BROWSERS - Surfin’ With Style

There’s a lot you can do on your netbook, but chances are most people will rely on it heavily for Web browsing. Your choice of browser plays a major role in determining the load on your netbook and its overall functionality.

Ideally, you want a light browser that does not tax your RAM a whole lot. Also pick a browser that has a simple user interface that uses limited screen space, allowing you to view more of the website on the netbook’s small screen. Have a look at the browsers listed below to find which would be the best for you.





INTERNET EXPLORER
Internet Explorer is the default browser on any Windows-based system. The latest version (Internet Explorer 8) comes with tabbed browsing and a fairly wide range of plug-ins and add-ons, making it good for basic usage. The main window does occupy a good amount of your display, but it is capable of full-screen display and has efficient ad and popup blockers. The biggest issue though is that it is memory-intensive and has been known to freeze or crash no matter what version you are using.  For details and to download Internet Explorer 8, visit ‘ http://www.microsoft.com/india/windows/ie/IE8.aspx ’





MOZILLA FIREFOX

Firefox was the fi rst browser to introduce tabbed browsing. Being an open-source application, anyone with programming knowledge can develop add-ons and extensions for Firefox. Functions such as ad-blocking, java-blocking, video stream downloading and themes are available as free downloads. The address bar and bookmarks bar do occupy a fair bit of space, but it does offer fullscreen browsing to get the most out of your small screen. On the other hand, Firefox is fairly memory- hungry and takes a long time to launch, which means it’s not the best for low-powered netbooks. For details and to download Firefox, visit ‘www. mozilla.com/en-US/fi refox/fi refox.html’





GOOGLE CHROME


Like every other Google offering, Chrome is simple and designed to maximize output. It is very quick to start-up and allots a different process for each tabbed window, which means if one website crashes, the whole browser does not crash and you do not lose the rest of the tabs. The latest version also supports extensions, which aren’t as plentiful as those for Firefox, but Chrome’s convenience means more will be developed very soon. The interface is also quite compact and, apart from the address bar, it does not occupy much of the screen.
        The only drawback with Chrome is that each tab requires a new process, which means if you open
ten tabs, you’re technically running ten different applications, which can take up a fair amount of memory. For details and to download Chrome, visit ‘www.google.com/chrome’



OPERA


Opera is one of the fastest Web browsers available for your netbook. It is compatible with most operating systems and has a convenient, minimalist design. Its main advantage is its speed, being able to browse sites at almost four times the speed of any other browser. This is down to the fact that Opera uses a unique compression technology by which you can significantly improve browsing speeds over limited-bandwidth connections; for example, when you use a Wi-Fi connection at a crowded cafe. Another positive for Opera is that it has a built-in Bit-torrent downloader and e-mail client, so you can do almost anything from just one window. Opera has been known to have website compatibility issues with certain websites, which is its only drawback. For details visit ‘www.opera.com’






SAFARI 5



Apple’s default browser – Safari, leaves a very small memory footprint. It is fast, but the address bar and bookmark bar eat up a lot of the screen space in full-screen mode; it gives you just about as much page viewing as Chrome. The biggest drawback, however, is that it comes with a standard Mac
OS interface, which is very different from other browser, which leaves it as the browser of choice only for Mac users. For details and to download, visit ‘www.apple.com/safari/download’ 






While the most popular, these aren’t the only Web browsers available. Other less popular browsers include K-Meleon, Camino and Rockmelt.



ROCKMELT


With the growing trends in social networking, developers are looking at integrating popular social network sites with browsers for easy access to sites like Facebook, Twitter, Friendster and MySpace. One such browser launched recently is Rockmelt. Already a viral web hit thanks to its Facebook-authenticated invitation scheme, Rockmelt focuses on friends, feeds and search results. An integrated Facebook rail allows you to check status updates and notifications from friends and chat with friends that are currently online. A configurable feeds rail allows you to organize all your news feeds and streams from your favorite sites. It even notifies you when new content has been added. The search box is designed to give you the top ten search results in a drop-down side column. You can also configure which search engine you would like to use. All this along with the ability to browse the Web on a light browser similar Chrome means Rockmelt can service all your needs before you've even typed in a Web address. Currently Rockmelt can be downloaded on an invite-only basis sent out via Facebook, but to register your interest, visit ‘www.rockmelt.com’.