Best web browser 2016: Chrome vs Firefox vs Edge vs Safari vs IE and more

[DaNGeROuS KiLLeR]

 

When you first turn on a new PC or laptop, you’ll find that your only route to the internet is via Internet Explorer or, if you’ve just bought a machine running Windows 10, Microsoft’s new Edge web browser.

The first thing most people do – even before downloading some up-to-date antivirus software – is to download their favourite web browser. And thanks to StatCounter’s browser stats (taken from October-December 2015), you can see which are the most po[CENSORED]r:

 

Browser market share

 

 

When you first turn on a new PC or laptop, you’ll find that your only route to the internet is via Internet Explorer or, if you’ve just bought a machine running Windows 10, Microsoft’s new Edge web browser.

The first thing most people do – even before downloading some up-to-date antivirus software – is to download their favourite web browser. And thanks to StatCounter’s browser stats (taken from October-December 2015), you can see which are the most po[CENSORED]r:

Google Chrome, then, is by far the most used browser which accounts for over half of web traffic, followed by Safari in a distant second place. Internet Explorer comes in third, with Firefox fourth.

Of course, you can’t always believe statistics – the US government’s figures put IE in second place for the same period with 24% - but all agree that Chrome is by far the most po[CENSORED]r.

That’s one measure of the ‘best’ web browser, but there are others too.

 
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Previously we have reviewed the top six web browsers, benchmarking them for speed and rating them on features. The problem with that approach was that all of these browsers are updated constantly, meaning that those reviews quickly became outdated. And that’s why we’re not offering benchmark results here.

Google, Mozilla, Microsoft and Apple also add, change and remove features in those regular updates, so on the odd occasion, a feature which was a reason to use a particular browser would vanish overnight.

Even if a browser is better than its rivals because of performance, security or features, they’re all free and there’s no limit to how many you can install or run at the same time. So while many would agree when we say that Google Chrome is the ‘best’ web browser, there’s nothing stopping you from using five or six different browsers.

At PC Advisor we all use multiple browsers on a daily basis. Those of us running Windows use Chrome and Firefox most of the time with IE or Edge when necessary, while Mac users will use a blend of Safari, Chrome and Firefox.

And all of these browsers offer decent performance and compatibility. They all offer to save your passwords and aside from Internet Explorer (and to some extent Microsoft Edge) they will sync your data, favourites and tabs between multiple computers and devices so you can grab your phone and carry on reading where you left off on your laptop.

They all support extensions and add-ons so you can add specific features, shortcuts and widgets, with the exception of Edge which still doesn’t have this capability.

If a specific extension isn't available on your favourite browser, simply check and see if it for another browser. Similarly, if a website isn't displaying properly or working in one browser, try another. These are the most common reasons why we use more than one browser.

Here's a table which summarises the main features, as well as which platforms each browser supports. Chrome, Firefox and Opera are the most compatible. You might find older versions of Safari for Windows, but it's no longer kept up to date by Apple.