Browser wars

Gone are the days when there was only one browser to use to surf the web. Now there's a multitude of them, but which one is the best right now?

In my time online I've tried a good few browsers. When I first got a computer I was using Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 (that came bundled with Windows 98). And when I learnt more about the web, and started to make my own websites, I found that a browser named Netscape Navigator was superior. I instantly switched.

Then at my time at uni I was introduced to Firebird (now named Firefox). Yes, I'm one of those few people who actually knew it was called something else originally. Version 0.6 was a fresh change with a tabbed window interface - this was new, this was exciting.

Suddenly over the next few years Opera became free of charge, Netscape died, and then more recently Google Chrome came along. Of course, I had to try them all out. I even tried the minnows of Flock and Maxthon (aka MyIE2) thinking are they going to be the next big thing and I was there first. And on my Mac I had Internet Explorer 5 (the worst browser of all time in my opinion), Firefox, Safari, and Camino.

These days I have the major browsers, for personal use, and for web development. If I look at my desktop now I see icons for IE7, IE8, IE9, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox 3.6, Mozilla Firefox 7, Opera, and Safari. On the Mac I have Safari, Firefox, Camino, Opera, and Chrome. Who can say to me I don't do cross browser testing?

And don't get me started on mobile phone browsers. I've had Nokia Browser, Skyfire, Android Browser, Opera Mini, and Dolphin. I need a new phone if I want to try out Firefox Mobile. Hint hint, boss! ;)

Who knows what will be next? More browsers? Others dying off? Version numbers getting into double figures, or even the twenties? What I'll be sure of is that I'll be there testing out that new browser version and making sure that website I just built displays just right in it.

I don't think there's any clear winner of which browser is the best. Developers, like me, try to avoid Internet Explorer at all costs, but in terms of just browsing the web I think it's going to be down to familiarity, speed and personal preference (and maybe which one syncs with your mobile phone). Go forth and make it something you do today: try out a browser you've never used before. Who knows, you might just like it.