Time To Dump The Firefox Internet Browser & Go With the Free Opera?
March 2006
For the last few years we've actively been saying to readers that they should seriously consider dumping Microsoft's Internet Explorer (the piece of software used to surf the web) and move over to the brilliant and 100% free Firefox browser. But now we're reconsidering this advice.
The main reason why Firefox is so good has been its tabbed browsing. Tabbed browsing means you can have many different web pages open at the same time, one behind the other. So to move from page to page or site to site you just click a small window (the tab) at the top of your screen.
Why Not Firefox Anymore
Simply because like all good software it started out small (and therefore quick) concentrating on doing one thing really well, surfing. But overtime the software has become bloated and is starting to use a large percentage of a computers resources. For example, the authors PC has 1,000 megabytes of RAM installed (memory) and Firefox is now taking up 20% of this which is far too much. Using this much of a computer's resource means that things slow down which is never good news.
So Which Browser To Switch Too
The free Opera. What we like about Opera is that it's small, takes up 75% less resources than Firefox, has tabbed browsing and also another great feature, it can read web pages to you either using your headphones or computer speakers. Yes, all you do is install the free Voice application which is simple to do then highlight the text you want it to read (using the mouse), right click with your mouse and click 'Voice'. Sit back and take it easy. There are some simple instructions on how to do all of this on the Opera webpage, see below.
Summary
All of the above mentioned browsers are 100% free and you can have all 3 installed on your computer at the same time. So test them all out and go with the one you like the most. And for those with older computers or who have under 500mb RAM the Opera browser should be your best bet.
Good luck and if you aren't using tabbed browsing then get using them, trust us you won't look back.
See Also
|
