Browsing 09

Site: iGoogle.com Category: Browsing

iGoogle is Google's customizable start page. Users can add any number of gadgets to their page that can be custom-tailored to link up with all sorts of Web services and serve as mini applications or newsfeeds.

One of the features that makes iGoogle especially neat is it can be customized with different themes that change by what time of day you're looking at the page. Users can create their own themes that go into the same directory that houses the thousands of developer-created gadgets.

Site: Apple.com/Safari Category: Browsing

Safari is Apple's Web browser. It's currently in its fourth version, which got Cover Flow-style bookmark browsing, history search, a visual bookmarks start page, and a large-size tab style that mimics Google's Chrome.

Safari began as an in-house replacement to Microsoft's Internet Explorer for Mac, which Microsoft didn't update or improve on at the same rate as it did for its Windows counterpart--and eventually dropped shortly after the release of Safari.

In 2007, Safari got quite a bit of attention for its inclusion as the default Web browser in … Read more

Site: Microsoft.com/IE8 Category: Browsing

Internet Explorer 8 is the latest version of Microsoft's Web browser. In version 8, Microsoft has added some key features that bring it up to speed with some of the competition.

New to this version is a private browsing mode that hides your tracks between sessions, and something Microsoft calls "accelerators," which can take information on the page and provide quick ways to use it with other Web services.

One of its most interesting features is something called "Web Slices." Sites can create their own Web slice that's … Read more

Site: Diigo.com Category: Browsing

Diigo is a content sharing and bookmarking tool. It pulls double duty as a way to clip things from the Web, as well as share them with others. What makes the service really interesting is that you can use it to grab entire Web pages, and make annotations right on top of the content. Then you can share it with others, or view it even when the source site is no longer there. It's like a personal archive.

Along with the personal nature of Diigo, the service also has groups that users can join … Read more

Site: Opera.com Category: Browsing

Opera is one of the oldest browsers on the market. It's also made its way into all sorts of consumer electronics, including mobile phones, gaming portables, and even home video game consoles. Opera has combined many technological services into its desktop Web browser and is commonly regarded as the first to implement tabs for viewing multiple Web pages in the same window.

Opera also has a built-in BitTorrent client. Users who want to partake in the peer-to-peer file-sharing technology can do so while continuing their other browsing habits. There's also Speed Dial that … Read more

Site: Google.com/Chrome Category: Browsing

Chrome is Google's Web browser. Announced in late 2008 by mistake, the company released it as a Windows-only download. The browser came with several forward-thinking features, like having each tab exist as its own process, as well as the capability to drag it outside of the browser to become its own application or new window. It also made every new tab its own start page with some of the most recently and frequently visited sites showing up in thumbnail form.

Chrome remains a Windows-only product for most consumers, however early versions exist for … Read more

Site: GetFirefox.com Category: Browsing

Firefox is a free, multiplatform browser. Its popularity is second only to Microsoft's Internet Explorer among Web browsers, but unlike IE, it has open-source code. The result has been an avid development community, filled with people eager to squash bugs and create new functionality. Firefox also has the option to create and use extensions that can add new features or services right on top of the user experience. These add-ons have gotten so popular that Firefox creator Mozilla has created its own directory for users to search and sort through them.

2008 was the … Read more

Site: Xmarks.com Category: Browsing

Xmarks (formerly Foxmarks) is a free password- and bookmark-syncing tool. Users who want to share the same set of bookmarks and site passwords can install this browser plug-in and it will keep information the same across multiple machines. Users can also retrieve all their information from the cloud if their machines suffer a major data disaster.

In 2009 Xmarks hopped into site discovery by taking all of the bookmarking information from its users and turning it into a public database of sites. It created a site discovery tool that shows you what sites are like … Read more

Site: Maxthon.com Category: Browsing

Maxthon has been downloaded more than 200 million times and is one of the few browsers to have mouse gestures as a standard feature. Users can hold the right mouse button and use a variety of motions to emulate clicking navigation buttons. It's also got a built-in RSS reader and a screen-capture utility. Its development started when the creator, fed up with the lack of customization in Microsoft's Internet Explorer, decided to make his own browser.

While Maxthon doesn't show up as a major contender in most market share reports, it's … Read more