Google Chrome
This browser is developed by Google (obviously) and it's quite fast as you'd expect. Starts up instantly and puts IE8 to shame. There's quite a lot to like about it, but then there's somethings you might not like. It uses quite a lot of system memory, especially the add-ons. AdBlock, GMail notifier, etc.
It isn't following the same design as other browsers either there's just an address bar, tabs, and thats it! That's probably a good thing though, because it means more room for the web page. Uses the same web engine as Safari. As for site loading; Youtube loads up quite a lot faster than IE8 with Firefox trailing close behind. As for Safari there's about a second in it but Chrome loads it just a bit faster. I do think though that these companies mainly wanted Youtube loading up faster because between Safari, Firefox & Chrome other sites load up the same. (Myspace, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) Still with IE8 lagging way behind.
For features it has themes such as those you'd find with Firefox and it has slick way of bookmarking. (Two clicks and the page is bookmarked!) There's also the ability to do Google Search in the address bar, just type in what you'd normal type in if you were on google, which is a nice feature. Finally one of the more odd features is Incognito, where your web history isnt saved. To be honest I've never used this feature seeing as you can delete the history for the day quite easily anyway.
Overall, it's a fast browser. Better than Firefox & IE8... on par with Safari.
Mozilla Firefox
Firefox is one of the older browsers, been around for a while, everyone's used it sometime or another. It's good, rarely crashes and it's faster than IE8. Loads pages relatively fast and gets stuff done. There's not much to say about this browser because it's quite a lot like Chrome just not as fast really. It has some cool themes which are the best out of any browser available. And it's pretty cool looking.
Pretty standard design, address bar, tabs, toolbars, info bar, status bar. Basically like IE8's layout. Has a nice download box and add-ons design, much better than any other browser. As for site loading; Youtube loads up kinda slow, took about 5 seconds, considering Chrome took under a second and Safari just over a second. As I said above it does load most other sites at the same speed as Safari and Chrome though. It's not slow though if you've been using IE for the last few years.
For features it has the best themes available, A massive source of add-ons and extras. Firefox also has the ability to do Search in the address bar except Yahoo! Search is preferred. (don't know why, because Yahoo is sh*t). Not much more to say, it's a solid browser, been around for a long time and it's been the main alternative to IE for almost everyone.
Overall, good solid browsing experience, just lacks behind the faster two.
Safari
Now here's Apple's contribution to the mix. Firstly, it is fast. And definitely wins the looks contest. Why? Because of the Cover Flow design of looking through web pages. It's just light years ahead of anything else out there. Does everything Chrome can do, but looks a bit better and has the option for toolbars, which is nice. (and something I wish Google had left in chrome)
Similar design to Chrome but less minimalist, more user options. As for site loading; Youtube loads up about half a second behind Chrome and looks different. And as mentioned before, loads all other sites around the same speed, with the exception of IE8.
For features it has Cover Flow, which is the best ever feature to have in a browser. Looked great in iTunes and now it's in Safari and I swear they aren't paying me to say this! haha. It does overshadow the other features but there is some annoying things, pop ups that are animated just do not work well when you are busy on the net and this pop up animated scroll down appears. Distracting! Other than that it's the usual stuff. Easy to use and isn't that tech orientated (much like Mac users, so it suites them).
Fast browser, but it's made apple. So get it if you're on pills. Otherwise get Chrome.
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Microsoft's default browser. Comes with Windows. It's basically Firefox but crap. It has annoying pop ups asking if you want it as default and the 'Welcome to IE8' rubbish. It isn't very secure and you shouldn't use it unless you're using it to download another browser.
As for features, nothing new. The tabs don't work as well as in the other browsers. There's only 3 good things about Internet Explorer. 1. It will work with Windows perfectly. 2. The download bar, it's been the same since day 1, and is cool. 3. It's a quicker way of getting into 'Internet Options' than any other browser.
It's not great but I guess it gets the job done. Slowly, but done all the same. The 64-Bit version isn't much greater as it doesn't even work with half the plugins. As for site loading it's dead last. The only site it can load as fast as the others is Bing.com. (Not surprising)
Anyway, use this browser only if you are downloading another one or if you need to view XML's properly (which is another thing it does right).
So that's it. Review of 4 browsers. The great, the good, the bad, and Internet explorer. Hope this helps you in deciding. Any questions, post a comment! :)
