Group test: what's the best web browser?

We pit the five most popular web browsers head-to-head

By | PC Advisor | 28 February 12

PC Advisor reveals the best 5 web browsers available for you to download today.

5. Opera 10.53

Opera 10.53
  • Reviewed on: 7 May 10
  • RRP: Free
  • Rating: Rated 8 out of 10

Opera is a very fast, secure and standards-compliant browser. Its very power is also something of a hindrance as some users may find the wide range of preferences too bountiful to easily tweak to suit. Mac users may prefer to wait for some bugs to be ironed out if they’re used to the stability of Safari or Firefox. In the highly competitive world of web browsers, Opera is a name to watch, and emphatically a browser worth trying.

4. Apple Safari 5

Apple Safari 5
  • Reviewed on: 15 June 10
  • RRP: FREE
  • Rating: Rated 8 out of 10

When it comes to speed, Safari's at the head of the pack - at least, on the Mac. Its new Reader feature is unique among browsers; as a result, for reading long web articles, Safari is the best browser. However, even though Safari now supports extensions, at the moment there are few available, so it's far behind Firefox and even Chrome in this area. Its Address Bar is the least functional of all the browsers, and its bookmarking, which is no different from the last version, is still very basic and leaves something to be desired. As for HTML 5 support, there are so few HTML 5-enabled sites and features these days, it's not yet particularly useful. The upshot is that anyone who already uses Safari should upgrade immediately to Apple Safari 5. Those who have yet to use Safari may well want to download it as well, if only to check out the Safari Reader for reading long articles, and for experiencing speedy web browsing.

3. Microsoft Internet Explorer 9

Microsoft Internet Explorer 9
  • Reviewed on: 23 March 11
  • RRP: FREE
  • Rating: Rated 8 out of 10

If you've stopped using Internet Explorer because of speed problems or a tired-looking interface, you should give IE9 a try. You'll be surprised by its dramatic speed improvements and slicker interface. Improved adherence to Web standards is a plus as well, as are new features such as a double-duty address bar and the Performance Advisor. Existing IE users will want to upgrade right away -- it's hard to argue against a faster, cleaner-looking browser with a host of other nice extras.

2. Firefox 10

Firefox 10
  • Reviewed on: 28 February 12
  • RRP: FREE
  • Rating: Rated 8 out of 10

A point upgrade rather than a major revision, Firefox 10 nonetheless helps Firefox address some recent concerns about memory management, while adding new features.

1. Google Chrome 10

Google Chrome 10
  • Reviewed on: 25 March 11
  • RRP: Free
  • Rating: Rated 8 out of 10

Chrome may have only around 10% of the browser market by recent figures, but this version may help change that. If you don't yet use Google Chrome, you may want to try it out for the speed improvement alone. The new Options tab and the ability to sync passwords are the icing on the cake.

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Comments

Ray Merrington said: Apparently IE9 not supported on Windows XP I subscribe to BT broadband and they supply a custom version of IE8 Yet again the old and trusted OS neglected by Microsoft

markmcnee said: I agree with 3e6699fd2901e9160f8e12e358269f14disqus Ive been around the browsers and found Opera the best for me PC advisors own customer surveys show Opera to be one of the most popular among readers but editorially it tends to be ignored Why If the argument is it is not popular enough could this be something to do with the lack ofcoverage it gets in the media

hoppy said: I started years ago with Explorer as most do and tbh i found it ok Not brilliant not bad just ok and maybe a tad dullI switched to Firefox on version 2 and a thought it was superbIt was quick relatively secure and had plenty of add ons and you could customize it to deathIt was lighter than Explorer and much fasterThen with version 3 came the bugs security issues and overall performance was poor imoA friend told me about Opera and i havent looked back since It takes a bit of getting used to but its worth the effort as its fast very secure has enough add ons that i will ever use and it looks brilliantIt also has some elegant and nifty features but i do find its page scrolling needs work try scrolling down any page on cnet as its can be far from smooth sometimesGoogle just isnt an option for me personally for various reasons how it won best interface award is frankly a joke mostly security and by that i mean your security from it

Cyteck said: Yes I agree with Mats comments Your web browser of choice is a very subjective topic indeed A hear a lot of people trash Internet Explorer 80 whilst on my own workstation its not the fastest program to initially load up once loaded its extremely good amp very quick too Im NOT a fan of IE80s interface but I can live with it Opera gets my vote for a smooth polished interface I also like Firefox for its sheer range of add-ons such as the excellent Adblocker Plus amp its various personas Ive tried Safari amp I didnt like it much so ditched quite quickly Chrome I would never use due to its Google spying capabilities I never use Google ever All in all web browsers are just getting better amp better and I cannot wait to see how they all perform when given a VDSL connection ie 40megs fiber optic connections later this year

Mat Bailie said: And in reality other factors such as your PCs hardware its operating system and its connection speed will likely affect your browsing speed more than your web browser willSure but thats like saying dont every bother changing you ram or other components the CPU will always have much more affectChanging the browser does have an effect on browsing performance its all part of the combined packageIt smacks of performance isnt important to me so I cant be bothered sticking my neck out on that one

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