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Internet Browser Wars: Which Browser Is Good For Small Businesses?
As long as you’re thinking about your business’ technology, you’ll eventually be faced with the internet browser dilemma. Browsers aren’t just these things that you type a web address into. They’ve evolved to effectuate a certain “culture” and each browser has something unique to offer in the market of web software. When it comes to running a small business, the browser you use is very important.
For many people, the browser is not only a tool of leisure, but also a tool in which much of the work is performed. You could, for example, open tabs to handle back orders from multiple distributors or chat with your customers online. What if you’re using a web-based cloud collaboration suite? All of these things require a browser that’s built to work best for you in these situations. Believe it or not, the efficiency of your (or your employees’) work might depend on the browser you use, to a certain degree.
Today, we’ll outline each browser, how it differs from the others and what makes it useful.
Internet Explorer
With Windows 8 comes a new contender in the war between browsers: Internet Explorer 10. This new version of the browser is a full-screen application found within the “Modern” interface. Compared to IE 9, the interface is very minimalist and has many features that make it an ideal browser for viewing on a mobile device. It is, however, not exactly a browser for people who want to get work done quickly. The extra steps you need to take to bring up the tabs you’ve opened, coupled with the overall clumsiness in its design, might leave you slightly frustrated when using it for work purposes.
Internet Explorer 9 still comes in Windows 8 as the desktop browser. The set of features are pretty much the same package you’d find in other versions of Internet Explorer. It’s not a bad browser, but it can get pretty bland with its toolbars getting in your way while you try to browse the web.
The Conclusion: Internet Explorer 10 is not ideal for work, but great for casual visits to sites in a full-screen environment. Full-screen navigation in IE 10 is very well-integrated. Internet Explorer 9 is still less-than-ideal with its occupation of screen real-estate, but what it lacks in design it makes up for in improved security over its predecessors. Also, some cloud applications might not display correctly in IE 9 and rendering might be rather sluggish. Audio and video, however, are greatly enhanced in both browsers as they use hardware acceleration with harmony.
Mozilla Firefox
In its latest versions, Firefox takes a page from Google Chrome’s book and places virtually its entire interface on the top bar of your screen. The interface is the first thing that makes a booming appearance of a professional browser. The next thing you might notice is the utter speed at which some cloud apps perform. Firefox, at least on the desktop computer, is a roaring engine ready to take off. That all happens until you start using it for a while. Then, Firefox grinds to a halt.
Unless you have the power necessary to keep such an enormous application like Firefox running, you’ll experience a lot of the problems that people complain about in Internet Explorer. In fact, IE 9 might run a bit faster than Firefox on certain setups. If your computer has any less than 4 GB of RAM, I wouldn’t recommend running Firefox unless you plan to open just a few tabs. Bloating is a bit of a problem with the browser.
Once again, on a positive note, Firefox’s compliance with W3C coding standards makes it an ideal browser for the proper display of all elements on a webpage.
The Conclusion: Use Firefox if you have a powerful-enough computer. It takes a whole lot of machine to run it. Firefox lacks many of the interpretation issues that have plagued Internet Explorer, and it even implements some hardware acceleration for its video and audio processing. This browser is good for businesses with powerful hardware.
Google Chrome
With an interface that only occupies under 100 pixels of your viewing area, Google Chrome takes home the trophy in viewing pleasure. Its interface is nothing but pure elegance on a grand scale, allowing you to have an almost full-screen experience. Its history, downloads, and settings are all integrated within the browser, so you seldom end up opening windows when you use the browser.
This browser was made to give you a lasting stable experience and, best of all, Chrome knows how to use multiple cores on your CPU. If you have a dual-core, quad-core, or six-core processor, Chrome will take advantage of that by creating new processes for each tab, unified within its main interface for your convenience. Each tab is a new window, except that it appears as a tab. Chrome is by far one of the most efficient and user-friendly browsers out there, and beats all the others in HTML5 rendering. You might not need to look any further for the best in browsing.
Of course, there’s still a catch: It’s being constantly updated, sometimes with versions that are a bit less stable than others. Its lack of certain intuitive features that are otherwise found in Firefox, such as the ability to delete certain cookies instead of all of them, might make it a bit of a turn-off for you.
The Conclusion: Where other browsers have shortcomings, Chrome not only has a solution, but it solves the problems with leaps and bounds. It’s built for the cloud, having an impeccable record in interpreting HTML5 code. This browser simply leaves others in the backdrop. There’s only one thing that might ruin it for you: It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that Firefox has.
The Showdown
After reading all of this, the only thing you should get out of it is that each browser chooses its user. Internet Explorer 10 is for the more leisurely “walks in the park”; Firefox is for those who want to be able to configure and control every aspect of their browsing experience; and Chrome gives you a speedy, reliable, and stellar experience overall, save for a few missing features that Firefox has. It’s really all about what you plan to do on your browser and whether you have the necessary equipment to run it.
The post Internet Browser Wars: Which Browser Is Good For Small Businesses? appeared first on Small Business Technology.
Ramon Ray, Editor & Technology Evangelist, Smallbiztechnology.com
http://www.twitter.com/ramonray | http://www.facebook.com/smallbiztechnology
[email protected]
Small Business Technology Tour (Fall 2011)
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2013-01-15 08:05:07
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