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The most important thing of your computer is to run a web browser. Whether you're using Chrome, Firefox, or an outdated Internet Explorer version, this is probably the most used application on your computer. Heck, Google has made everything an operating system a browser because it's really all you need.
So, why not think more about browsers? We regularly update our phones, frequently perform maintenance on our computers, but we rarely consider the application we use the most. It's a bit like regularly cleaning the outside of your house … but never scrubbing the toilet or doing the dishes.
A recent update made Google's Chrome browser even easier and cleaner, with a similar look across all platforms.
Photo:
James Pace-Cornsilk / The Wall Street Journal
Years ago, Chrome was virtually the only good browser available, and it remains the dominant force on the market. I have been using it for years, largely because it seemed useless and boring to change. Recently, Firefox and
Apple
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Safari has seen tremendous improvements and
Microsoft
has replaced Internet Explorer with Edge, a much better way to use the Web. There is even a cottage industry of hyperspecific browsers for savvy users or private users.
All these new options were the perfect reason to make sure, for the first time in too long, that I was really using the best browser possible. And to test what a modern browser can do.
Keep tabs
For most people, there are five interesting browsers: Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge and Opera. (Remember Opera ?!)
It's easy to assume that all browsers are the same: it's just a box to access the Internet, right? All are free to download and easy to use. They may actually be hard to distinguish, each with similar rows of tabs, bookmarks, and search fields.
Firefox is full of nifty navigation features, like a night mode that saves you from the eye, and a simple way to send a tab to another device.
Photo:
James Pace-Cornsilk / The Wall Street Journal
In my tests, I found some surprising differences. To test how much each browser taxes my system, I loaded the same 10 sites on each browser and saw them gorging on my MacBook's RAM. Chrome, a notorious resource, took the most memory, with Safari and Opera behind them. Firefox, however, required 30% less RAM than Chrome to perform the same tasks.
As for performance testing, performance testing and web games like Slither, the built-in browsers – Edge on Windows 10 and MacOS Safari – outperformed all others, but Chrome was still behind. Firefox and Opera have performed worse, especially in more complex tests.
Embedded browsers, such as Safari on iPhone and iPad, work better than third-party options, and mobile browsers are usually better than their counterparts.
Photo:
James Pace-Cornsilk / The Wall Street Journal
Among the mobile browsers (which I tested on an iPhone XS and a Google Pixel 2 XL), the differences were less important. Surprisingly, in each case, mobile browsers outperformed their desktop counterparts. They are faster to load pages, able to handle more intense Web applications and generally better browsers.
If you use only one device, you can use the built-in browser. On the Mac, I am particularly impressed by the latest version of Safari, which offers a dark mode and who, finally (well, what was Apple waiting for?), Finally uses favicons, these little ones square images showing you are on the site – to help you sort the tabs faster. The trap: To upgrade Safari, you must upgrade your entire MacOS to the new Mojave when it is released on September 24th.
But in this extremely mobile world, you probably do not use a single device. That's why your browser must follow you, syncing your bookmarks, settings, and history so you can always pick up where you left off. There is no Edge for Mac or Safari for Windows or Android, so unless you are all about Microsoft or Apple products, I recommend you to launch your lot elsewhere.
Window Shopping
Choosing between Chrome, Opera and Firefox is largely a matter of personal taste.
Chrome is a delightfully simple application, especially after a recent update: it contains a space for tabs and the big box in which you type the URLs and searches, and that's pretty much the entire interface .
When you open a new tab in Firefox, it displays your most visited pages as well as a selection of popular articles from the Pocket Late Reading service.
Photo:
James Pace-Cornsilk / The Wall Street Journal
Firefox, meanwhile, is a fountain of features. Virtually all pixels can be customized and even the layout can be changed. With Firefox, I can send a page from my computer to my phone in two clicks; I can record something to read later in the Pocket app with one. You can search 10 sites with a single query and easily take full screen screenshots. Firefox even has a night mode. Other browsers require extensions to perform these operations, which do not work on mobile and often require access to a large amount of your data. It is better integrated in the browser.
As a result of all these features, however, I found Firefox messy. It took 10 minutes to customize the toolbar and choose a theme to make it look like Chrome. Only more functional way.
Opera's call focuses on two talents: backing up your battery and data capital (especially if you're on a mobile connection) and automatically protecting your privacy. It will block ads and trackers that contain your personal data. Opera even has an integrated VPN, so you can browse more secretly. Unfortunately, there is only a small library of extensions. And I got fed up with endless pop-ups telling me I did not use an official browser.
Opera's best features are those that help conserve juice and use your battery's data, but its interface is a bit noisy.
Photo:
James Pace-Cornsilk / The Wall Street Journal
Firefox offers some security and privacy features of Opera, but not all. Same thing with the Safari updated. You can not easily use Google Chrome without at least knowing what you are doing. (Google says that its privacy settings allow you to control your data, but most sharing options are enabled by default.) I'm not comfortable with any company that knows all of my web activities. huge pieces of each day.
I thought I would end my experience on a single browser, but I'm starting to divide my time. I use it most often, because even if it is a little slower at least, it does not slow down my computer, and it is so useful to quickly send files between my devices. Chrome, I use it for Google apps, both because they seem to work better here and because it's helpful to have my mail and calendar protected from other tabs.
Whatever your choice, I recommend you download it on all your devices and create an account in order to synchronize data between them. You should take a few minutes to change the appearance and add extensions. Websites can look alike in all browsers – trust me, I've checked – but your web browsing experience can be tailored to your needs.
You should think of browsers not as interchangeable widgets, but as tools just as important as your phone or keyboard. With the right one in place, the whole system works better. Do not open too many tabs.
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Write to David Pierce at [email protected]
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