Archive: Business & Technology

Dr. Digit 'Splains It AllDr. Digit 'Splains It All

This week I decided to look at the different Web browsers available for Windows users for viewing the Lansing Star and other web sites. If you have an older computer with an older browser you will need to upgrade to view the Star. I looked at five different browsers, and instead of taking a highly technical approach I looked at features the average reader would like.

A web browser is the software you use to view web pages. Windows comes with Internet Explorer, the infamous browser renowned for its role in the anti-trust suit the Department of Justice brought against Microsoft some years ago. Internet Explorer has survived because it is amazingly good as well as because it is already in Windows when you get it. There are alternatives, though, and they are well worth looking at, especially if you have an older machine and are looking for a more modern, up to date browser.

All five browsers performed well, though some had advantages the others didn't. I have always been a fan of Microsoft's Internet Explorer (MSIE or IE for short) for sheer compatibility. But IE has been riddled with security holes that Microsoft always seems to be scrambling to plug. Deepnet Explorer and Netscape embedded in them -- that means the basic IE browser is used within a framework that adds other features. The former adds security, and the latter uses IE for some features. Mozilla Firefox and Opera use their own browser technology. Mozilla is the open-source browser technology that AOL spun off into the public domain when they bought Netscape.

Four of the browsers, all but IE, use tabs for viewing pages. This means you have one window open, but can view multiple pages within that window by clicking on tabs, kind of like a tabbed notebook. With IE you can only view one page at a time within the main window, or open other copies of IE to view more than one at a time. Tabs are all the rage today, but I don't see what the hoopla is about. It just depends on your style of working. Evidently IE users can download the MSN toolbar to add tabs to IE.

On a purely subjective level I like the interfaces in IE and Firefox best. Netscape has had too much junk for me, though the new version scales back on this considerably from the way-too-busy version 6. Opera is just different enough that it takes some getting used to, but I like the simple tool bars, the integrated Google search and it doesn't take THAT much getting used to! I don't like the feel of Deepnet Explorer. That is odd, because it is much like IE, but there is something about it I can't put my finger on.

Four of the five are free for the downloading, or you can order a CD. The fifth, Opera, has a free version supported by ads plus a $39 version that does not display ads.

Out of the box Opera has a couple of odd settings. For example there is no Home Page button or Print button on the tool bar. But these are very easy to fix by right-clicking the tool bar and using the customize feature to add them. You just drag them with your mouse to where you want them to appear on the bar. One feature Opera has that none of the others has is truly scalable printing. This means that if the web page is bigger than a piece of paper it will scale the web page to truly fit on the paper without cutting part of it off. None of the other browsers print the front page of the Lansing Star properly, or a number of other web sites. Opera prints perfectly.

Firefox is all the rage right now, replacing Netscape as the "alternative to the evil Microsoft" browser of choice. But honestly I have to say Opera has most to offer, being easy to use and having the only printing that makes sense. Like Netscape that has e-mail built in, Opera has it, too. Opera is also the only one of the five that works under Windows 95 and higher. All the rest require Windows 98 or higher.

These two work with the Star most reliably. A lot of the folks who write and use the open-source Mambo CMS technology that is used to display the Star swear by Firefox. But from an every-day user point of view the printing makes Opera worth a serious look.

 

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