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Unhappy with Chrome and Firefox? Here are some

alternate web browsers
05/02/2014at3:08PMbyBradLinder

StartDownload
Step1InstallDriverUpdate.Step2Scan.Step3UpdateMissingDrivers!Gotodriverupdate.net

FirefoxisstartingtolooklikeChromeandChromeistakingstepstowardhidingURLs.Whilethereare
certainlysomesupportersofeachmove,thereareplentyoffolksdisgruntledbythechanges.
Fortunately,ChromeandFirefoxarenttheonlygamesintown.Opera,Maxthon,Safari,andevenInternet
Explorerareallviablealternatives.AndsinceFirefoxisopensourceandtheresanopensource
developmentversionofChromecalledChromium,developerswhowanttomakenewbrowsersthatretain
thefeaturesofolderversionsofthosebrowsers.
HereareafewbrowserstocheckoutifyourenothappyaboutthedirectionsGoogleandMozillahavebeen
taking.

PaleMoon
ThisopensourcebrowserisbasedonFirefox,butitdropssupportforoldhardwareinordertooptimize
performanceonnewerdevices.ThedeveloperalsohasnoplanstoadopttheAustralisuserinterfacethat
makesFirefox29andlaterlookalotlikeGoogleChrome.
WhilePaleMoonisaWindowsonlybrowserandithasonlyoneleaddeveloper,itsthebrowserthatscome
upmostoftenincommentsonourrecentarticleabouttherecentFirefoxmakeover.
Update:PaleMoonisnowavailableforLinux,andevenAndroidaswellasWindows.
Opera
ThefolksatOperahavegottenalotofattentionfortheirspeedywebbrowsersformobiledevicesinrecent

years.ButOperasbeenofferingdesktopwebbrowserssince1995andhasahistoryofintroducingfeatures
suchastabsandSpeedDialbookmarkslongbeforetheybecomeindustrynorms.

ThelatestversionsofOperaarebasedonthesameBlinkrenderingengineasGoogleChrome,butit
includesfeatureslikedatacompressiontohelpspeedupbrowsingwhenyoureonaslownetwork,support
foritsownsystemofplugins,SpeedDialbookmarks,andmore.
IronBrowser
LikethespeedandsimplicityofChrome,butdontlikethefactthatGoogletracksyouruserdata?This
browserisbasedontheopensourceChromiumbrowserandlooksalotlikeChrome.Butitblocksdata
trackingandincludessomeotherminorchanges.

ThedefaultsearchengineisalsosettoDuckDuckGo,althoughyoucanchangethatsetting.
KMeleon
PreferabrowserthatusersMozillasGeckorenderingengine?KMeleonisalightweight,opensourceweb
browserforWindowsthatusesGecko.ButithasitsownuserinterfacethatsindependentofFirefox.

Itsalsohighlycustomizable,withsupportforalimitednumberofplugins,butahugevarietyoftweaksto
changetheappearanceandbehaviorofthebrowser.KMeleondidntseealotofdevelopmentbetween
2010and2014,butthedeveloperrecentlystartedofferingbetabuildsofanewversionbasedontheGecko
24renderingengine.
Maxthon
ThiscrossplatformbrowserrunsonWindows,OSX,andLinuxaswellasmobiledevices.ItusestheWebKit
renderingengine,andincludescloudsynchronizationfeatures.

Maxthonalsoincludessupportforextensions,andhassomeunusualfeaturesbakedin,includingasplit
screenmode,abuiltinresourcetracker,andmore.
Chromium
GooglesChromewebbrowserisbasedonopensourcesoftwareandChromiumisthatopensource
software.ThisbrowserhasmuchofthesamecodeasChrome,butitlackssomethingslikethebuiltinFlash
playerandPDFviewer.

ChromiumwouldbeanoddchoiceforfolkslookingtogetawayfromChrome,sincetheopensourceversion
ofthebrowseroftengetsnewfeaturesbeforetheyreavailableinthestablebuildsofChrome.Butifyou

preferrunningopensourcesoftware,Chromiumisanoption.Itsalsothesoftwarethatmanyotherbrowsers
arebasedon,includingOpera,IronBrowser,andSleipnir,amongothers.
Safari
IfyouhaveaMacoraniOSdevice,youhavetheSafariwebbrowser.ButSafariisalsoavailablefor
Windowsmachinesanditsactuallyaprettydecentwebbrowser,withsupportforReadingmode,and
extensions.

Unfortunately,Safari6isnotavailableforWindows,sothelatestversionofSafariforWindowsisversion
5.1.7.SothisisprobablyabetteroptionforMacusers.
InternetExplorer
IfyourerunningWindows,youvealreadygotInternetExploreronyoursystemandwhilethebrowserhasa
reputationforignoringwebstandardsandgenerallyunderperformingcompetitorslikeFirefoxandChrome,
thetruthisIEhascomealongwayinrecentyears.IfyouhaventtriedthedefaultWindowsbrowserinawhile,
youmightwanttogiveitanotherlook.

Internet11isfast,hasasimplebuteffectiveuserinterface,supportforhighDPIscreens,andsupportfor
WebGL,amongotherthings.
Liliputingsreadersareabitgeekierthanyouraveragecitizensofthewebsoitsprobablynotahuge
surprisethatGoogleAnalyticstellsmeInternetExplorerisonlythe4thmostpopularbrowseramongvisitors
(behindSafari,Firefox,andChromewhichiswayoutaheadbecauseitsusednotonlybyWindows,Linux
andMacusers,butalsoAndroidusers).
HeresalookatthebrowserspeoplewereusingtoreadLiliputinginApril,2014:

Sowhatbrowserareyouusingthesedays?Andareyoulookingforanalternative?

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