Last evening while reading some comments on which browser is best, I noticed that a fair number of people were proponents of Opera. This lead me to download Opera and give it a try.

While I mainly use Firefox for my photo blog development work, I still like to view my site in different browsers to understand exactly how the page is displayed to each segment of my viewing audience. This is especially important if you insert your own code into blogging platforms, aside from widgets which are usually tested for browser compatibility, to perform specific tasks or functions. As many as you know, each brand of browser has it’s own unique personality in how it interprets html, css, javascript and whatever other code you implement in your design. Here is a list of browsers I currently use for my photo blog web development:

• Firefox – This has been my main man for quite some time, but it appears to be getting slower. I have removed some recently installed plugins and it’s helped a bit. For my needs as a photo blog writer, there are many occasions when I have numerous tabs open. Firefox seems to have a problem allocating memory for each tab and often crashes. Still a great browser with a tremendous support community of developers. Makes your browsing more fun and efficient.
• Internet Explorer 7. I rarely use this browser and have not downloaded the latest IE8 beta browser. Aside from the much written about security concerns which are above my head, this browser is a bit faster than Firefox, but lacks the functionality of plugins. The addition of tabbed browsing was a nice acknowledgement to Firefox, which had it first. Still the #1 browser in the world, IE is quickly losing marketshare due to its limited functionality, quirky settings when used with Vista, and being just …plain. If you use another browser for most of your web developement, IE is known for not playing nicely and is one browser you should always cross check for presentation.
• Chrome. This is Google entry into the browser wars. I have to admit I was less than impressed during my initial test drive and actually uninstalled it. However, I have since come to enjoy using it. One of the brightest attribute with Chrome is its use of separate processors for each tab. As I had mentioned earlier about my issues using Firefox and having multiple tabs open, Chrome’s separate tab processing isolates the trouble to each particular tab. Instead of the whole browser crashing when one tab encounters an issue, when using Chrome only the affected tab is shutdown. For this reason alone, I have grown to also include this browser when performing any involved story research.
• Safari. Originally exclusive for Mac users, the Safari browser utilizes a clean design, user friendly controls, and good overall speed. In addition, Safari displays colors more vibrantly and with greater contrast. Again, most browsers pale in comparison to Firefox’s functionality, and this browser is not much different in this regard. Good overall browser, however, but only use for occasional surfing.
• Opera. Just downloaded this browser last evening (where have I been is right) and absolutely love the speed and agility of this browser. This open source browser also boasts a development community and I have not had the opportunity to review, in depth, the widgets/plugins available. Based on my initial use and observations, this browser will be getting more playing time in the near future.

Overall, there are plenty of additional browsers<I didn’t cover> on the market and I would love to hear from you about your browser experiences and preferences!