Comparison of the New Web browsers

They are brand new and we've tested. Choose your next web browser.

Put on your waxed yellow and your boots! This week we take you off. In the open sea! But not on board any boat ... As for the race to which we invite you we invite you on board, the browser technology for surfing Internet. They are called Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera or Safari. Think you know them, but they have just released a new version, or preparing to do so. And are already available at the prototype stage.

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We do not doubt for a moment that you are sensitive to their large and small innovations. As you have always been, to the point that within a few years, many of you have even decided to change their habits by adopting a different browser. Thus, in December 2004, according to Net Applications survey, there were over 91% using Internet Explorer and only 4% to prefer Firefox. In February 2009, the situation has completely changed. There are more than 67% of you who use Internet Explorer, and nearly 22% have adopted Firefox. And there are now more than 8% to surf with Safari, Apple's browser.

Complementary functions

What justifies these changes normal? First, the ability of some browsers to display faster than other web pages. And, and importantly, their ability to display these pages. To do this, they must be able to interpret the technologies to which languages (JavaScript, HTML, etc..) Web development - we return to this point at the end of this file. But that's not all. A change in the browser is also justified because of its ergonomics are more or less successful. It includes, among other things, the possibilities of customization offered.

For example, Firefox has always distinguished by accepting a number of extensions (also called add-on or plug-in), that add additional functions to make everything and anything from one of its windows. Take a look at the site addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/, which includes all the add-on to Firefox. The idea is so good that Microsoft has endorsed suggesting also for some time, gallery extension, on www.ieaddons.com/en/.

However, for the three other browsers that accept them, but to a lesser extent, this type of add-ons, a little research on the Internet via a search engine is required (Google, Yahoo ...).

A race off, with the right wing

Ease of use is not to be outdone, rival publishers and ingenuity of today to beautify their browsers, while still making them more functional. We must recognize that the challenge is rather successful for each. For example, whereas Internet Explorer has fun cutting the web into slices, Safari offers you the flick. You will understand how in the following pages. And you will see, it's very useful.

But all this does not make you forget that a browser is still primarily a tool for surfing the Internet ... No need to board a trimaran, as modern and comfortable it is, if not available the right wing, capable of propelling you calmly in your courses to the sea!

Internet Explorer 8 : Key ingenuity and more


At first glance, the eighth version of the Microsoft browser offers nothing exotic. But if the interface remains effectively unchanged, we find the use, Internet Explorer 8 still reserve some good surprises. And this is real news.

More stable, Internet Explorer no longer crashes when a Web page is no longer responding. And, in case of sudden closure, it is able to restart, restore all open windows before this unfortunate incident. Then, it is more secure thanks to its SmartScreen filter that checks innocuous sites we visit. But that's not all ...

The Slices of Web in your favorites

Microsoft calls this the "Web Slices". But what's the point? For example, you send EBay an item and would like to follow the evolution of its price.

But how, without being connected to the site? When you pass the mouse over the product, a small green logo arises. Click above to create a new button in the task pane of Internet Explorer Favorites. Wherever you surfing now, clicking on this button displays a little window with the photo and all relevant information relating to the desired object. And when this change, the button flashes. Practice!

Of course, if EBay is today one of the first sites to use Web Slices, we can bet that others will soon get started.

Accelerator to go to the essentials

Accelerator? For iron faster? Not at all! Accelerators are part of the context menu of Web pages. That appears when you right-click a word or select a link. Accelerators allow you to quickly exploit the information you find on the Web in your software or online services preferred. For example, you are looking for a nice restaurant for tonight? You were well advised to go to Betty ... But where is the trendy new bistro? Select with the mouse the address found on the Internet, clicking on the button that has just come, and then click Locate with Live Search ... And now you stand on a map. Use another accelerator address to send this email, share it on Facebook ... hence Click Search other accelerators to see what you can do now without leaving a Web page!

Tabs with high color

On Google, you are looking for information about the latest U2 album. You open a link in a new tab. Look! Internet Explorer colors that tab such as the Google page. At a glance, and you see all the Web pages linked together. But be careful not to move a tab, because then it does more ...

Private navigation without trace

You do not want Internet Explorer keeps trace (history, cookies ...) of sites visited. Enable personal navigation. The filtering InPrivate "allows you to him, to prevent the sites you visit to forward - when you click on a banner advertisement, for example - information about you to another.

Safari 4 : a beta version


Is it because of its unpredictable success - for the record, Safari is now the third most used browser by Internet - Apple has decided to tweak, including Windows? Anyway, Safari 4 beta is proving to be a new year: very fast, stable, pleasant to use.

An interface adapted to the operating system

With this new version, Apple offers a browser that finally, in terms of ergonomics, fits perfectly not only for Mac OS X, but also to XP and Vista. Beta 4 and adopted the colors and buttons used in all software developed for Windows. This may sound ridiculous, but still takes away the impression that Safari gave the impression of being a Mac as it stuck in Windows.

His favorite sites at a glance

A new practice! Clicking the second button in the toolbar displays in the form of mosaic, at six, twelve or twenty-four sites you've visited most often. If you want some appear all the time, simply click on the Edit button, then pick the sites in question.

If, however, you want to delete the procedure is equally simple. Instead of clicking on the pin, you click the little X next to.

A highly visual history

If you're familiar with the interface of iTunes media player, you do not feel at home with Firefox! Apple has since resumed its principle of presentation of album one behind the other for consulting the history of visited Web pages. So you can browse through them, reducing the number of pages viewed by refining your search: Simply type one or more keywords into the search box in the upper right.

You also notice that Safari search these keywords not only in the title and address of the pages of your history, but also in their content. And that's really convenient!

Restart in case of improved crash

You are currently working on. You have a dozen browser windows open. Suddenly, your computer crashes! We've all been there one day and nothing is more detectable. Like Firefox or Internet Explorer, Safari is now able to reopen, all alone, all your browser windows unfortunately lost. You just need to pull down the menu History, Reopen all windows from the previous session.

Google Chrome 2 beta : back to basics


No revolution in sight for this young Internet browser will soon be compatible with Mac OS X and Linux. Google has preferred to focus on performance and announces 25% gain in speed compared to the previous version ... very fast! That is not to say that this beta version of Chrome 2 is totally devoid of news. But these are mainly to catch the face of competition with respect to basic functions such as managing the mouse wheel or the tabs. With this new version, Google Chrome seems therefore enter the age of maturity.

To enjoy now, is simple: you must download it.

History from the start

This is the first thing it shows for you: The History of the Web pages you visit most often. Practice for quick access to their favorite sites. But pity that this patchwork of only nine sites can be customized as proposed by one of Google's competitors, Safari.

The browser window closed

All browsers now offer a private browsing mode in order not to leave traces of its passage on some sites. Here is where Google is that it allows you to browse in confidence in one of its windows while browsing normally in others. To open a space for private browsing, simply pull down the Tools menu, New browser window closed. Not stupid!

Tabs that slide. Finally!

A little more handling can not refuse. Google's browser finally aligned on its competitors by allowing her to have tabs as you want. Catch them with the mouse, drag them ... That's it.

Windows side by side at a glance

A small tip is emerging. Drag a tab on the edge right at mid-height of the browser window, release it ... and here is your two pages displayed side by side on your desktop:

A AutoComplete forms

It's new in Google Chrome! The AutoComplete forms finally appeared. And it's still practice. By choosing what you usually type in forms on the Internet, Google Chrome may then suggest, early in the seizure of a field, complete for you.

Full screen to take in his eyes

Another basic feature missing in this browser: display full-screen Web pages. Press the F11 key to activate it. Again press the same button to display the site in a window, or move the mouse pointer on top of the screen and click on the link that appears

Firefox 3.1 beta 3 : ready for the Web of the future


It is a profound work that has been done on the new version of the most serious challenger to Internet Explorer. Do not expect any in a range of new features and a disruption of the inter face. In contrast, Firefox 3.1 browser looks like a stable and fast.

Its JavaScript engine, which allows software to run online, shows a significant performance gain. Moreover, memory consumption browser has been revised downwards. And he is already able to take you to sites using the Web technologies of tomorrow. A site that will integrate more and more videos, music, geolocation systems, software ... made using new standards for development. But frustration grabs you because you hope that Firefox 3.1 brings all the same news more visible? Do not worry, we've found some ...

Personal navigation to surf stealth

You do not want other users of your computer can see the history of your Internet browsing? Most browsers now seem to take seriously the privacy of Internet users ... Firefox did not cut and offers also a private browsing mode. It is activated through the Tools menu. But beware, all open windows then disappear to make way for a new one which will not keep track of web pages you visit. Thus, once completed private browsing, simply close the window to reappear all the others ... You can then resume normal activity.

Selective cleaning

If you do not choose to use personal navigation, Firefox offers another way to erase your tracks without losing all your browsing history. Pull down the Tools menu, Delete recent history ... A window appears allowing you to remove any trace of your last two, four hours, or the whole day. And you can even make the sorting! Choose, for example, to erase everything except the list of your downloads. It's a great idea.

A search in the multi-page views

Very easy to find a recently visited Web site! Simply type in the address bar, one or more words that will be searched in the title and address of all the Web pages listed in the History of Firefox. All you have to click the right link.

Tab window switching

You used to change the order of your browser tabs by dragging the mouse. Now, choose the same window where you want them placed. Enter a tab, move it to another window of Firefox, and place it where you want. Or drop it on the desktop for it to appear in a new browser window. So convenient that one wonders how it was before!

Videos played back without additional software

Able to watch videos in their browser without having to install third party software or plug-in. Admittedly, these are all on the developers of sites that will satisfy this novelty that will prevent them from using technology fee, as the Flash format used among others in sharing sites Video (YouTube, etc.).

Opera 10 Preview : still in the race


This Norwegian Internet browser has often been ahead of its competitors in terms of functions. Moreover, many of them have inspired Microsoft and the community of developers of Firefox, among others.

Still, Opera is far from being the most used browser. But this does not prevent them to follow his sweet way. And even to propose new features that are found nowhere else yet.

The latest version of Opera is not completed and remains to this day.

An improved display

With this new version, Opera fine-tunes its presentation. Emphasis was placed on the quality of text display, especially the Web and vector fonts.

For the record, the fonts are planned to be extended to infinity without distortion, or staircase effect.

A turbo in the engine

This is a very good idea to assume that everyone does not have an Internet connection or broadband good! Hence the presence of a small button with a timer at the bottom left corner of the Opera, on which you can click to activate the compression of web pages before they pass on your computer. Lighter, your pages load much faster. Besides the clock, Opera also shows the compression ratio of your pages. Side of the coin, all the same: if the loading of pages is undeniably faster, the quality of the images and photographs contained in particular is being deteriorated. Inevitably, they are compressed! So if you have no problem with speed, you will pass you by this office, however well thought out.

An integrated spell checker

Warning! There it was still only a preliminary version of Opera 10. Let us be indulgent to the fact that for the moment, his new spell checker does not correct the English.

Automatic updates

The Opera fans will appreciate, while others are probably wondering why it did not already exist ... This new version automatically detects updates and install them without asking for permission. It's even more convenient ...

HTML in your mail

Opera, this is not just a browser. It is also a message that can replace your usual software.

Except that, unlike the messaging software to the version of Opera 9, it was not possible to compose messages in HTML format. In other words, colorful messages, adopting a policy or another, using a letterhead, etc.. With the 10 version of Opera is now possible. Simply check the box Use HTML Formatting and then left free to creativity

The browsers test to test


As good to use these five browsers? Compatibility with Web technologies, speed ... Safari tops!

Request that there is to a browser if it is to be fast? In other words display as soon as possible web pages. Because there's nothing more annoying than having to wait ... We have evaluated the velocity of the five browsers with Peacekeeper, the new tool offered by Futuremark, a company specializing in performance testing software. You can do this yourself online test and verify the results we have obtained, by visiting the site Futuremark.com.

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We evaluated five browsers on the same computer without running other software at the same time, or even touching the keyboard and mouse ... and without bias!

Safari 4, champion of speed

And it was that ... elbow to elbow with 2 Google Chrome, the beta of Safari 4 came out top! This is not surprising since both browsers use the same rendering engine. Internet Explorer 8, it is completely dropped. According Peacekeeper is 61% slower than Apple's browser. Opera is the surprise of this test, since it ranks third in front of Firefox. But these two browsers are respectively 21% and 33% less efficient than Safari.

Safari 4 and Opera 10, tied for display

We then submitted the browser Acid3 test. A test you can also try visiting the site acid3.acidtests.org. It submits the rendering engine browsers a series of tests to verify their ability to support standard Web technologies, and thus to correctly display the pages. Result? Only two of the five browsers fare with flying colors! Safari 4, which has already distinguished by its speed, and this time Opera 10, which is definitely a good surprise.

Note, however, it has been a hair for Google Chrome 2 join the winning combination, but the words "Link-test failed" on the results page of the test, we made several times, suggests a small problem. Surprisingly, Firefox 3.1 encounters hardship and password correctly that 93% of the Acid3 test.

As for Internet Explorer, it is again dropped with only 20% of successful tests and the appearance of the word "failed Linktest"

To each his own browser ...

The two sets of tests that we have submitted new versions of five major browsers now, Safari 4 is therefore the first of the class. But if we add the criterion of usability, perhaps you prefer to use another one. Because even in the drafting of Micro Hebdo, opinions differ! And anyway, whatever your preference, you will continue to occasionally use Internet Explorer to visit Web sites using ActiveX technology of Microsoft.