Opera, Mozilla Ready for Prime Time

© 2004, John Calder
http://www.TheEzine.net

Early Internet surfers, which of course means something less than a decade ago for most of us, will remember the days when Netscape was the only real browser in town. For those who don't remember, there was a time when Netscape was for sale in the computer stores, for anywhere from $20 to $50, depending on which version you wanted.

Then Microsoft's free Internet Explorer (IE) came along, knocked out Netscape as a contender to all but a relatively few users, and dominated the browser market for years. IE has gained a reputation of being vulnerable to various types of attacks, and in recent years though, several challengers have appeared. And they're good. Really good.

The two most popular upstarts are Mozilla (with next-generation browser Firefox), and Opera from Oslo-based Opera Software ASA. Both offer tabbed browsing, popup blockers, password and download managers, instant messaging and chat, themes, and security control settings, among other features. In addition, both offer versions of their software for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and other operating systems.

Mozilla has a lineage back to Netscape. The Mozilla project offers the original Mozilla browser and email client, and additionally their newer browser Firefox and newer email client Thunderbird. All are available for download at no charge, although Mozilla does accept donations and offers merchandise through their online store.

Opera includes an integrated email client and contact manager, searchable bookmarks, RSS newsreader, user notes, and much more. There is a free, advertisement sponsored version of Opera, or you can remove the ad and receive support for a one-time payment, currently $39 USD.

You may want to download both Mozilla and Opera to test out their features. One or both of these browsers may win you over on their own merits, even without the security concerns of IE.