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Which One is the Right One? It seems like a few years back you had all of two choices for web browsing: Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. There were other options, like text only browsers, or older browsers that weren't current with the growth of the HTML standard, but most of them weren't acceptable for most Mac surfers. Boy have times changed. In the last few years, the "acceptable browser" list has grown because of several factors: increase use of the Internet, the resurgence of the Mac market, the need for competition as IE took the lead in marketshare, and the development of OS X -- opening the door to browsers that were being developed for UNIX like operating systems. All browser performance observations have been based on how the browser runs on a G4 400 with 448 MB RAM in one of three OS configurations, booted in 9.1, booted in X 10.0.1, or run in Classic mode (9.1 from within OS X 10.0.1) Do we have our favorites? Sure we do... but we also know that now, more than ever, there isn't a perfect solution for everyone.
Manufacturer: Microsoft
Availability: Version 5.0 is the Classic version, available for Mac OS 7.6.1 up to 9.1, and can be downloaded from Microsoft's website. A Carbonized version, the preview release of 5.1, is also available for OS X -- although currently only available via the OS X Installation CD. There is also a version of IE available for UNIX, although behind the Mac and Windows versions in development. Performance: IE, while rock solid in Windows, can still be rather flaky on the Mac. It is known as the most flexible of all browsers, recognizing industry standards as well as many future standards that Microsoft has developed. 5.0 loads and renders pages rather quickly, even when run in Classic emulation mode from within OS X. Preview Release 5.1 isn't as lucky. Some of 5.0's bugs are still present in 5.1 as well as slow render times and slow loading times. While not as stable, 5.1 does take advantage of X's protective memory -- a crash in IE shouldn't bring down the entire OS. IE has some neat features, like searchable history, a scrapbook for saving sites for later viewing and an auction manager -- stuff that you don't typically find in browsers, so it is still worth a look if you've shied away due to instability of previous versions. Size: Despite the fact that IE is essentially for web browsing and allows the Outlook products to handle the email side, it is still a rather bulky product. IE was formerly known as the thinner browser (when there were only two real browsers), especially when Netscape began adding more features and Navigator became Communicator growing massively in size. IE 5.0 is an 8 MB download... not a fun task for anyone on a modem and its RAM usage depends on its host machine and physical memory available. While still the thinner of the two, check out some of the new alternates for small footprints in RAM and size in general. The Look: How well does IE render? Pretty darn good. Internet Explorer accepts so many standards that you have a good chance that your page will look OK from within it. The flipside of this is that many web pages are a maze of garbage code because the "If it looks good in IE, it must be good" theory is accepted by many novice designers. IE also has been quick to mold itself to style conscious Mac users, offering several browser colors to match your Mac's outer shell and adopting the Aqua look and feel in 5.1.
Manufacturer: Netscape, Mozilla Organization
Availability: There are several options available and more about each are in the next section, but here are the basics: Netscape Communicator 4.77 is available for Mac OS 7.6.1 to 9.1 and uses the old Mosaic code. Netscape 6.01 is the most recent version, and uses the new Gecko code -- it requires OS 8.6 and higher to run. Mozilla 0.9.2 is similar to Netscape 6 in many respects and is actually recognized as Netscape 5 (a version never released as a Netscape product). Due to its open source status and regular updates, Mozilla is much more fluid in its requirement and support, but currently is available for OS 8.5 up to 10.0.4 and is a carbon application. All versions are available on the web. Performance: Performance is completely related to which route you take. You essentially have three options...
Size: The monster of all browsers, Netscape usually uses more resources than any other browser. Download sizes are as follows: 15.1 MB for version 4.77, 14.6 for the full install of 6.0, and 11 MB for Mozilla and RAM usage is higher too on Netscape. Granted, Netscape offers built in email... but for many, those are wasted resources, especially if you have another email client. If you have patience or a high speed connection, getting any of the Netscape browsers isn't too big of a deal... and a G3 or G4 with plenty of RAM won't really care what browser you are using. But if you have an older PowerMac with less RAM, it's something to think about. The Look: Netscape 4.77 hasn't been updated in years, and it still shows some problems from when Apple switched to the Platinum look and feel in OS 8, with some of the menus being white instead of grey. The actual browser interface fits with the now-classic Platinum look well though. Netscape 6 and Mozilla have much more control over the interface and offer "themes" - alternate colors, buttons, and scrollbars - which can be changed to suit the user's taste. The themes are nice but buggy, often requiring you quit and restart the browser to get them to work properly. All versions of Netscape are very strict in how they view the web and won't accept some of the garbage code that IE will. The philosophy with 6 being that if you design your pages using only HTML 4 accepted code, then it will look good... otherwise, you are on your own.
Manufacturer: Omni Group
Availability: A free download of the latest version 4.0.1 is available from the Omni Group's website. Although the download is free, and you may use it as much as you want, fun little reminders pop up on occasion asking you to register your copy for $29.99 a seat. Think of it as shareware commercial software. Performance: OmniWeb's performance has improved drastically since the release of OS X, because of two things: One, OmniWeb has gotten better and two, OS X has gotten better. OmniWeb takes advantage of some OS X features (Aqua interface, preferences similar to the finder, spell check), further intertwining the performance gains and drops. Since OS X is still in its infancy, some related performance burps do pop up with OmniWeb right now. With that in mind, OmniWeb may be the best of both worlds -- speed and features -- of all OS X browsers currently available. Size: Pretty darn small, OmniWeb is currently a 4 MB download. A far cry from the behemoths of the old guard mentioned above. Of course, OmniWeb doesn't include the email client ability like Netscape, but it is quite a bit smaller than email-less IE as well. The Look: Do you like Aqua? Then you'll like OmniWeb. OmniWeb paid attention in class when it was taught how an OS X application should look. Preferences act like they do in the finder, the toolbar is completely customizable and changes like one would do in the Finder, and since OmniWeb is a cocoa app, its package contents can be viewed and changed, allowing you to drop in new images to replace your interface elements if you so desire. As for how it renders pages, it all depends. It sometimes has problems with pages that use a lot of multimedia, but most of the time, everything renders correctly.
Manufacturer: iCab Company
Availability: A free download of the latest version, Preview 2.5.2 is available from the iCab Company website. Currently, each version will expire after a certain number of months from release, since it is still in development. When the final version is released, a free version will still be available with a $29 "Pro" version unlocked upon registration. iCab currently comes in three different formats: 68k, PowerPC, and OS X, and all three formats seem to be developed concurrently assuring the latest features for all concerned. Performance: iCab's performance has been amazing from the start. It is one of the faster rendering browsers available, although not the most compatible... yet. Looking at the FAQ and news items clues you in that they plan on making iCab fully recognize all of the current standards once it is finished... and its development over the last year has shown their commitment to that. It currently supports quite a bit, although it is fairly strict and may not properly render pages written improperly. Probably the key component of iCab, even in its current form, is a feature that you won't find in other browsers: advertisement blocking. Yes, you can configure iCab to block banner ads and more. Also, iCab features a Kiosk mode, allowing full screen surfing without access to the menu bar or the rest of the computer without a password. And if you're an IE user looking for a change, iCab also has a web archiving utility for saving sites... and a converter application is available for switching creator types of your old archives to iCab. Size: As mentioned before, iCab is the smallest of the gang, weighing in at no more than 1.4 MB for the largest, OS X version and has a pretty small memory footprint on all versions too. The plan is to keep iCab small though, even as the product gets further into release. The Look: The actual look and feel of the browser leaves much to be desired... luckily, many alternate icons, cursors, and loading animations are available from the site. And its OS X version is more Aqua friendly than the other versions. Pages don't look too bad in iCab, considering it's still in development. iCab is great for fast browsing, although most may not want to use it as the only browser. Having a back up available in the event that a page doesn't load is always a safe bet.
Manufacturer: Opera Software ASA
Availability: Currently, Opera is available for both the Classic OS and OS X from the Opera Software website in version 5.0tp1 and is free. If the Mac version follows the current method for Windows, the final release version will offer two options for Opera: use the fee browser with a built in ad banner pumping you with commercials, or pay the $39 for an ad-free browser. Performance: Opera is the self proclaimed "Fastest Browser on Earth" and at this stage of its development, I find it impossible to disagree. And it renders pages pretty well too, supporting most standards. In fact the only performance issues that I've come to find are stability in general. Of course, that is to be expected in a Technology Preview or any prerelease for that matter. Size: Just over 2 MB, Opera sits with iCab as one of the tiniest of the modern browsers for the Mac. Opera's creators have also claimed that Opera will stay one of the smallest browsers available making updating easier, especially for those still using modems. The Look: Opera's look and feel is actually a little different than most browsers, although it is completely customizable. And as mentioned before, pages look pretty darn good in Opera.
Conclusion Is there a conclusion coming from the MOSJ Labs? Hard to say. We like the variety that is now available to us in the Mac Community. It makes the little glitches that we find in every browser livable since we know that we can just fire up another program and see if it works there. We've found ourselves using OmniWeb most often in OS X -- unless it hits a page with lots of multimedia... then IE or Netscape make an appearance. If the page is just too big (pages and pages of data), we've also noticed it's better to jump to iCab or Opera to load. So, I guess we're sitting right in the middle in the browser battle, and OmniWeb just happens to be there. But, what we suggest for those of you with a little extra hard drive space and some curiosity is to download all five browsers if you have OS X, or the four that have classic versions and have a blast, cause right now, there is no perfect browser. We figured out that part rather quickly when we realized that not a week went buy without all of the browsers being used. Of course, the most important thing is that MOSJ doesn't look to bad in any of the browsers mentioned above. Aside from an occasional one pixel gap in iCab and IE, we were pleased to see that we look good all around! So go forth and surf to your heart's content.
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Internet
Explorer
Netscape
Communicator/Mozilla
OmniWeb
iCab
Opera
