8 best browsers for computer

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The most popular, fastest and safest web browsers.

1. Google Chrome is the most versatile

• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS.
• Pros: works best with Google services, has a huge library of extensions, has excellent synchronization between devices.
• Minuses: takes up a lot of memory, does not respect your privacy very carefully, has meager interface settings.

Chrome is the choice of almost 67% of Browser Market Share Internet users. The browser is, as expected, perfectly compatible with all Google services and web applications, such as Google Drive and Google Docs.

Chrome's interface is perfectly clean and simple. There is nothing superfluous in it: all additional functions are implemented in the form of extensions that do anything.

But keep in mind that this is one of the most memory-hungry browsers. And there is still no way to customize it for yourself: the user can only change the theme and mix the extension icons on the top panel.

In addition, Chrome regularly leaks information into Google about what sites you visit and what you are looking for, so that it can then stuff you with targeted ads.

Fortunately, there are several alternatives to this browser, such as the open source Chromium. Useful if you want to take advantage of Chrome without worrying about Google telemetry.

2. Mozilla Firefox is the most customizable and free

• Platforms:Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS.
• Pros:speed of work, abundance of extensions, customizable interface, open source code, privacy.
• Minuses:the update mechanism is not very convenient.

Firefox has a lot more customization options than Google's browser. You can freely add, remove and move any items on the toolbar or menu.

Firefox has a large library of extensions. And some of them have no analogues in Chrome. Unfortunately, old addons are not always compatible with newer versions of the browser.

Firefox consumes system resources, in particular RAM, more modestly than Chrome.

Firefox is committed to privacy and confidentiality. It has built-in tracking protection, and the browser is open source.

The downside is not a very thoughtful update process. While the browser installs a new version, you can't sit on the Internet: you have to look at the window with a crawling indicator and wait. On fast devices with SSD it takes only a second, but on older machines it is annoying.

3. Vivaldi is the most functional

• Platforms:Windows, macOS, Linux, Android.
• Pros:a huge number of settings, work with Chrome extensions.
• Minuses:the number of buttons and functions can confuse inexperienced users.

Vivaldi can be safely called the browser with the most features. There are notes in the side menu, and mouse gestures to control the browser, and preview of the contents of the tabs, and the grouping of these same tabs in stacks.

Vivaldi has a tool for capturing screenshots with annotations. The browser can be controlled using the keyboard, and keyboard shortcuts can be easily reassigned.

Separately worth mentioning is the ability to add your own sites to the Vivaldi sidebar. The browser also allows you to place a tabbed panel anywhere: at the top, bottom or side.

There are few disadvantages. The browser does not yet have its own extension store. And there is also no built-in mail client, which they only promise to do so far.

4. Opera - for those who need a VPN

• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS.
• Pros: built-in VPN, ad blocker, convenient sidebar.
• Minuses: few extensions, useless built-in crypto wallet.

Fast and functional browser based on Chrome. Opera has the ability to preload pages. The application remembers which sites you visit most often and starts loading the page in the background while you just type the address.

The browser offers, among other things, a news viewing tool that is located in the sidebar. There you can also host mobile versions of different sites in order to keep them always at hand.

Opera's main feature is its built-in VPN.

It allows you to load pages faster and view even blocked sites, and also increases your privacy and blocks tracking and cryptocurrency mining scenarios.

Opera has its own extension store. There are not very many of them, but it's not so bad: the browser supports Chrome add-ons.

5. Microsoft Edge - for those who value minimal resource consumption

• Platforms:Windows, macOS, Android, iOS.
• Pros:handwriting input, modest battery consumption, built-in reading aloud.
• Minuses:too few extensions

Edge also runs on the open source Chromium engine. It is quite fast and, according to Microsoft, is more energy efficient than other browsers. It has a built-in reading mode that cleans pages from all unnecessary. Edge allows you to save links for later and can be used as a tool for viewing e-books.

The browser has tools to help protect your privacy on the web, as well as built-in handwriting notes right on top of web pages and the Share menu. Through it, you can throw links to others from your computer via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

An interesting solution is the "Collections" function, which allows you to save web pages, images, selected text and other content from the Internet into separate collections.

Edge has few extensions of its own, but by and large this is not a hindrance, since you can easily install any plugins from Google Chrome.

6. Safari - for Mac users

• Platforms: macOS, iOS.
• Pros: beautiful appearance, convenient reading mode, low resource consumption, perfect integration into the Apple ecosystem.
• Minuses: not intended for non-Apple technology, few settings, even fewer extensions.

The best browser for Apple devices is Safari. It's fast, easy to use, perfectly integrated into macOS, and just as beautiful as an Apple app should be.

Safari is specifically designed to conserve battery life on your MacBook, making it far more energy efficient on these devices than any other browser. Safari bookmarks, passwords and other data are synced with your iPhone and iPad.

Safari has a Picture-in-Picture mode for watching videos in a small, separate window. All buttons and elements on the toolbar can be dragged with the mouse in the configuration mode when you enter.

However, if you have a MacBook and an Android smartphone, Safari will not be able to sync bookmarks between them - install other browsers.

Find out ?

9 tips to get the most out of Safari

7. Tor Browser - for those who want to hide their activities on the Web

• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android.
• Pros: privacy at altitude, opens blocked sites, based on Firefox.
• Minuses: slow connection over the Tor network.

If you have something to hide or you cannot access some blocked site, try the anonymous Tor Browser. It works on the principle of onion routing: when you surf, your encrypted data passes through multiple Tor servers, making it difficult to track.

The browser is based on Firefox, so everything that has been said about that browser will also be true for this: interface, capabilities, functions. But all telemetry was carefully removed from the Tor Browser and extensions were installed here to protect user privacy.

The anonymous DuckDuckGo is installed as the default search engine here; it is not recommended to change it to Google.

Tor Browser is clearly not suitable for daily use: the connection over the Tor network is quite slow. And there is no synchronization with mobile devices - for security reasons.

Specify?

4 special browsers for anonymous surfing

8. "Yandex Browser" - for fans of the search engine of the same name

• Platforms:Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS.
• Pros:tight integration with Yandex services, built-in voice assistant Alice.
• Minuses: gaudy distracting animated backgrounds, too many unnecessary features.

Yandex Browser is the brainchild of the popular Russian search engine based on Chrome.

There is a "Turbo" function that speeds up the opening of pages and loading videos on slow connections, a special mode for low-power computers and an ad blocker. You can watch videos in a separate small window in the "Picture in Picture" mode.

The Yandex Browser has a built-in voice assistant Alice. She knows how to search the Internet, tell the weather, read out the fragments of the text you specified and joke (sometimes it is appropriate).

The browser has its own small library of extensions, but it also supports add-ons from Chrome and Opera.

The downside immediately catches the eye: the browser is crammed with functions that are not always needed. If you do not use Yandex services, this web browser is definitely not for you.

The text was last updated on December 29, 2020.

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