All web browsers have the same basic function, and yet, the choice between them has always been one of the most contentious in tech history. You have more options these days than ever before, whether you’re looking for the best web browser for privacy, the best for speed, or perhaps something a bit more adventurous.
Chrome’s password manager can automatically generate and recommend strong passwords when a user creates a new account on a webpage. Managing saved passwords is even easier given the new Password Manager and the ability to add notes to passwords. The search bar, or Omnibox, provides “rich results” comprised of useful answers. Favorites are more accessible as well, and they’re manageable on the New Tab page. And it’s now easier to mute tabs to avoid unwanted sounds.
However, it’s not Chrome with a Windows 11 theme. Microsoft reportedly disabled many features, including Google’s Safe Browsing API, ad blocking, speech input, Google-centric services, and more. In return, the company worked to optimize Edge and reduce its footprint while continuing to add new, Microsoft-oriented features. As of January 2023, Edge is the most efficient browser in terms of memory usage.
It wasn’t too long ago that Mozilla rebuilt the browser’s interface, offering a cleaner, more modern take on what a web browser should be. The changes weren’t just skin-deep, however. There’s some impressive engineering going on behind the scenes. Beneath those changes, Firefox remains a comfortable, familiar standby. It’s a capable browser with a deep catalog of extensions and user interface customization. While managing settings across platforms isn’t as seamless as Google Chrome, the mobile browser app lets you share bookmarks between devices when using a free Firefox account.
The differences appear when you look at Opera’s built-in features. Where Chrome relies on an extension ecosystem to provide functionality users might want, Opera has a few more features baked right into the browser itself. It introduced a predictive website preload ability, and an Instant Search feature isolates search results in their separate window while the current page fades into the background, letting users more easily focus on the research task at hand.
Other recent advancements include Lucid Mode, which sharpens video playing on a variety of platforms, supports emojis instead of web links, and other enhancements.
I use edge it came with the pc and if it aint broke