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October 30, 2008 1:15 PM PDT

Prizefight: Battle of the browsers

You thought you had the browser face-off signed and sealed until Google introduced its fleet-footed Chrome browser. Has it been enough to change the game?

With help from CNET Download.com's Seth Rosenblatt and Webware.com's Josh Lowensohn, CNET's Brian Tong takes Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome through a rigorous four-round contest--to determine which contender makes all-around champ.

Sorry, Opera, looks like you're sitting this one out.

Jessica Dolcourt reviews the latest and greatest smartphone apps, in addition to a healthy dose of Windows software. E-mail Jessica and follow her on Twitter.

Topics:: Browsers and extensions

Tags:: Firefox,; Safari,; Chrome,; Internet Explorer,; browser

Share:: Digg; Del.icio.us; Reddit; Facebook; Twitter

Recent posts from The Download Blog: Log in with your face; See what's under McAfee's new interface; Tales2Go: Get on-demand audiobooks for children; Microsoft, Google split over browser bug bounty; Mozilla plans to drop Mac OS X 10.4 support; TweetDeck gets a few tweaks; Adobe promises faster Flash on Macs; Security software maker Vitamin D exits beta

Add a Comment (Log in or register) Showing 1 of 4 pages (94 Comments)

by gerrrg October 30, 2008 1:45 PM PDT

Funny. But Chrome's single-page, selectable deletion of web page caches, download history, browsing history, cookies and passwords, all based on timelines, plus Incognito make Chrome my favorite. Except of course when you need to deal with a web page that uses active-x....then you don't have a choice at all.

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by MafiaPenguin November 1, 2008 3:43 PM PDT: Use IE Tab for firefox... then you have a choice.; Like this


by hugoroger November 2, 2008 10:18 PM PST: yeah, what a comment,, PLEASE!!!!; Like this

by audioboxer217 October 30, 2008 1:55 PM PDT

Why no Opera? I am actually a big Firefox fan and am somewhat intrigued Chrome, but I think that if Safari gets to be in the mix then Opera should definitely get a chance. Opera is a very formidable browser and has earned its place in this battle.

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by iertry October 30, 2008 2:19 PM PDT: I think they were just going with the four most used browsers. Opera isn't as widely used as safari (which comes with all macs).; Like this


by haonanzhang October 31, 2008 9:10 AM PDT: But then again, Chrome isn't as widely used as safari but it gets to join the party because of it's G credentials. No fair!; Like this


by 0zSpit November 1, 2008 3:27 PM PDT: google chrome's only real purpose to push google advertising, complete and total garbage-ware; Like this


by programmer52 November 2, 2008 2:31 AM PST: I have noticed that opera is not compatible with vista (well, the one that i tried wasn't...) but al of the others work fine on vista.; Like this


by programmer52 November 2, 2008 2:38 AM PST: i correct myself, opera is now compatible with vista...; Like this


by Sphereo November 2, 2008 5:47 AM PST: Opera would win this overall, so whilst they obviously can't include every browser, to exclude the one that would have won makes it a bit pointless. FYI : Round 1 (Speed) : Chrome is faster. Opera gets 2nd. Round 2 (Security) : Opera wins. Round 3 (Customisation) : Firefox wins. Opera 2nd. Round 4 (Killer Feature) : Opera wins. The only question is which feature they'd choose to win it with. Opera really need to be at the races in these types of things. Otherwise they'll always be stuck with 1-2% market share. Which is more than Chrome, so this review isn't about 'most popular'.; Like this


by jasperville November 2, 2008 10:49 PM PST: More than once I've seen notes at the bottoms of pages saying that they aren't compatible with Opera. Maybe you like smacking into brick walls, I don't.; Like this


by Wolven Spectre November 20, 2008 3:12 AM PST: Opera is the most web compliant browser, and ontop of that it has many adaptations for the broken code of others that webmasters have to use. I use it regularly and use firefox as a backup and rarely do I have to try another browser. Many of the times I find I do, if I chage Opera's Browser ID to Firefox of IE, the page will work. Its just the webmasters or the software they use that doesn't even want to bother testing their code just blocks Opera. 2 of the worst offenders of that that I have found are Canadian Govermental Webpages and the online Buzzword Word processor. I click a button and say I am using Firefox when I am still using Opera and what do you know... suddenly the pages or services work.; Like this

by experiencemusic October 30, 2008 2:20 PM PDT

Why are you not comparing IE8 beta against crome? Using a broswer that came out 2 years ago against something in beta is not good reporting. Beta should be compared against beta!

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by shindullin October 30, 2008 3:26 PM PDT: That's because google products are ALWAYS in beta. Beta in googleese means "finished product we are currently marketing but don't want the liability of calling finished." ie gmail etc.; Like this


by JoyceNgo-218335993631273378369 October 31, 2008 8:16 AM PDT: If beta to google means "finished product we are currently marketing but don't want the liability of calling it finished" then that means it IS finished, so I agree with experiencemusic, I feel like no offense but Cnet purposely does this to IE7 all the time and attack anything Microsoft personally. Then again I could be wrong. Looks like they purposely left out Opera. I have nothing against Firefox, I use it and I like it but I honestly think they have nothing except for addons compared to Opera. And it's strange if you look at the Firefox page it shows a comparision of IE and Firefox, and yet not Opera. If Opera was on the list, it would have maybe ALL checkmarks. Firefox always gain popularity when it comes to comparing itself with IE, that's why they didn't put Opera on the comparision.; Like this


by yaksaredabomb--2008 November 1, 2008 10:02 AM PDT: I agree. I've been using IE8 for a few days now and it has loaded almost everything as fast or faster than Firefox. It seems pretty close to Chrome, but they're both fast enough that it doesn't make a difference to me. IE8 has hordes of new features that could easily place it 2nd or 3rd, depending on CNET's bias.; Like this


by yaksaredabomb--2008 November 1, 2008 10:04 AM PDT: Oh, and automatic SPELL CHECKING!!! Firefox 3 and Chrome have it (idk about Safari, I'm assuming it does) but IE8 doesn't. At least, not that I've found an option for. I wish it would--it's the only thing keeping me from using it as my main browser.; Like this


by Ultimate_Person November 2, 2008 10:28 AM PST: All those speaking against IE8 are illiterates in the field of Internet. IE8 is the ultimate product in market today and with the loads of features that it offers to it's users ,no one can ever challenge it.The beta product of IE8 itself is more powerfull than any other browsers. Definately IE8 will rule the browser world.; Like this


by Dalkorian November 3, 2008 10:13 AM PST: by Ultimate_Person November 2, 2008 10:28 AM PST All those speaking against IE8 are illiterates in the field of Internet. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Well, it's almost a complete sentence. Nevertheless, that statement ditched all your credibility. IE is, always has been and likely always will be the plague of the internet. It should be taken behind the woodshed and shot until dead, then buried deep within the earth where it can bother no one ever again. All those defending IE8 are paid shills of M$ and have no mind of their own whatsoever. They are zombies, just like their computers.; Like this


by claytonovich October 30, 2008 2:29 PM PDT: It's silly to rate browsers on categories like "killer feature" and not include Flock in the discussion.; Like this Reply to this comment


by theunclesam October 30, 2008 3:00 PM PDT: What about lynx? ::snicker::; Like this Reply to this comment

by lifflife October 30, 2008 3:35 PM PDT

I agree with claytonovich - Flock should have been included!

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by tuneslover October 31, 2008 12:00 PM PDT: Flock is actually Firefox. Firefox is Original & Flock is it's extended edition.; Like this


by lockerhaxor October 30, 2008 4:28 PM PDT: How can you possibly forget Flock? It has the best "killer features" and beats the pants off all of these browsers!; Like this Reply to this comment


by protolux October 30, 2008 5:58 PM PDT: These guys do have a point. Flock is the only browser that is differentiating consistently with 100% new features to address the way that people are getting social on the web. The other browsers compete on page rendering, speed and security. Flock challenges browser conventions and expectations for what we should expect to see coming in the future from all the browsers covered in this piece.; Like this Reply to this comment


by jolophi22 October 30, 2008 6:49 PM PDT: Well I definitely agree with the results, Firefox really is the best browser out there. It's customization features makes it even better, and with lots of add-ons and themes to choose from, you can really make Firefox your own. And with it's Beta released, I think other browsers need to think of new ways to beat Firefox. Great work for the prizefight CNET!!!; Like this Reply to this comment


by John Howell October 31, 2008 1:40 AM PDT: I still think most pages look better in Safari than in Firefox or IE, but I still use firefox as my primary browser as it is available on OS X, Windows and Linux, and all of the plugins I use work on all these platforms too. On OS X the difference is much less as Firefox gets to use Apples font rendering so it looks much better than Firefox on Windows or Linux; Like this Reply to this comment

by iamfromguam October 31, 2008 4:47 AM PDT

How come they didn't have an interface category. Chrome would have blew away the competition. I love using chrome because the design is so slick and takes up as little of the screen as possible. I really like how the tabs work, being able to drag them out is a really cool feature. I vote chrome as the champion. Firefox only won because of the third party support. When chrome gets out of beta, google said that it will allow third party support. When that happens,chrome will definately be the best.

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by sauronjim November 1, 2008 9:01 PM PDT: Chrome won't get out of beta; Like this


by wallytornado October 31, 2008 6:52 AM PDT: flock is badass.; Like this Reply to this comment

by theuncommon October 31, 2008 7:37 AM PDT

I'm sorry.. I could do without most of firefox's plugins.. I don't have any problems with any of the browsers (never bothered to try safari) regarding security.. and compared to all others Chrome runs at BLAZING speed.. For instance, on my work computer, which is approaching four years old now, it can be a 10-15 second wait for even a brand new installation of Firefox to load, however.. Chrome is INSTANT.. click-click.. BAM! It's there.. oh, and I totally dig the Home Page feature..

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by JoyceNgo-218335993631273378369 October 31, 2008 8:17 AM PDT: Firefox takes a while to startup... Opera, Chrome and IE was instant.; Like this


by 0zSpit November 2, 2008 3:29 PM PST: i agree with joyce, i'm not a fan of IE but i was impressed with how quick it loaded and how it responds; Like this

by tommyg562000 October 31, 2008 9:22 AM PDT

Firefox is great, but i'm a little dissapointed that everytime i want to watch a video on cnet i have to switch to IE. Firefox won't load the videos?! I love firefox, but i will never give up IE either.

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by web surfer November 1, 2008 1:20 AM PDT: nope, I can watch the video in firefox~~; Like this


by pvillivjay November 1, 2008 8:52 AM PDT: I actually use FF to view all videos as I have problems with IE in more cases. I have never had a problem with watching videos in FF. Also, even if videos are playing fine in all browsers I currently use, (FF, IE8, Opera, Safari, and getting ready to try Flock) so far FF is the only one that I can activate fullscreen video playback in.; Like this


by programmer52 November 2, 2008 2:34 AM PST: When i got the first version of firefox 3, it wouldnt load videos either, even when i installed the correct plug in. Ive now got the new firefox and they work perfectly.; Like this


by 0DRK0 November 2, 2008 3:16 PM PST: Yes, I have similar problems.; Like this


by 0DRK0 November 2, 2008 3:20 PM PST: Do you use AdBlock plus? That could be the problem, because it blocks the ad at the beginning of some of the videos.; Like this


by Wolven Spectre November 20, 2008 3:16 AM PST: Its a bug in Flash... Adobe has been letting down Fx users and Opera users for a while, but the latest version of flash fixed it in Opera, and you might want to check and see if you have the latest version.; Like this


by October 31, 2008 10:07 AM PDT: undoubtedly FF is the best browser i feel secure when i use it .... and IE 7 is perhaps the resource heavy browser so i usually try to avoid it ... chrome is superfast , but i don't know y , scroll is not working well with it, also it has been said to be "un secure" , because google has bad habbit of collecting "usage" data ... so for me ... FF is primary browser ... and Flock is secondary .... just to try, i have kept IE and chrome ... but i don't trust them ... i tried safari for some time ... bt i didn't liked it much ... and tommyg562000 ... i can play all videos in my FF .. i guess ur missing something ...; Like this Reply to this comment


by October 31, 2008 11:03 AM PDT: If Firefox was included so should Flock been included. It has improvements and better integration built on top of Firefox!; Like this Reply to this comment


by jiZer92 October 31, 2008 11:28 AM PDT: WHY NO OPERA!?!!?!! firefox fanboys -.-'; Like this Reply to this comment


by tr4656 October 31, 2008 4:10 PM PDT: corome can be customized with themes though; Like this Reply to this comment

by mathnucl October 31, 2008 10:02 PM PDT

Avant browser seems to be downloaded a lot. I like it as an alternative to IE, on which it is based. Why not include it?

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by BrianZachary November 1, 2008 1:25 AM PDT: That's what I've been thinking while watching the video and reading all these comments, mathnuci. I've been using Avant Browser for more than a couple years now and I can't imagine switching to any other browser. They should have had a category for "Updating" because Avant Browser would win that hands down. I have had FireFox installed in the past, but never really got into it. Yes, there are a lot of add-ons. Way too many to look through, if you ask me. Avant Browser already has features built in that you have to get an add-on to use in FireFox and Avant is consistently being updated with better features all the time.; Like this