The right web browser can make a huge difference to your everyday browsing – whether your priority is faster performance, better security or more flexibility through downloadable extensions. However, it can be tricky to break out of your comfort zone.

The browser you're currently using might not be the best, but you've probably become use to its idiosyncrasies over the years without realising there are better options around that will make your life so much easier. Here, we’ve put the biggest browsers through their paces (plus some that you may not be familiar with) to identify the browser that best ticks all of these boxes.

And, if you have a particular concern, then read on to see if there’s an alternative that might be better suited to your needs. You can improve your privacy and security when browsing online with a virtual private network service from our buying guide. Strong privacy tools recently received its biggest update in 13 years, and it's so impressive, it's propelled the browser to the top of our list.

Firefox has always been known for its flexibility and support for extensions, but in recent years it had started to lag behind the competition in terms of speed. Firefox Quantum, first released last year, represented a total overhaul of the browser's code base, with speeds now comparable with Google Chrome. That's not just on top-end computers, either – the new Firefox makes frugal use of RAM, even with masses of tabs open. Firefox also scores serious points when it comes to privacy. Mozilla is non-profit, which means it doesn't have the same impetus to sell your data as some other browser developers. The organization also makes to help protect its users' privacy as internet companies come under increasing scrutiny over the way they treat people's data.

Recent additions include support for. There's even a new version of Firefox designed specifically for, and Mozilla releases beta versions of new features frequently through its Test Pilot program. It's not always the absolute fastest – for some pages Chrome still has the edge, as demonstrates – but the new Firefox has come out swinging and is our pick for the best web browser of 2018 so far. Resource-hungry With, Google has built an extendable, efficient browser that deserves its place at the top of the browser rankings.

According to its user base is only rising, even as Microsoft Edge's install numbers are presumably growing. Well, it's cross-platform, incredibly stable, brilliantly presented to take up the minimum of screen space, and just about the nicest browser there is to use. Its wide range of easily-obtained and installed extensions mean you can really make it your own, and there's support for parental controls and a huge range of tweaks and settings to ensure maximum efficiency. However, Chrome isn’t without its downsides. It’s one of the heaviest browsers in terms of resource use, so it’s not brilliant on machines with limited RAM, and its performance doesn’t quite match up to others as far as benchmarking is concerned. And, with Google’s tentacles running through it, you may be uncomfortable with how your browsing data is used. That said, Google is making some moves towards security, and is pushing HTTPS particularly hard.

Future versions of the browser will make it very clear when sites aren't using HTTPS encryption, aiming to make it standard throughout the web. Like Firefox, Chrome now also supports via WebAuthn – either to replace traditional passwords completely, or work as a form of two-factor authentication. The browser also offers more features for web app developers, including more consistent experiences across different VR headsets, and the ability to use input from sensors (such as your device's ambient light sensor and accelerometer). Fewer plugins than rivals It's sad that makes up only around 1% of the browser market, because it really is a quality browser. It launches fast, the UI is brilliantly clean, and it does everything its rivals can do with a couple of extras thrown in for good measure.

The key reason we'd at least recommend having Opera installed alongside your main browser is its Opera Turbo feature. This compresses your web traffic, routing it through Opera's servers, which makes a huge difference to browsing speed if you're stuck on rural dial-up or your broadband connection is having a moment. It reduces the amount of data transferred too, handy if you're using a mobile connection, and this re-routing also dodges any content restrictions your ISP might place on your browsing, which can be mighty handy. Opera automatically ducks out of the way if you're using secure sites like banks so your traffic is free and clear of any potential privacy violation.

There's also an integrated ad-blocker – which can be switched off if you're morally inclined in that direction – and a battery-saving mode which promises to keep your laptop going for longer. The default 'browsing experience' on Windows 10, and unavailable for older operating systems, is an odd one.

Quite why Microsoft needs to be running a pair of browser products in tandem rather than making Edge backwards compatible is beyond us. The company's reason, it seems, is that Edge represents the more user-friendly end of Redmond's offering while Internet Explorer scales a little better for enterprise. Integration with Windows 10's core gimmicks seems to be Edge's main strong point. It happily runs as a modern-skinned app on Windows 10's tablet mode, and works with Cortana. It's also highly streamlined for the current web age, doing away with insecure protocols like ActiveX and forcing you into Internet Explorer if you want to use them. We're more used to browsers failing to render newer pages than we are to being told off for visiting older corners of the web.

Does Anybody Know Of A Decent Browser For Mac Osx

Curmudgeonly grumbles aside, actually using Edge is a perfectly pleasant experience. It's super-quick, hammers through benchmarks, its integrated reading mode makes complex sites more palatable, and by sandboxing it away from the rest of the operating system Microsoft has ensured that Edge won't suffer the security breaches of its older brother. It's just a shame that Microsoft is quite so insistent on forcing Edge upon Windows 10 users, making it the default browser for links opened in the Mail app, adding shortcuts to your desktop after major OS updates, and presenting it as a potential result if you start typing 'Firefox' in the Cortana search box. Poor plugin support has seen some ups and downs in its long tenure, from dominating the browser charts to languishing behind its main two competitors. This is partly an issue of choice – particularly the browser choice that Microsoft was forced to give customers after a court ruling – and partially because older versions fell behind the rendering and compatibility curve.

There are no such issues with Internet Explorer 11. It's clean, powerful, highly compatible, and it demands less of your RAM and CPU than equivalent pages would on Chrome or Firefox. Plus it one-ups both of them on WebKit's Sunspider benchmark. That's not to say this browser is perfect. Google's V8 benchmark sees it struggling, and IE isn't quite as able to handle add-ons and extensions as many of its competitors. So while there's no reason to avoid IE like there might once have been, if you're looking for a more customised browsing experience you're out of luck.

Does Anybody Know Of A Decent Browser For Macbook Pro

Not the fastest Here's something a bit different. We all spend probably far too much time sitting in front of our web browsers, and up-and-comer wants to make that as pleasant and personal an experience as possible.

The whole style and structure of its interface is entirely up to you. There's a built-in note-taking system, you can dock websites as side panels while using the main window to do your main browsing, and we love its innovative tab stacking tech, which allows you to group up tabs and move them around to avoid the crowding that so often plagues other browsers. Vivaldi is built on Chromium, which means you can expand it even further with extensions from the.

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Just pick your preferred plugin and click 'Add to Chrome'. Some extensions might behave slightly differently in Vivaldi, but most work perfectly. Vivaldi is a refreshing and creative take on web browsing, and one to watch in the next couple of years as more features are added.

Performance is slow is, perhaps unjustly, most regularly associated with the seedy underworld of the dark web. While it's true that you can use this web browser to access otherwise unlisted sites, Tor's privacy aspects – where your traffic is routed through random nodes the world over, making it very hard to track - are its real asset. Tor Browser is really a package of tools; Tor itself, a heavily modified version of the Firefox Extended Support release, and a number of other privacy packages that combine to make it the most secure browsing experience you're likely to find. Nothing is tracked, nothing is stored, and you can forget about bookmarks and cookies. You'll need to alter your browsing habits to ensure that you don't perform actions online that reveal your identity – Tor Browser is just a tool, after all – but for a secondary browser useful for those private moments it's a great choice. Run it from a USB stick and nobody need even know you have it at all.

Check out our Linux vs Windows vs Mac - OS comparison video below.

When Microsoft, Mozilla or Apple comes out with a new version of Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari, it makes news - mainly because most of us use one or more of these three Web browsers. In fact, with the exception of Google's Chrome (which made a big splash, mostly because it came from Google), most of the alternative browsers out there tend to get lost in the shuffle. And it's too bad, because some of these relatively unknown browsers are good - and could be better for some users than the ones they're using now. We asked three of our writers to take some lesser-known browsers out for a spin and see how they do.

They chose six candidates: Camino (for the Mac), Maxthon (for the PC), OmniWeb (for the Mac), Opera (both the Mac and the PC versions) and Shiira (for the Mac). Which is the best? It all depends on what you need from a browser. Further reading: For example, Camino is for those who want a simple, basic browser, while Maxthon is overflowing with every power feature in the book. OmniWeb offers speed and an interesting approach to tabbing (but, at a base price of $14.95, is the only browser in this roundup that isn't free), while Opera brings with it a number of features it has pioneered over the years, along with a strong fan base. Finally, Shiira has an interface that is more Mac than Apple's own Safari.

It's possible that none of these will do what you need better than the browser you're already using. But as we all know, sometimes you have to step outside of the tried and true in order to find something really great. Check these browsers out - one of them may work for you. Camino, an open-source browser based on Mozilla's Gecko rendering engine, is clearly designed to be a simple, easy-to-use, yet fully functional browser. With a look and feel very similar to Safari and Firefox, almost anyone will find it easy to work with in seconds; I found myself completely at home with Camino from the second I launched it. One major difference between Camino and Firefox is that Camino was designed and programmed specifically for the Mac instead of ported over as Firefox was (so it's less likely to ).

In addition, one gets the impression that the developers of Camino didn't try to duplicate all the features of Firefox and focused on the core browsing functionality, which probably results in leaner code overall and thereby increased performance and stability. At a Glance The Camino Project Price: Free Pros: Designed for the Mac, straightforward design, stable Cons: Standard feature set Camino isn't big on flashy features. It does have a few that, while not unique, are nice to have.

For example, Camino lets you save the URLs for all pages currently opened in tabs as a set that re-opens all of them - in the same positions. This is a pretty nifty feature if you repeatedly open the same set of pages every morning when checking sites (or if you use a number of Web-based applications every day). Beyond that, the features and preferences options are pretty standard browser fare, though I do have to commend Camino's developers for including a Web features tab in the browser's preferences that includes the options to block Flash animations and advertising as well as to prevent Web animations from repeating. Given that many Web browsers now try to implement too many features, some of which are better left to separate applications (RSS being a common example, which Camino eschews), I found Camino's straightforward focus refreshing. The approach leads to a simple design that implements the core features in an uncluttered fashion. Combined with the Web features options that put a user in control of just how much distracting Web content he wants to see, I couldn't help thinking that this would be the perfect browser for people like my father - you know, the type of person who wants a cell phone that's nothing more than a phone. Camino was designed specifically for the Mac.

Since Camino keeps its feature set small and targeted, I was not surprised to find it to be very stable; it renders content both well and quickly. As with Shiira, Camino handled Flash, scripting and other complex Web technologies very well. When I compared it to Safari, Firefox and Shiira on the Mac, it outperformed those other browsers in rendering some pages. Sites heavy with Flash content and animations, in particular, seemed to load, render and function faster when I used Camino. I should note that some are available.

Like the add-ons available for Firefox, these tools offers various capabilities, from backing up bookmarks to changing the look using themes or skins, though the choices for Camino are more limited. All in all, Camino is probably not the perfect browser for everyone. If you're looking for a more full-featured browser, you may want to opt for Firefox, Safari or Shiira. But if you want a stable, simple and no-nonsense Web browser (or one that can easily limit distracting content) Camino is a good choice.

Ryan Faas.