Every couple of months I go out and download all the latest browsers and test 'em out to see what's new. I don't know why I do it, I guess I'm waiting for something to come out thats better than what I currently use (Internet Explorer). Well today I did my little test and I am, for the first time in long while, using a new browser.
Please note that these are solely based on my opinions. I'm not an html expert, nor am I a browser fanatic. I am your simple, Mac user in search for the best web experience.
iCab 2.7.1
http://www.icab.de/
This was the first browser I tested out. I was first impressed that it was able to import all my 'favorites' directly out of IE. The interface was also pretty nice and it did good rendering these forums (which can have funky tables). But it does not have any support for CSS because ESPN.com was COMPLETELY messed. That's a killer because CSS is quickly becomming the new standard in web design and you're going to need a browser that can handle it. It also didn't have any support for secure logins (SSL) which I, and many others need, for banking, school, work, etc. Once those two features are implemented, I would like to give it another chance. But as-is, iCab can't do much for me.
OmniWeb 4.1 beta 1 (v332)
http://www.omnigroup.com
OmniWeb is really nice! I'm very pleasantly suprised with it. The anti-aliasing looks fantastic and it even rendered ESPN.com just fine! It logs into the Bank of America site (which is usually a job only IE can accomplish) and it's just all-out good browser. Very very impressive. But much to my chagrin, it doesn't like iframes.
iframes are not all that popular these days, but they are used .. so this feature (or lack there-of) may not be a deal breaker for you. Another 'negative' is that the browser scrolls fairly slow. It maybe because I'm just on a G3 500 .. but I do have over half a gig of ram. Its not SO bad that it makes you not want to use it though, if you're used to OSX's window-resizing, you'll get used to this. And to close out on a good note, I really like how OmniWeb uses the aqua look throught the browser.
Mozilla 0.9.8+ (build 2002020108)
http://www.mozilla.org
There's a big buzz around this newest series of Mozilla builds. And it worked very well for me. It did great on ESPN.com, FoxSports.com and supports iframes no problem! Not to mention this sucker is FAST! It also was allowed to log into my Bank of America account which amazed me, since I have never had a browser besides IE that BofA liked. My only complaint with Mozilla is the GUI. A major plus is that it is now using OSX's aqua look. Much better than the previous grey/silver thing. I am, however, not impressed that mozilla is still using icons from Netscape 4.7. I'm sure this will change because it can't be that hard to draw up some new icons .. but it doesn't look quite 'Apple' enough for me. (*note* this is, as far as I can tell, the latest Mach-O build that I used.)
Opera beta 3 Carbon
http://www.opera.com
This was actually a pretty decent browser. It did well with CSS and SSL. The interface was decent, but not great. It was in my opinion, a bit slow. It took noticeably longer to load pictures than the other browsers. Another gripe is it's rather weak attempt at incorporating aqua-style buttons in html. Remember the screenshot from OmniWeb? Well Opera tries to do the same thing but not well ... the buttons are bigger therefore they distort the rest of the page. Not a good thing.
Below is a little rating system I thought would be cute. Kind of a visual recap of my thoughts.
iCab
Speed: X X X
Rendering: X X X
Standards: X
OSX 'look': X X
Overall: X X
OmniWeb
Speed: X X
Rendering: X X X X
Standards: X X X
OSX 'look': X X X X X
Overall: X X X X
Mozilla
Speed: X X X X X
Rendering: X X X X
Standards: X X X X
OSX 'look': X X
Overall: X X X X
Opera
Speed: X X
Rendering: X X
Standards: X X X
OSX 'look': X X X
Overall: X X X
Internet Explorer
Speed: X X X X
Rendering: X X X X X
Standards: X X X X X
OSX 'look': X X X X
Overall: X X X X X
So in conclusion, I kept a couple browsers on my machine to further test and get a feel for. I'm keeping Mozilla because it was just so damn fast and compatable .. I was really impressed and I'm hoping to see how to do in the future. I am also keeping OmniWeb on my machine. I can't tell if the anti-aliased text is too much for me. It looks really slick but maybe a bit fuzzy. Ahhh, the choices. I'm still running IE as my main browser ... but OmniWeb is tempting me.
Thanks to Googolplex and Kilowatt for their input.
*bows and steps down*
Please note that these are solely based on my opinions. I'm not an html expert, nor am I a browser fanatic. I am your simple, Mac user in search for the best web experience.
iCab 2.7.1
http://www.icab.de/
This was the first browser I tested out. I was first impressed that it was able to import all my 'favorites' directly out of IE. The interface was also pretty nice and it did good rendering these forums (which can have funky tables). But it does not have any support for CSS because ESPN.com was COMPLETELY messed. That's a killer because CSS is quickly becomming the new standard in web design and you're going to need a browser that can handle it. It also didn't have any support for secure logins (SSL) which I, and many others need, for banking, school, work, etc. Once those two features are implemented, I would like to give it another chance. But as-is, iCab can't do much for me.
OmniWeb 4.1 beta 1 (v332)
http://www.omnigroup.com
OmniWeb is really nice! I'm very pleasantly suprised with it. The anti-aliasing looks fantastic and it even rendered ESPN.com just fine! It logs into the Bank of America site (which is usually a job only IE can accomplish) and it's just all-out good browser. Very very impressive. But much to my chagrin, it doesn't like iframes.
iframes are not all that popular these days, but they are used .. so this feature (or lack there-of) may not be a deal breaker for you. Another 'negative' is that the browser scrolls fairly slow. It maybe because I'm just on a G3 500 .. but I do have over half a gig of ram. Its not SO bad that it makes you not want to use it though, if you're used to OSX's window-resizing, you'll get used to this. And to close out on a good note, I really like how OmniWeb uses the aqua look throught the browser.
Mozilla 0.9.8+ (build 2002020108)
http://www.mozilla.org
There's a big buzz around this newest series of Mozilla builds. And it worked very well for me. It did great on ESPN.com, FoxSports.com and supports iframes no problem! Not to mention this sucker is FAST! It also was allowed to log into my Bank of America account which amazed me, since I have never had a browser besides IE that BofA liked. My only complaint with Mozilla is the GUI. A major plus is that it is now using OSX's aqua look. Much better than the previous grey/silver thing. I am, however, not impressed that mozilla is still using icons from Netscape 4.7. I'm sure this will change because it can't be that hard to draw up some new icons .. but it doesn't look quite 'Apple' enough for me. (*note* this is, as far as I can tell, the latest Mach-O build that I used.)
Opera beta 3 Carbon
http://www.opera.com
This was actually a pretty decent browser. It did well with CSS and SSL. The interface was decent, but not great. It was in my opinion, a bit slow. It took noticeably longer to load pictures than the other browsers. Another gripe is it's rather weak attempt at incorporating aqua-style buttons in html. Remember the screenshot from OmniWeb? Well Opera tries to do the same thing but not well ... the buttons are bigger therefore they distort the rest of the page. Not a good thing.
Below is a little rating system I thought would be cute. Kind of a visual recap of my thoughts.
iCab
Speed: X X X
Rendering: X X X
Standards: X
OSX 'look': X X
Overall: X X
OmniWeb
Speed: X X
Rendering: X X X X
Standards: X X X
OSX 'look': X X X X X
Overall: X X X X
Mozilla
Speed: X X X X X
Rendering: X X X X
Standards: X X X X
OSX 'look': X X
Overall: X X X X
Opera
Speed: X X
Rendering: X X
Standards: X X X
OSX 'look': X X X
Overall: X X X
Internet Explorer
Speed: X X X X
Rendering: X X X X X
Standards: X X X X X
OSX 'look': X X X X
Overall: X X X X X
So in conclusion, I kept a couple browsers on my machine to further test and get a feel for. I'm keeping Mozilla because it was just so damn fast and compatable .. I was really impressed and I'm hoping to see how to do in the future. I am also keeping OmniWeb on my machine. I can't tell if the anti-aliased text is too much for me. It looks really slick but maybe a bit fuzzy. Ahhh, the choices. I'm still running IE as my main browser ... but OmniWeb is tempting me.
Thanks to Googolplex and Kilowatt for their input.
*bows and steps down*
