Things have progressed a lot since 1991. We no longer have to worry about this, nor put up with this, or dress like this. In keeping with sensible improvements in politics and popular culture, the internet has also developed somewhat. Back in the early 90s the behemoth of technology we all now appreciate as the internet was merely a newborn monster, wet behind the ears and tiny. The only web browser available at that time was something called (imaginatively), the WorldWideWeb; now, there are scores of niche and custom browsers. Whilst an in-depth knowledge of the differences between a Midori and a SeaMonkey might be a little over the top, browsers nonetheless constitute an important way of managing both your time and your career capabilities through the medium of the internet. Here, I take a whirlwind tour of some of the freely available ones you should really know about.
Google Chrome
The Good: It’s ruddy fast, very secure and ‘sandboxing’ means if one tab crashes then you don’t have to restart the whole thing (take note Internet Explorer). Nice tool for creating web shortcuts on your desktop/start menu which means you can edit blogs without irritating toolbars in the way.
The Bad: Problems with handling RSS feeds have not been fully solved by the RSS Subscription Extension – it’s still clumsy and unreliable.
In Short: A genuine rival to the Explorer/Firefox monopoly, but still suffering from teething problems.
Internet Explorer
The Good: Several snazzy features make this a particularly useful tool for students. ‘Web Slices’ allow you to save specific sections of a Web page – i.e. job adverts on freelancestudents.co.uk – for quick viewing. ‘Accelerators’ can be used to make blogging and job-hunting easier.
The Bad: Still prone to rage-inducing crashes, and can struggle woefully for speed on older computers.
In Short: The ‘Daddy’ has worked hard to re-assert itself, and has much going for it for students.
Firefox
The Good: Quick as ever, less prone to crashes than its main competitors, a well-documented ability to handle RSS feeds and similar web developments, and numerous add-ons allow for customization of your browser. Automatic session restore means half-written emails/blogs can be recovered.
The Bad: Despite add-ons for blogging, an integrated, focussed feature could make Firefox indispensible. ‘Live Bookmarks’ is not immediately intuitive.
Opera
The Good: Latest update to new JavaScript engine has probably made it the fastest browser available. The ‘Opera Link’ function is a brilliant way to integrate your bookmarks and useful information across your PC, Laptop, and mobile.
The Bad: The amount of customizable features can make it daunting for less web-savvy users.
In Short: Probably the techno-geek’s browser par excellence – also probably why it struggles for popularity.
Safari
The Good: Functions such as ‘Top Sites’ and ‘Cover Flow’ are the most engaging method available across the various browsers for bookmarking/viewing useful sites (i.e. job sites/blogs), and seeing where you found that great job the night before and forgot to bookmark.
The Bad: Still better and more customizable on the Mac. Lacks some security features.
In Short: Continuing to move away from style over substance, but still not the ideal browser for jumpstarting your career.
Honourable Mentions
As previously noted, browsers are ten-a-penny these days, and the above are only the main contenders to the browsing throne. The following are a few others that warrant a mention:
Flock: With a built in blog editor; flickr, twitter and facebook integration; easy to manage RSS service; and split tabbed favourites/RSS homepage – this could be the future of browsing, certainly for students. For now it’s still a bit riddled with bugs, but worth a look nonetheless.
Maxthon: Get past the security issues and lack of basic features such as thumbnail previews, and this one offers super-fast browsing, even with many tabs running, and the highly useful ability to save a web-browsing session and recover tabs shut by mistake – a God-send for the trigger-happy job hunter.
Netscape Navigator: The forgotten man of web-browsing, Netscape Navigator hasn’t updated since early 2008. You can still download the most recent version, which largely focuses on simplicity – however, the Netscape/AOL social networking integration remains an irrelevance for UK users, and the rest of the package is outmoded and largely obsolete.
In Part 2, I’ll look in more detail at the Web Browsers I think are best suited to the needs of students and graduates.
