Chrome”:
- “Internet” (from the same Mail.ru, somewhat similar to “Yandex”).
- "Uranus" (from Ucoz).
- Dragon (from Comodo).
- "Nichrome" (from "Rambler").
- Iron (German development, originally created to profit from the developers' blog).
And many, many similar products. What browsers are there besides this “variegated” family?
Firefox
Appeared in 2004 (as already mentioned above). It was developed on the basis of the mortal “ashes” of Netscape. The first versions were simply terrible, they constantly hung and were terribly slow. Of course, the collapse of the program was the most common occurrence. Time passed. In 2006, there was already Firefox 2, which had good qualities, and the third version was among the Guinness record holders (several million people downloaded it in the first 24 hours).
Why is this browser so attractive to users from all over the world? First of all, its “omnivorousness”. While some developers relied on functionality (Opera), others on beauty (Safari), and Microsoft did nothing at all, the Mozilla Foundation team collected all HTML standards, at least theoretically found on the Internet. As a result, their browser is a kind of “standard”. If a site does not open normally in Fox, then it is unlikely to open anywhere else.
In addition, numerous plugins were the reason for its success. With their help, you can turn your browser into a multifunctional “harvester”, with capabilities almost superior to the operating system! In particular, the Tor browser, created on its basis, largely uses the capabilities of various extensions designed to improve the level of user anonymity on the Internet.
In addition, even with a dozen or two extensions, Mozilla starts very quickly even on older machines, which is not what you can expect from Chrome.
Finally, this browser, unlike almost all existing solutions on the market, can be flexibly customized to suit your needs, and the available themes will help you bring the interface closer to the old versions of Opera, Chrome or even the old IE6. It is precisely because of the latter circumstance that experienced users often strive to install the Firefox browser.
Flaws
These include the not very high security of a native application (without installed extensions). However, without installed extensions, Firefox is generally a very average browser without any special features. Beginners do not always know which plugin to install and for what purpose. In addition, such add-ons are not always good in software terms, and therefore often cause memory leaks and even crashes of the browser itself.
These are the main browsers. This list is far from complete, but in the article we present the most common types of programs of this kind. Of course, we haven't talked about Safari (which is used in Apple's OS), as well as many other browsers, many of which occupy leading positions in Asian markets, but these products are quite specific. In any case, they are used quite rarely; in our country you are unlikely to find a user on whose computer they would be installed.
Today, Internet technologies are developing at a breakneck pace. Not surprisingly, web content viewers are not far behind. But let's find out what browsers there are for the computer, and which of all this huge number to prefer for work.
What is a browser?
Let's start with the very definition of this type of program. What is a browser? The official interpretation is that it is not only a means of viewing the content of web pages with text, graphic, audio or video information, but also a tool for managing sites or web applications, creating search queries, using additional add-ons that increase the functionality of the program, downloading the necessary content to a computer etc.
Now we will look at what browsers there are for a computer, what are the differences between similar programs, what additional features do they have, etc. Finally, let’s pay attention to the comparative characteristics of the most popular applications and give some tips on using a particular browser on a computer.
However, let’s make a reservation right away: here you need to clearly understand that the operation of programs of this type directly depends not only on the computer configuration, but also on many other factors, including the type of operating system, installed settings and plug-ins, the quality and type of Internet connection, and much more. So it’s simply not possible to answer unequivocally which is the fastest browser for a computer. In other words, the conclusion will be very conditional. But for convenience, we will consider Windows systems, which are most widespread among us.
History of the development of Internet technologies in browsers
Now we find out where it all began. It is believed that the first-born in the history of the development of applications of this type was the viewer, which was originally called WorldWideWeb and owed its birth in 1990 to Tim Burns-Lee, the founder of the Internet. As is already clear, the abbreviation WWW was then firmly entrenched in the World Wide Web itself. The browser itself was later named Nexus, but never became widespread.
The first software product of this type to gain immense popularity around the world was the NCSA Mosaic application. It was the technology implemented in this browser that later became the basis for the creation of such monsters as Netscape Navigator.
Unfortunately, Netscape Navigator did not last long, although it was considered a fairly convenient and fast program. This was only due to the fact that it was primarily aimed at UNIX-like operating systems and Mac OS. During the global offensive on the world market of Windows systems, it became unclaimed, since the “operating systems” themselves already had built-in Internet Explorer, and the need to install additional software simply disappeared. In addition, the “native” Windows browser at that time showed good performance results and was quite convenient in terms of not overloading the interface with unnecessary elements.
What browsers are there for the computer today? They can be counted not even in dozens, but in hundreds. Of course, among all this we can highlight several of the most popular programs, but for a complete understanding of the topic under consideration, we will try to provide at least an approximate list of everything that can be found on the Internet.
What browsers are there for the computer? Review
So what about today's programs? Frankly speaking, sometimes it seems that every developer stubbornly sets himself the goal of creating a tool for Internet surfing, just to gain a user audience. In particular, this applies to most search or email sites, for example, Yandex with its “Yandex Browser” or Mail.Ru with its “Amigo”.
Alas, most of these applications are created in the image and likeness of more powerful systems. As a rule, technologies are borrowed from Google Chrome, in which some changes have been made, some elements have been removed or added. And the saddest thing is that almost all developers shout at the top of their voices that their browser is the fastest.
But they often contain so much advertising that it is simply unbearable to work. Therefore, the user asks the question: what browsers are there for a computer without advertising? Now let's try to present just such programs. Let's take a look at the existing browsers for the computer. The list (by no means complete) is presented below:
- Internet Explorer.
- Google Chrome.
- Mozilla Firefox.
- Opera.
- Safari.
- Edge.
- Yandex Browser.
- Amigo.
- Acoo Browser.
- Arora.
- Avant Browser.
- Browzar.
- Chromium.
- 360 Safety Browser.
- CoolNovo.
- Citrio.
- Coowon Browser.
- Comodo Dragon.
- Double.
- DustyNet.
- Epic Privacy Browser.
- Goona Browser.
- Green Browser.
- Internet Surfboard.
- K-Meleon.
- Kylo.
- Loonascape.
- Maxthon.
- Midori Browser.
- Mozilla Flock and Mozilla SeaMonkey.
- Netsurf.
- Nuke.
- Orbitum.
- Orca.
- Pale Moon.
- Pirate Browser.
- PlayFree Browser.
- QIP Sirf Browser;
- QtWeb Browser.
- QupZilla.
- RockMelt.
- Slepnir Browser.
- Slim Browser.
- SRWare Iron.
- Sundance Browser.
- TheWorld.
- Torch Browser.
- Vivaldi.
- Uran.
- YRC Weblink.
- Rambler Browser, etc.
Enough? How do you think? If you look carefully even at the names given above, it becomes clear that only the first five are distinguished by originality and the technology originally embedded in the software. The rest are, so to speak, derivatives.
Here, in fact, we see what browsers are available for the computer. Of course, if you search hard, you can “dig up” a huge number of relevant programs. The most famous ones are simply collected here. And it is possible to say very roughly which is the fastest browser for a computer. But in this matter you need to start exclusively from those programs and technologies that are used, so to speak, by the ancestors (the first five).
Now let's turn our attention to the main programs that are used by most users today for surfing. So let's try to choose the most popular browsers for the computer. The list, naturally, will not be so long. Let's look at the advantages and disadvantages of each application.
Internet Explorer 11
This program, although it is a standard integral element of any Windows OS, nevertheless has serious problems (especially with regard to the security system). And if at the very beginning of its evolution the priority of the popularity of Internet Explorer was not in doubt, over time it fell to almost zero.
The browser itself has received fairly strong development only in recent years and, I must say, has shown quite serious and impressive results, beating its closest competitors - Google Chrome, Opera and Mozilla Firefox. At the moment, it boasts fairly high Internet speed and a user-friendly interface. So why are only a few using it? Yes, only because the old stereotype is still strong. In addition, users are often put off by the minimalist, even if completely Russified, interface, in which additional settings and elements are not displayed on the main panel, but are hidden in different menus. Nevertheless, these claims seem clearly unfounded to many experts.
Google Chrome
What other browsers are there for computers in Russian? Without a doubt, in this matter one cannot fail to mention Google Chrome, which not only became a legend itself, but also served as the progenitor for many other programs of this type.
Despite the same minimalism in design, in terms of convenience and speed of operation it looks quite impressive. Basically, what attracts users to this program is that it has a reliable security system. But many users call the main feature the built-in extension store, which allows you to install additional plugins (add-ons), as they say, “without leaving the checkout.” In addition, today you can find quite a lot of programmers who use this browser as a development tool. In addition, here you can quickly navigate to search results directly from the query line.
Perhaps the most important disadvantage, as strange as it may sound, is its advantage. The fact is that it shows optimal speed results, so to speak, only in a “pure” form. When there is an overload of plugins and add-ons, unfortunately, the speed of opening pages drops very significantly. But even if some tab freezes, you can safely work with the rest as usual.
Chromium, Yandex Browser, Amigo and 360 Safety Browser
Now let's look at Chrome-like browsers for Windows. The list, of course, can be continued, but these four programs are perhaps the most prominent representatives of this family. In principle, they are made exclusively in the image and likeness of their progenitor; even the menus and plug-ins often have the same names.
Each application has its own interesting sides. Chromium, compared to the original, is indeed somewhat optimized in terms of page opening speed. Amigo offers the user an interface with direct access to the most popular social networks such as Odnoklassniki or VKontakte and the ability to quickly access a mailbox registered on Mail.ru.
Yandex Browser is called the “rising star of the Runet”, although, to be honest, it is completely unclear why. What repels many users is the default settings of the search engine, and in general the dominance of Yandex services, which every now and then install some additional panels and arrange unnecessary redirects. In general, it seems that the developers tried to promote their main service online in this way. But in terms of speed of work, you can’t deny him.
360 Safety Browser appeared relatively recently. This browser is the development of Chinese programmers and, unlike other Chinese fakes, the quality of which raises legitimate doubts, it works quite quickly (at least at first, that’s for sure). The speed of launching the application itself and opening pages immediately after installation cannot be compared with anything. Even the “old men,” as they say, simply “smoke nervously on the sidelines.” Unfortunately, this goes away over time (as with all other programs). Why this happens will be explained later. But overall, this program, despite its youth, looks quite attractive. By the way, this is perhaps one of the few browsers with a built-in AdBlock pop-up blocking system (in other applications the add-on must be installed additionally).
Opera
If we consider the best browsers for a computer, the list, naturally, cannot do without such a grandee as Opera, which has become, so to speak, a classic of the genre. It is not surprising that this browser has always occupied and occupies the top positions in usage statistics.
But here we need to make a small digression. The fact is that Opera was unclaimed for a long time only because it was released as a shareware program, that is, you could work with it for 30 days, after which it was offered to buy the official full-featured version of this software.
Only after Opera became free did it rise to the podium. But even here, not everything is so simple. The fact is that today you can find too many modifications of this browser, and it is not always clear which of them is official. For example, it is stated that the latest release was released under numbers 15 and 16. You can also find and download Opera 21, Opera Stable or Opera NI on the official website. What's the difference? Apparently, these releases are simply unfinished, and software developers are simply in a hurry to release new versions in order to keep up with their competitors. In addition, the latest versions of the browser clearly do not want to work on weak machines. The braking and freezing is such that you are simply amazed. However, there are reasons for this. Perhaps the creators of Opera are simply creating a browser for more powerful configurations, working, so to speak, ahead of the curve? Who knows...
Mozilla Firefox
Again, if we describe the most popular browsers for PCs, the list cannot do without the “fiery fox” - the Mozilla Firefox browser, which, if it does not claim to be the leading development in this area, is at least one of the most popular .
What's special about it? Almost everything. First of all, it is worth noting that many experts tend to accuse Google programmers of unethical behavior and dishonesty, since Chrome after its debut turned out to be very similar to Firefox. Whether this is true or not, it is believed that it was the Mozilla browser that became the basis for Chrome.
As for the application itself, it is one of the most reliable and stable. Maybe the “fox” doesn’t show too high a speed of work; in principle, he doesn’t need it. First of all, this browser is aimed at web developers. Even the so-called “boxed” version already contains a lot of additional tools, and in terms of the number of add-ons (which, by the way, are not even hundreds, but thousands), it can easily bypass the notorious Google Chrome. Webmasters rate this application quite highly, if only because it is very convenient for writing scripts and testing their operation, not to mention other, no less interesting features.
Safari
What other browsers are there for your computer? Have you seen compass-shaped icons on the Internet? Yes, this is an indispensable attribute of the Safari browser from Apple, originally developed for Macintosh systems, and a little later implemented as a beautiful application for Windows.
Everything about it is extremely simple and beautiful. A distinctive feature of this application is a unique font smoothing system, as well as the ability to comfortably view large texts. Another innovation is a built-in password manager with an impenetrable security system. In general, security is considered one of the strongest points of Apple software products. In general, this is a well-made program, optimized for the needs of the average user.
Edge
Finally, if you look at what browsers there are for your computer, you can’t help but say a few words about Microsoft’s newest development called Edge, which first appeared in the new Windows 10 OS.
Although Edge is based on Internet Explorer technologies, the developers have clearly revised their global concept and redesigned the original application quite significantly. As a result, a very powerful software product appeared, which in almost all respects today is ahead of similar programs.
True, there were some “jokes” here too. The fact is that by default, the start page loads a bunch of unnecessary information such as news or new software products, weather informers, popular sites and resources that are bookmarked, all sorts of unnecessary interesting things, etc. Moreover, it is on the start page that the address the line is not at the top, but slightly below and is presented in the form of a kind of search field. Then, when you click on the link, it returns to its rightful place. However, it's easy to get used to it.
On the other hand, the operating speed here is quite high, which cannot be said about similar applications, and the loading speed, if there are no restrictions, say, when downloading content from file-sharing networks, is comparable even to torrents. But the program itself has not yet been released as a separate version, so you can evaluate all its capabilities and advantages only if you install the tenth version of Windows (by the way, it has two browsers: Edge and the same Internet Explorer, presented as a separate application ). But by default, the system uses Edge.
PC browsers: list by performance tests
So, what browsers are there for the computer, we figured it out a little. When it comes to performance tests, they don't always look the same. It all depends on who exactly conducted what test. Quite often you can find results in favor of a particular browser, which can only indicate an attempt to promote this software on the market. In addition, any browser becomes more and more sluggish as it is used. And this is absolutely in no way related to cache or browsing history overflow. The only exception is Edge. On some systems, the Safari browser is not affected by this.
But it’s simply impossible to say exactly which is the best browser for a computer. And this depends not only on the programs themselves, but also on user preferences. In addition, each program of this type has its own advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, in most cases the user has to decide on his own the question of which browser to choose for his computer. The given test diagram cannot show the objectivity of the assessment (the preferences of the experts who conducted the comparison also play a role here). This is, so to speak, a conditional result for an approximate understanding of the situation.
What's the result?
Now it’s probably a little clear what browsers are available for the computer and what features they have. Again, giving advice on installing this or that software product is a completely thankless task, because each person has his own preferences. In addition, the browsers themselves can be focused on solving quite specific tasks, sometimes not even related to Internet surfing. Yes, you also need to take into account what operating system is installed on the computer, what is the speed of Internet access, how much RAM is there, and many other equally important factors. But if you are objective and do not tip the scales in anyone’s favor, it is recommended to choose one of the first six browsers presented at the very beginning of the above list. The rest are possible in principle, since they are all derivatives of the main programs. However, here, as they say, everyone decides for himself what he likes and what is more convenient to work with.