Brief History

Internet Explorer
Test version: 6

Initially released with Windows 95 OEM (in 1995, if you couldn't tell), but not with retail versions of 95. IE has received many updates all the way up until its current version, IE6, which was released on August 6, 2004. No major updates have been released since then, although Microsoft has released betas of IE7. Improvements in IE7 include many security features, and most requested, tabs. Due it coming preinstalled with Windows, Internet Explorer enjoys the greatest market share of web browsers, at over 85%.

Firefox
Test version: 1.5.0.4

Firefox began life as a fork of the browser for the mozilla application suite, but has become the Mozilla Foundation's main focus. First released as version 0.1 in September 2002, since then Firefox has matured into a very popular web browser, and the primary alternative for IE. Firefox has a very rapid development cycle, which goes through trunk and branch builds. A trunk is constantly updated with new features and bug fixes, and at some point they take a trunk build and work off that, called the branch. The bugs are fixed and tweaks are applied, resulting in a new version. Firefox is available for almost any operating system, and version 2 is set to be released soon. Our own Eric Bridgeford did a review of Firefox 2's second alpha release back in May.

Opera
Test version: 9

Opera is the least known browser here, although it was first released in 1996. Notably, it was the first to implement many common features that we enjoy today, such as tabs and session restoration. Opera was also the first Windows browser to pass the Acid2 test, and remains one of the few that can. Like Firefox, Opera has been ported to many different operating systems. It is very fast and uses very little memory. Despite these benefits however, it continues to trail behind Firefox and IE in popularity and usage.

Comparison Parameters

Acid2 - Acid2 is a rigorous test of what the browser can and cannot support; it uses several features of html and css to display a smiley face. Many browsers claim to be 100% standards compliant, yet only 6 browsers can currently pass this test. Most of them reside on Linux or OS X, with only one on Windows.

Usability - If a browser is easy to use then it will get a higher score. This is primarily a subjective point of comparison, but is one that I feel should be included.

Speed - Browser speed is very difficult to determine; many things play a factor. Nevertheless, some simple tests can be done by having the browser do several things in javascript. This does have a correlation to browser speed, but is not the sole factor.

Features - Do you want a mild mannered web browser, or do you want to chat on IRC, browse FTP directories, and surf the web from your browser? You decide.