Web browsers have become an integral part of our life. They help us browse the internet, connect with our friends and family on social media, do our official work, download different types of stuff from the internet, etc. If you think about it, these little things play a very important part in our lives. They even stay with you in your anxiety to check whether you have cleared your exam or not! So we can safely say that without them, it would be like being thrown back in time by decades because that's how long they have been with us.
The Internet Explorer Empire
Back when Microsoft launched its operating system Windows 95, it integrated its browser named Internet Explorer (IE) as an add-on package plus. It was a reworked version of Spyglass Mosaic, licensed from Spyglass Inc. by Microsoft. And boy did it gain popularity! Within the blink of a computer eye, internet explorer was THE browser with the highest market share in the whole world. During the 2004 Q2 period, it controlled over 95% of the total browser share globally. It was like Godzilla in the world of the Titans.
But how was it able to control such a huge share of users? Well, the answer to this question is, because of the lack of alternatives and also because of it being built as a default in the operating system. It did more harm than good. IE was highly outdated by the time it was at its peak. It was built to display static web pages. But the internet was getting more and more dynamic. The wait was of a final strike.
Google Chrome Enters
2nd September 2008. Google dropped a bomb. It released its browser GOOGLE CHROME. And let me tell you, it became a huge hit. It was built for the modern web, took much less time to load pages than IE, and was way more good-looking and less cluttered than IE. The IE empire crumbled soon after that due to lack of innovation and development and the throne was taken up by Google Chrome. What is the problem then, you might ask? The problem is, THE THRONE IS STILL TAKEN TO THIS DATE!
Problems with Chrome
Chrome has not one but several problems.
First of all, for all of you concerned about your privacy, Chrome is owned by Google, a company whose core functioning is based on ads. Chrome collects huge amounts of your data to show you ads.
Secondly, Chrome is built on the Chromium Project, which is an open-source project. But Chrome itself is closed-source.
Chromium browsers are known to use more memory but Chrome takes it many steps ahead. It FEASTS on your computer's memory!
Alternatives to Chrome
There are many many much better alternatives to chrome -
Brave Browser - It is an open-source browser also based on chromium, which has an adblocker and much-needed privacy features built-in. I would not advise using adblocker on a content creator's website because it is their source of revenue. But you can use the inbuilt tracking protection and privacy features (which are much better than Chrome's) to keep you safe. It is also faster than Chrome and uses very little memory compared to Chrome.
Microsoft Edge (Chromium) - Before you go all haywire, let me tell you the new chromium-based version of Microsoft Edge is nothing like IE or the HTML-based version of Microsoft Edge. It is much faster, has very nice privacy features built-in, and uses very little memory compared to Chrome.
Firefox - It is one of the few non-chromium alternatives with such advanced privacy features that Chromium browsers struggle to keep up with it! But firefox is a little slower than its chromium counterparts and has faced a steady decline from about 244 million users in 2018 to only 198 million users at the end of Q2 2021. Still, it is a very good browser and you should definitely check it out.
Vivaldi - Last on our list is Vivaldi. It is not a fully open-source browser, but it has a ton of features baked into it. It has a built-in mail client, lots of themes, ad blocker, mouse gestures, notes manager, option to view tabs in split-screen, option to set your own keyboard shortcuts, tab grouping, tracking prevention and the list goes on and on.
Conclusion
So what do we learn here? Giving monopoly to a company in any one area leads to many problems like lack of innovation, security risks, etc. You must at least give a chance to the alternatives. Try them, and if you do not like them, then stop using them by all means! No one is forcing you. But it is unfair to say that Chrome is the best browser out there without trying out the other alternatives.
Comments