browser reviews

i figure a browser review is well overdue, so here it is:

safari:

developer: apple. latest version: 5.1. original release date: 1/7/03. best uses: meandering on apple.com

not much to say about this one. it wont go anywhere but the apple website. type in a URL, nothing. paste, copy, click on a link, just redirects to apple.com.
1.0* never does anything but go to the apple page.

internet explorer:
developer: microsoft. latest version: 9/10. original release date: bundled with windows 95 and up. best uses: downloading another browser.

this browser is the most crash prone browser i have ever used. even IE9 is not stable. it can't do much rendering with flash and HTML and such because it's too busy rendering itself useless for any purpose other than downloading another browser!
2.4* since it barely manages to be stable enough to be called a stable browser, it gets a low rating, but because it's bundled with windows, we have no need to buy a CD for other browsers, as well as the fact that it actually goes to webpages other than the homepage of its developers. i find that microsoft actually has to advertise it's browser since most people are abandoning it in favor of chrome, opera, and firefox, speaking of which:

firefox:
developer: mozilla. latest version: 11.0. original release date: 11/9/04. best uses: anything not requiring a lot of memory (older PCs) and most non-memory intensive webpages (lower end newer PCs)

firefox's bulk is astounding. it manages to be both faster than IE and more stable, and still be slower than the rest of the pack. the tabs aren't easy to drag off to make new windows, in fact, i'm pretty sure that feature is chrome exclusive. it's OK, by far better than IE.
4.6* rating

opera is a no fuss browser that gives you a lot of what you would want from one, but no drag off tabs and like most browsers no smooth tab sliding.
best uses for opera: extra browser for anyone.
 i use it as my tertiary browser just in case. it could almost be a twin of the

maxthon3 browser except maxthon lets you import bookmarks from any PC using maxthon, to any PC. i use maxthon3 as my secondary browser, and for not a lot of use, it is fine.

best uses for maxthon3: secondary browser to people used to chrome.
 opera gets a 6.8* and maxthon3 gets a 7.9* rating. as for the Wii opera, it's ok, getting a 5.4* rating for its hard Wii remote browsing, the fact that the on-screen keyboard is atrocious to try and use, and the fact it only supports flash 7 or so.

Chrome:
developer: google. current version: 19.0.1084.30 beta-m. original release date: 11/2/08. best uses: everything.

i've been using chrome since it's release when i got it packaged with google earth. never looked back. i threw away IE cus of its crashes, slowness, and insane amount of stupidity. now i only use firefox at the library, when i can't use chrome. the thinness and sleekness is astounding even now. you can hold click on a tab and drag it to the end or beginning, or pull it off the bar to make a whole new window. you can also merge windows by dragging them from one bar to another. it also has flash built in! i can run two flash games in one window without it slowing down! Chrome also lets you import bookmarks, history, apps, and themes to any current version of chrome when you sign in with your google account
all in all 9.7* rating. it has some, but not a lot of improvement room.

and thus concludes my browser review. when i research more browsers i'll post their reviews here.

photo credits wikipedia and myself