Web Browsers
Firefox | Chrome | Edge | Safari | Alternative Browsers
Don't Use IE | Customize Your Browser
About Browsers
Web browsers are multipurpose Web applications that include the ability to view websites as well as interact with other software and services.
Many browsers have come and gone over time. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses. There are good reasons for choosing a particular browser.
Download a Current Browser
Use only browsers that are a currently maintained. These tend to be more secure, run faster and display current web content as it was intended.
Do NOT use Internet Explorer. It is obsolete and unsafe to use.
Modern browsers offer improved security and functionality.
Chrome may be leading in usage (except, of course, on Apple devices), but it's not ahead by every measure or by number of capabilities. Firefox, Edge, Safari, and Opera all have features not found in Google's browser.
— PCMag
Firefox | Chrome | Edge | Safari
Keep Your Browser Updated
Whichever browser you use, it is important to keep all installed browsers and extensions updated.
Uninstall Obsolete Software
Uninstall obsolete browsers or those you don't use except where prevented by the operating system (e.g., Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Safari).
Most plugins are obsolete, replaced with HTML5 technologies which are natively supported in all modern browsers.
Mozilla FireFox
Mozilla FireFox is a fast, slim, standards-compliant browser that doesn't collect or sell your private data and protects your privacy.
The Firefox Browser has built in tracking protection.That makes it harder for politicians, advertisers, and disinformation disseminators to find you.
More privacy means more democracy.
— IRL
- Download | Features | Addons | Support | Community.
- Refresh Firefox | Customize | Keyboard shortcuts | Tips & Tricks.
- HTTPS-only mode | Firefox Sync | Firefox Privacy | Data Collection.
- Supported: Windows, Linux and Macintosh | Firefox for Mobile.
- Firefox Developer Edition is beta software tailored for web developers.
Firefox is a family of browsers including versions for mobile devices, enterprise and virtual reality devices. It is the only major independent browser.
Firefox is also more than a browser. There is a whole family of products, including:
- Firefox Monitor tracks email addresses involved in a corporate data breach.
- Mozilla VPN (my recommended VPN solution).
- Pocket to save interesting articles from across the Internet.
Replace Google for Privacy
I recommend installing Startpage.com or DuckDuckGo then replacing Google as the default search engine.
On Windows, as Mozilla notes, the privacy-optimized Firefox stands apart by not relying on the Blink rendering engine that Google developed for Chrome based on Apple's Webkit engine, and which now also powers Microsoft's Edge as well as such alternatives as Brave.
— PCMag
Google Chrome
Google Chrome combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology. Chrome is the most widely-used browser today.
- Download | Features | Extensions | Help | Community.
- Supported: Windows, Linux & Macintosh | Android | iOS.
Replace Google for Privacy
Chrome is the only major browser without meaningful built-in tracking protection.
I recommend replacing Google with Startpage.com or DuckDuckGo as Chrome's default search engine.
You cannot replace Google until the replacement search engine is installed into Chrome.
Chrome Breaks Ad Blockers
Google is making changes to their Chrome browser that will break ad blockers on many sites.
Google's 3 billion Chrome users now have a reason to switch to Firefox, because the privacy-focused browser has just confirmed some big news.The announcement concerns ad blockers, and the Google Chrome changes dubbed Manifest V3, which may cause some ad blockers to break.
— Forbes
FLoC
Google is experimenting with FLoC, Google's answer to the elimination of support for third-party cookies in many sites.
By gathering the information about a user's history and grouping them with users with a similar history, the advertiser could reach the intended market, supposedly without breaching privacy.
After all the pushback, concerns, and issues, the fact that Google has chosen to ignore the warnings is telling of where the company stands with regard to our privacy.
— EFF
Security Concerns
Besides the Chrome browser, Google owns a huge range of products, each of which dominate or are very competitive, including Google Search, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Maps, Google Drive, Blogger and YouTube.
Google collects your surfing data. Google never forgets. See privacy concerns.
Break up with Google. Use a web browser you have more control over, and which has more plug-ins that you can use for privacy, such as Firefox.
— Windows Secrets
Many Current Browsers are Chrome-based
A large portion of current browsers are now based on Chrome, further extending Google's dominance. Chrome also defines the way enhanced text is presented in most email programs.
Independent standards setting bodies like the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) once ruled the web, with a collaborative approach to standards that competing browsers had to follow. Today, the standard is simple: Does your page work in Chrome?
— ZDNet
Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge is now a Chrome-based browser, replacing the original Edge that was launched with Windows 10.
- Download | Features | Help.
- Microsoft Edge for Android | Microsoft Edge for iOS.
- Microsoft Edge privacy. | Microsoft Privacy Statement.
- Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android are supported.
IE Mode in Microsoft Edge
IE mode in Microsoft Edge provides an interim solution for legacy sites that were built for Internet Explorer.
IE Mode in Microsoft Edge will be supported through at least 2029 to give web developers eight years to modernize legacy apps and eventually remove the need for IE mode, officials have said.
— ZDNet
IE mode perpetuates an obsolete browser supporting insecure legacy sites containing outdated information.
Replace Bing for Privacy
I recommend replacing Bing with Startpage.com or DuckDuckGo as Edge's default search engine.
You cannot replace Bing until the replacement search engine is installed into Edge.
Apple Safari
Safari brings robust customization options, powerful privacy protections, and industry-leading battery life to Apple devices.
- Downloads | Support | User Guide.
- Macintosh and iOS are supported.
- Windows support ended on July 25, 2012 with version 5.1.7.
Alternative Browsers
Ghostery Dawn
Ghostery Dawn is a lightning fast browser that protects your privacy.
If Ghostery is blocking NINETEEN trackers on your website, your website is one of the reasons we need Ghostery.
— Wil Wheaton on Twitter
- Blocks ads, stop trackers and speeds up websites.
- Includes the world's first ad-free private search engine.
- Built-in privacy & security intelligence to stay cloaked while you surf.
- Windows 64-bit, Windows ARM64/Aarch6, Macintosh & Linux 64-bit are supported.
- FAQ.
Opera
Opera is a slim yet full-featured browser.
- Features include VPN, ad blocker, messengers and battery saver.
- FAQ.
- Windows, Macintosh & Linux are supported.
Chrome-based
Opera is now a Chrome-based browser.
Vivaldi
Vivaldi is fast, but also rich in functionality, highly flexible and puts the user first.
Everything's an Option
You choose how Vivaldi works, how it looks and what features to use. It's freakishly flexible. If you can dream it, Vivaldi can probably do it.And when it comes to options, privacy is no exception — in fact it's a priority, built into every version. So, you have full control of settings critical for keeping your data safe.
Chrome-based
Vivaldi is now a Chrome-based browser.
TOR
TOR Browser is the most extreme browser focused on privacy.
We, at the Tor Project, fight every day for everyone to have private access to an uncensored internet, and Tor has become the world's strongest tool for privacy and freedom online.
Browser Archives
These archives are useful primarily to researchers, web designers and others wishing to see how older browsers display current content.
- 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 history of various key browsers.
Installation of these unsupported browsers can corrupt Windows settings (such as earlier versions of Internet Explorer) or not work properly at all.
They also lack any security improvements, so using them makes you much more vulnerable to malware and other hazards found on today's websites.
Internet Explorer: Do Not Use
Do NOT use Internet Explorer.
Internet Explorer (IE) reaches deep into the Windows operating system, so it is more vulnerable to security issues than any other browser.
You see, Internet Explorer is a compatibility solution. We're not supporting new web standards for it and, while many sites work fine, developers by and large just aren't testing for Internet Explorer these days. They're testing on modern browsers.
— Chris Jackson, Microsoft
IE Support Ended June 15, 2022
Internet Explorer is no longer supported in Windows 10 as of June 15, 2022.
Support for IE expires with each version of Windows (IE was never included in Windows 11). Windows 8.1 support expires January 10, 2023.
While there are some exceptions to the end of IE support in Windows 10 as well as Windows 7 or earlier, these are available to Enterprise users only.
Watch out for browsers that enhance Internet Explorer rather than build an independent browser. Such browsers inherit all of IE's vulnerabilities.
IE Redirected in Edge
Windows now redirects requests for Internet Explorer in Windows 10 to Edge using IE Mode.
- Good riddance, Internet Explorer!
- The end of the Internet Explorer era.
- What the end of IE 11 means for you.
- Disable Internet Explorer 11.
- IE mode in Microsoft Edge.
A Compatibility Solution
Windows 10 included IE as a compatibility solution which was not intended to be used as your primary browser. IE's behaviour can be controlled by group policy — why it is common in corporate environments.
You see, Internet Explorer is a compatibility solution. We're not supporting new web standards for it and, while many sites work fine, developers by and large just aren't testing for Internet Explorer these days. They're testing on modern browsers.
— Chris Jackson, Microsoft
IE Vulnerable
Internet Explorer is no longer being developed, making it obsolete.
Internet Explorer vulnerabilities allow “remote code executions” which can allow an external user to take control of your computer.
This is especially dangerous because of the tight integration with Windows. ANY Internet Explorer vulnerability is a Windows vulnerability.
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
