Browser Breakdown: What Browser Should Your Business Use?

by | Aug 13, 2012 | Digital Strategy

Great! Your office allows you the freedom to choose your own browser. Now comes the painstaking decision making and agonizing final judgment.  Of course, the obvious limitations exist for using a new browser. For instance, you can’t use Safari on a PC without modification and some browsers don’t work as well on different hardware as others do. Then there are the constant updates to the browser, combined with the continual threat of security that some of the browsers protect against and others don’t and can’t.  So which should you choose? Please, resist going out to a field somewhere and whacking your office printer. Finding the best browser for your business shouldn’t take time out of your actual browsing, add another line to your budget or stress you out. Take a look at what we found for the following browsers and decide which one is right for your business. Easy button.

Mozilla Firefox

  • Wins for best basic browser high start-up time. This is easy to use and loads and downloads quickly and easily. Firefox has most of the features of chrome but is not backed by a huge conglomerate corporation like Chrome, Explorer and Safari.
  • Customizable tabs and saved tabs. Add-Ons, Ignito, plug ins, tabbed browsing, live bookmarks and is a suggested browser for Web Development overall.
  • Firefox is widely used and is really good for web related development and design as well as a large degree of compatibility.

Explorer:

  • Most used and often comes pre-installed on PC’s. Not very fast and not very “clean” like Mozilla and Chrome.  Chrome and Mozilla Firefox offer clearer graphics and better video and clearer video.
  • Easy to use and loads most content.
  • Some web apps for business may only work on explorer (especially older apps and telecommunications integrations).
  • Crashes frequently, but does allow for customization.
  • Most compatible, oldest, and most used browser. New features really enhance IE’s reputation.

Opera:

  • Opera is not as popular as the rest, but has a following among speed demons.
  • Offers cutting-edge features and navigation speeds that rival the best in the industry.
  • It sometimes has compatibility issues that make it hard to use this browser in contrast with a browser like Chrome.
  • Opera is the second oldest of the internet browsers we have looked at and boasts 200 million users.
  • Offers safety, fast loading times and excellent user support.
  • Fastest browser of the group, it is also the most secured browser, has the fastest Java-Script Engine and features HTML 5 support.

 

Safari-

  • Mainly used by Mac users and those with iPhones and iPads.
  • Measures a full point under Chrome for use in a recent study, but still offers many compatibility features.
  • Safari offers high load speeds and is definitely easy to use (what else would you expect from Apple??).
  • Most used browser in European countries.
  • Features: private browsing, bookmark integration with address book, PDF viewer and tabbed browsing.

Google Chrome:

  • Google is rated as the top browser by many sources for its ability to integrate all your Google information in the cloud and also its ease of use and easy link to Google search and apps.
  • If you’re into using Google, Gmail or any of their apps and have an Android Google phone then your integration goes even farther. Those on the android platform can greatly benefit from using Chrome universally.
  • Chrome has a 9.85 overall rating according to a private review of ten browsers in the category.
  • Chrome is pretty awesome and offers great integration and features but it can take a while to start up. It is pretty “heavy” as far as browsers go and takes a while to get configured and up and running. This can be frustrating for some consumers.
  • If one window fails to start running, you can just close one tab instead of making the whole browser go down.
  • Features: Task Manager, Synchronizing, Tabbed browsing, Ignito Mode Browsing and most safe browser on the list.

We hope that this research summary has given you a little more insight into what browser would be best for you and your business. Honorable mention goes to: Flock, a Social Networking browser; Avant, a lighter browser;  Maxthon, the Titanic “un-crashable browser”. If you have any questions about web browsers or any questions for us here at WebConnection, please don’t hesitate to contact us.