Web Browsers For The Mac

Safari Is Not The Only Web Software For Your Mac

If you have a Mac you probably have Safari. Safari is Apple’s web software, or browser, for surfing the internet. While Safari is great, it is not the only browser out there for your Mac. Here’s a list of alternative browsers that you might want to download and check out. The first four are free, while the last is not.

<strong><em>Firefox</em></strong> - Firefox is one of, if not the, most popular web browsers available. It is available on all major platforms. Firefox is packed with features and the ability to add features through plug-ins which can do just about anything. If you want a feature in your web browser there is probably a Firefox plug-in for it. I don’t use Firefox on a daily basis, but I do have it on my iMac because pages that don’t work in Safari usually load in Firefox.

Camino - Camino is a great browser and based on the technology behind Firefox. The difference is that Camino does not have all of the bells and whistles of Firefox or the plug-ins. If you try Camino, I think you’ll find it to be very reliable and very fast. Version 2 just came out recently and it is great. One of the cool new features of Camino is tab browsing. If you have a lot of tabs open you can use tab browsing to quickly find the one you are looking for.

Opera - Another browser that has been around for a while is Opera. It is up to version 10 and 10.5 is in development. Like Firefox, Opera is packed with features. One feature is a built-in email client. No need to use two programs, you can just use Opera.

Google Chrome - Probably one of the most talked about browsers in the past year has been Google Chrome. Google Chrome, as the name suggests, is by Google. The Mac version of Chrome is in beta and has recently been released. Many people love Chrome because of its speed. I personally do not like Chrome. I have tried it and I find Safari to be much faster, especially at work. For some reason, Chrome on my Mac at work is extremely slow. I’m sure it is related to our firewall, but it is a major reason I do not use it.

Bumper Car - Bumper Car is a title you may not have heard of, but if you are a parent it is something you might want to look into. Bumper Car is the only browser on this list that is not free. It is by Freeverse and costs $30. Bumper Car is a browser designed to be safe for kids to surf the Internet. It is customizable by the parent to choose what sites your child can go to. Sites can be organized by theme. The interface of Bumper Car is very kid friendly and geared towards a child using it.

These are not the only alternatives to Safari out there, but if you don’t like using Safari these options are a good place to start looking. If you still want more I suggest visiting Macupdate.com or Versiontracker.com and doing a search for “web browser.” You’ll have a long list of options to choose from.

Have a favorite web browser? Leave your comments below.