Browsers Part II

And now, the exciting conclusion of my browser reviews!

OPERA

Opera was a browser I was familiar with, but not in a way you might expect. I have used Opera as the web browser on my Wii video game console, as they were the company willing to step forward and design a browser for use with the new Wii remote way back in 2007. The browser was relatively functional on the Wii, if not a little clumsy due to the Wii Remote's poor interface with the tiny buttons on new websites. More recently, I downloaded the Opera browser for my Android smartphone as an alternative to the Android browser.

The Opera browser on my Macbook Air immediately reminds me of Chrome in terms of it's simple layout and lightning speed, and is actually a little less spartan than google's creation. I can't understate how quick this browser is! The zoom feature is actually quite nice as well, compared to Safari. It has a slow gradient zoom in and out, as opposed to Safari's quick jumps to various stages of zoom. The "speed dial" page is also quite nice and reminiscent of Safari's "top pages." I was pleasantly surprised by Opera!

FIREFOX

Known as the browser that killed Internet Explorer, Firefox was a browser I had used for years. With Internet Explorer's propensity for spyware and malware, Firefox was a great choice in the mid-2000's for a browser that was functional, included tabbed browsing, and wasn't vulnerable to everything and everything. But, over time, this advantage has eroded, and the Firefox I once knew and loved had become bogged down with too many features and buttons. The layout is just cluttered.

No more! Now it looks a lot like Chrome and Opera, and had the politeness to import my bookmarks, favorite sites and homepage from Safari! How nice!

THE VERDICT

I gotta say, although for familiarity's sake I will probably continue to use Safari... Opera and Firefox is damn good browsers. With a good combination of speed and simplicity, and some more bells and whistles that I've come to expect, it seems like a happy medium between Safari and the too-basic Chrome.