Web Browsers & Plugins

Downloads | Plugins | Browser Tips | Troubleshooting | About Web Browsers
See also: Email Clients

I strongly recommended using Firefox as your primary browser and regularly ensuring that your plugins are up to date.

Ten years ago, the Internet was a different place. Websites were kinder and gentler. Now, many of them want to attack you. It's time to take stock of your Internet browsers and make sure they are as up to date as they can be.
— Windows Secrets

Internet Explorer is so tightly tied into Windows that any vulnerability extends into Windows itself. See the Web Security page for more.

Internet Explorer has been long known to be vulnerable to the covert downloading of software from malicious Web sites…Merely visiting the corrupted site is all it takes.
— BusinessWeek

Web Browser Downloads

The About Web Browsers section (bottom of this page) describes the function of a browser as well as some of the features that may or may not be included in a particular browser.

The Main Contenders

Mozilla FireFox is a slim, standards-compliant browser that takes advantage of hardware acceleration. Strongly recommended.
Get an overview of Firefox or learn more about the numerous features including private browsing, sync, tab groups and tear-off tabs. Firefox can be as lean or as powerful as you need — 5000 free addons provide functionality as you need it. Windows, Linux and Macintosh are supported. Try the Firefox standard diagnostic to troubleshoot any problems.
Safari is the Mac OS X default web browser and is available for Windows XP, Vista and 7. Safari supports the latest standards and features.
Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier. Windows, Linux and Macintosh are supported. Known issues. Privacy concerns.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 is available for Windows Vista or better — (Internet Explorer 8 for Windows XP). IE 8 was the first version of Internet Explorer to strongly support the web standards that Microsoft has helped to develop over the years.

Alternative Browsers

Opera is a slim yet full-featured browser that will run on Windows, Mac, Linux and FreeBSD (and is one of the few that still includes an integrated email program).
The SeaMonkey project is a community effort to deliver production-quality releases of code derived from the application formerly known as Mozilla Application Suite (based upon the old Netscape suite). Whereas the main focus of the Mozilla Foundation is on Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbird, this group of dedicated volunteers works to ensure that you can have "everything but the kitchen sink"—and have it stable enough for corporate use. Many operating systems are supported.
SRWare Iron based on the free Sourcecode "Chromium" (Google Chrome) — without any problems with privacy and security. Available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Camino is Firefox outfitted with the Mac OS X interface—Mozilla power, Mac style.
iCab alternative browser for the Mac is highly customizable and includes image filtering, which eliminates banner ads. Recommended for older Macs that cannot support Firefox.
Lynx is a text browser that runs on Un*x, VMS, Windows 95/98/NT, on DOS (386 or higher) and OS/2 EMX.

Based Upon Internet Explorer

These browsers are either based upon Internet Explorer or they used components of IE that make them subject to the same vulnerabilities.

Maxthon (formerly MyIE2) is based on the Internet Explorer engine. Much of what works in IE works the same in Maxthon but there is tabbed browsing and other features (most are included in IE7).
Avant grabs its settings from Internet Explorer but offers many additional features and indicates that it runs faster.

Browser Archives

evolt.org Browser Archive has many of the dozens of browsers that have come and gone over the years.
Netscape Browser Archive.
Browser Timelines shows the relative timeline of various key browsers.

These archives are useful primarily to researchers, web designers and others wishing to see how older browsers display current content. Installation of these browsers can corrupt Windows settings (such as earlier versions of Internet Explorer) or not work properly at all.

Beta Versions

Beta (pre-release) versions of various web browsers are sometimes available. This gives developers (and adventurous folks) a chance to preview new features and to determine how they'll work with existing sites and prepare for coming enhancements.

Do not install beta software on production machines and not if you are unsure how to recover from a potential crash. Problems with beta software can include data loss and critical operating system errors.

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Web Browser Plugins

About Plugins

Plugins are add-in software (helper applications) that enables your web browser to view and hear multimedia content. Not all plugins are supported by all browsers.

Check to see if your Firefox plugins are up to date.

Download Plugins

Java Enhances the Web and Applications

Download Sun Java | Test your Java installation | What is Java? | Learn more….

View Multimedia

Download Adobe Flash | Test your Flash installation | Managing Flash in Firefox | Adobe downloads alternative.
Apple Quicktime plays most video and audio formats. XP/Vista/7 & MacOS X only.
RealPlayer plays every major media type for Mac & Windows.

Read PDF Documents

Adobe Reader reads PDF files with the proper fonts regardless of the operating system that it was created on.

Uninstall Shockwave

Most people don't need Shockwave player and should uninstall it. Otherwise run version 11.6.3.633 or later: Download Adobe Shockwave | Test your installation.

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Extensions: Small Addons

Extensions add new features to Firefox or modify existing ones. They don't simply provide access to "helper" applications like plugins do — they're complete on their own.

Firefox extensions & addons.
See Mozilla's customizing Firefox with add-ons to learn more.

Basic Firefox Addons

I add these basic addons to enhance the user experience on most installations:

Add Bookmark Here ² allows you to place a bookmark exactly where you want it. Simply click "Add bookmark here" in the folder you're viewing.
IE View allows you to launch the current Firefox page (or link) in Internet Explorer. Especially useful for Microsoft links like the Microsoft Support "Fix it" Solutions.

Addons for Web Developers

Web developers will want to check out the various Firefox addons for web developers.

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Web Browser Tips and Tools

MozBackup is a freeware program which allows you to create backups of Mozilla, Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbird profiles, including your mail, favorites, contacts, etc.
PwdHash is a Firefox extension which can generate a password based upon the site and your master password, making it unique to that site thereby helping to prevent successful phishing.
Internet Explorer Tips and Tricks—50 Ways to Tweak Your Browser.
Bookmarklets are simple tools that extend the surf and search capabilities of web browsers.

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Troubleshooting Web Browser Problems

These resources will help you if something goes wrong during the install or operation of your web browser.

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About Web Browsers

Web browsers are multipurpose Internet applications that include the ability to view web sites and often include other functions as well.

What is a browser? will give you a better idea of a browser's function and how you can change various features on them (or the browser itself).

There are several browsers to choose from and many others have come and gone.

Bringing Together Software for the Web

The web browser brings together all the elements that we've come to consider the Web: stylized text with integrated images, sound and video. Often other features are included such as electronic mail (email), chat & instant messaging (IM) and even components that allow you to build a web page (web design software).

Many Browsers to Choose From

Many people mistakenly assume that Internet Explorer and MSN are the Internet, probably because Internet Explorer is included with Windows. However, there are many web browsers to choose from — and most offer greater security and functionality than the Microsoft defaults.

Trimming Down

There is a trend to slimming down the browser and allowing people to add functions they need as separate installs so that the browser itself will open more quickly.

Plugins, Extensions and Addons

There are several ways to add features to your web browser of choice. There are dozens of add-on programs that do everything from organizing favorites and bookmarks to those that add tabbed browsing and research tools.

The traditional way to add functionality to web browsers is plugins. These typically add access to external "helper" applications like the Adobe Reader. A newer approach is to use extensions which can add features or simply customize what it there.

Be Aware of Potential Problems

Whenever you add these features into your browser, there is the potential for problems. Most "newer" features are indicated with a version number less than 1.0 (e.g. version 0.6). This is usually termed a beta (or test) version where the creator is seeking feedback from those using the product in different computer configurations than their own.

While it is unusual for something to be released that is dangerous, you might be better waiting until a few more experienced individuals have had some time to use the extension or plug-in, particularly if your computer is used for work or has applications that you can't do without if something goes wrong.

Email Clients

Integrated or Separated?

One of the most common applications included with browsers is the email client (program). While this can be convenient,it also means that you are limited to the choices made by the designer of your web browser. You are also unable to independently upgrade the email component.

The Choice is Yours

Using a separate email client gives you a much wider range of options and features. If you are a heavy user of email, stand-alone email clients will offer a greater range of filtering and other customization options. Some of the stand-alone email programs are worth their price due to the more flexible tools included with them.

Security Concerns

web browsers and their associated email programs have known security issues that vary from browser to browser (and sometimes depend upon the operating system).

While the configuration of some devices, including wireless networking, may suggest that you use Internet Explorer, it is strongly recommended that Windows users do not use Internet Explorer for their primary browser because of significant security issues.

I'd suggest trying your main browser to configure these devices before resorting to Internet Explorer by default. I'd not recommend using any browser other than Internet Explorer for Windows Update (there is a plug-in for Firefox, but you don't want to introduce any vulnerabilities into Firefox that exist in Internet Explorer).

While there may be some pages that don't display properly using Gecko-based browsers (Firefox, Chrome), these tend to be the exception and are the result of poorly designed sites, not poorly designed software.

All trademarks, company names or logos used on this page are the property of their respective owners.

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More About Related Issues

Protecting Your Online Identity

The following related pages offer more information about protecting your online identity:

Securing Your Computer

The following related pages offer more information about securing your computer:

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www.RussHarvey.bc.ca/resources/browser.html
Updated: February 6, 2012