However many people discovered that even though Edge is in many ways a much better experience than IE it still doesn't compare to the versatility and speed that browsers from the Chromium and Mozilla family can offer.
Over the course of 2015-2016 I tested out a few browsers not of the mainstream. I'm not including "beta" builds of the main three browsers (Chrome, FF and Opera. I exclude I.E. and Safari as they are discontinued on Windows and Edge doesn't allow beta usage), though I tend to lean toward using beta as I like to have cutting edge features and help projects by sending feedback stats.
Firefox "test builds" used to come in three releases: Nightly, Aurora and Beta. Aurora is now Developer Release. For Chrome, Canary is your option and Opera Beta or Developer releases are available.
I'm also excluding SeaMonkey as I consider it a part, although smaller, of the mainstream. SM is a good choice, of course. Especially if you are looking for a "suite" (e-mail, web browser, IRC and HTML compiler) and is the closest in look and feel to the original Netscape Navigator.
1.) SlimJet
You may remember SlimBrowser if you were on the internet in the early 2ks when it gained a bit of popularity with Windows users as alternative to IE and Netscape, which despite it's name was kind of like IE on steroids.
SJ is a Chromium based browser using the Blink engine and comes with the features you would expect from Chrome such as google sign in and all the available extensions from the Chrome Web Store and will automatically migrate your bookmarks and extensions. It also comes with Adblock, the ability to download flash/videos baked right in, and many customization features in the settings and menus that you won't find in plain Chrome.
The one thing I don't like about SJ is that by default all tabs load up when you start instead of just the visible one, which sucks. However you can change this buy going into flags.
If you are running on a slow connection, the Data Saver extension is supposed to work like Opera Turbo though in practice I find it doesn't live up to it's claim.
2.) Pale Moon
This is the best alternative FF browser out there IMHO, and I posted why back in August. Though it has it's own rendering engine that is a fork of Gecko, most FF plugins work with it, it's optimized for Windows and comes in both 32 and 64 bit versions. One setback I've found is no WebRTC, which means no video chatting in Facebook, however you can use add-on like IE Tab to get around this if you want.
I find the following Add-ons to be of great use:
3.) Waterfox
If you want to use a 64bit Gecko based browser, this is likely your best choice. Optimized for 64bit and based on the latest FF with the modern Australis interface. You should have no trouble running most, if not all FF add-ons.4.) Avant Browser
Out of China and inspired by Opera, Avant browser used the Trident engine by default, but with the Ultimate version you can switch to either WebKit or Gecko on-the-fly as well. It comes with adblock and video/flash download as well as detailed menus for customizing. If you like having everything accessible in menus the way old Mozilla/Netscape was, only more, you may love this browser. In theory you can also use Chrome and FF extensions when you have either of those rendering engines selected.The browser is fast and compatible though unfortunately it's a bit limited visually, with only a limited amount of skins available. It will also take some time to get used to getting around in as most modern browsers have moved to a more sparse interface. If you prefer that this browser is not for you.
5.) Maxthon
Another browser out of China and uses the WebKit engine, has a similar look to modern FireFox and Opera meshed together. Comes with all adblocking and the ability to log into the Maxthon cloud as well as Facebook and Twitter.
6.) Vivaldi This Opera inspired browser impressed me s much as Yandex but but it is definitely more streamlined and polished. A great alternative to Opera, it offers many of the same features with the older versions of Opera on the minds of the developers.
6.) Vivaldi This Opera inspired browser impressed me s much as Yandex but but it is definitely more streamlined and polished. A great alternative to Opera, it offers many of the same features with the older versions of Opera on the minds of the developers.
7.) Slim Browser
This is an old school favourite of many Windows users, a sort of IE on steroids it uses the Trident engine. it comes with many features baked in such as adblock, weather and speed dial. This is a great choice for older Windows machines.Browsers to keep an eye on this year:
- Yandex: I was impressed with the possibilities that this browser can bring us in 2017. I will be keeping a watch for updates. Still clunky and needs work
- Maxthon Nitro: Stripped down, remarkably fast and light using Blink. This browser leaves much to be desired in way of features but makes up for it with a sleek interface and ease of use. With no option to even install an extension as simple as adblock, this browser is only really useful for old computers or other situation that calls for a bare bones browser. If more features are added, it could become useful.
- Lunascape: Triple engine browser (Trident, Gecko & WebKit)
- QupZilla: is a neat, fast little browser that runs on many different operating systems from Debian to Windows
- Sleipnir :a small, fast Japan based browser.
- Midori: Another lightweight browser
- K-Meleon: This browser is an old fav of mine. It uses the windows API instead of Mozilla's XML for it's interface while using Gecko which makes the browser faster and less resource intensive, making it a great choice for older computers running Windows. It is very customizable so a good choice for anyone that likes to tinker. However it is infrequently updated and installing modern extensions like adblock is cumbersome.
