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In the hostile computing environment today where we are constantly threatened with viruses, hackers, and worms, it is important to find a way to stay safe and productive while connected to the internet. Let's face it, for most people the internet browser is the most used piece of software on their computer, so should they just take what they are given or choose it based on features the same as any other software? Internet Explorer has become so vulnerable to attack and cumbersome because of its defenses to those attacks that many people are looking elsewhere for alternatives. A lot of people are suggesting Firefox, but this article looks at two other alternatives, one has been around almost since the beginning and one that is the newest player in the market. These are Opera from Opera Software Company and Chrome from internet giant, Google.

First and foremost, there is security. Both of these new browsers subscribe to phishing and malware sites and build blacklists to help protect the user. Handling private data and cookies is done differently in these two browsers. Opera allows you to quickly and easily get rid of stored data with the click of a button. Chrome has a feature called Incognito which blocks the computer from storing any of this information to begin with. Opera also protects stored passwords with a master password preventing worms from being able to access that data.

Speed has been a major problem with Internet Explorer, and version eight doesn't seem to be any better. Both of these browsers outperformed IE easily with Chrome being slightly faster than Opera in independent testing.

Internet Explorer introduced the concept of tabbed windows in version seven. Opera has had this feature since 2000, and Chrome comes out of the gate with it ready to go. Chrome takes this concept to a new level, forcing each tab to function independently so that a problem in one tab won't affect other tabs and a crash only closes the tab that is affected. It also has a Windows like task manager that will let you break out of a tab that has hung up. Finally, you can drag and drop the tabs, rearranging and resizing any way you like, even dragging a tab to the desktop to open a new window.

Opera isn't left out when it comes to innovative features. Mouse gestures is a feature that let's the user combine right clicks with mouse movement to perform common tasks. For instance, you can drag to the left while right clicking to go to the previous page. It didn't forget the keyboard however, as most tasks can be done with keyboard shortcuts as well.

It is clear that a lot of people are looking for an alternative to Internet Explorer and Firefox is not the only choice for Windows users. Opera has been around since 1996, and Google has released a feature packed browser this year. If you are looking for a new browser, you will want to add these two to your list of choices.

Learn more about this author, Darryl Brooks.
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