Q and A: Browsers are a dime a dozen… or completely free. Why not use them all?

Every week we take Internet marketing questions from friends, acquaintances and client business partners and unravel them at the end of these enewsletters. Is there something you would like to know about the weirdly wonderful world of websites? Ask us here and we shall answer.

Question: Which browsers should I be paying attention to?

Answer: According to Wikipedia, as of October, 2009, the top browsers by usage are:

• Internet Explorer (64.64%)
• Mozilla Firefox (25.30%)
• Safari (4.30%)
• Google Chrome (3.19%)
• Opera (1.50%)

Those figures, of course, do not delve into the sordid world of version numbers. And, as you may well know, comparing Firefox 3.5 to Internet Explorer 6.0 is like comparing a pristine, freshly picked Navel orange to a moldy, old, half-eaten Gala apple.

That said, you should still be watching Internet Explorer 6.0.

IE 7 and 8 Are Fine, But Don't Not Watch Out for IE6

IE 6 is still widely used despite the fact that it is, in the words of the website IE6 No More: "[…] one of the most difficult and frustrating things [web developers] have to deal with on a daily basis, taking up a disproportionate amount of their time." Why do web developers feel this way? Mostly, the problem is that IE6 does not render layout and other code functionality correctly. In the words of the website Bring Down IE6: "Clients pressure designers to ’force’ sites to work in IE6, and designers, not wanting to lose business, comply, using hacks and workarounds. This wastes time and money." Again, however, do-gooder petition sites have not eradicated IE6 and that's why you need to watch it. It's out there making your site look bad to large numbers of visitors… and you need to know about and address that.

Firefox Is a Bigger Deal Than Ever Before

Even years ago when Firefox was gaining a wonderful reputation as the free, open-source browser that might someday dethrone IE, few expected how well it would be doing today with a solid quarter market share and much higher on specific sites. Yet, with blazing fast speeds, excellent security features, and a wide world of user-developed plugins, themes and scripts, it's no wonder why so many people seek Firefox out.

Plus, most recent versions of Firefox render sites to the likings of most designers. No matter what system you're running, you should have Firefox downloaded and installed. We won't ask you to set as your default browser but, if you do any tinkering online or just like to have bells and whistles, go spend a half hour in Firefox's Add-Ons site and try to resist adding it to your taskbar.

Chrome and Safari Are Different But Similar

Chrome and Safari both run the WebKit rendering engine. So, in terms of, "What will my site look like?" you're going to see the same thing in either browser. And, as an extra, WebKit passes rendering tests with flying colors.

However, the stylistic and functionality differences between these two browsers are growing everyday. While Safari is now available for both Windows and Mac, Google's Chrome browser is still yet to be released for Mac but expected in early 2010. And, as Safari is touted as typically Mac-simple in terms of design, Chrome takes on a new look for a browser with the option to change themes. Most importantly, Google just opened an "extension gallery" to developers, inviting the same kind of user-improviser relationship that made Firefox famous and the iPhone the gadget that does everything. Safari has plugins too, of course, but they're simply not very well-known in our experience.

So What Should I Download?

Well, there are still dozens of other browsers out there including Opera (a great browser and totally under-appreciated), Camino, Flock, and many more. A few, like social networking browser Flock, have specialized uses… but, to be honest, when are you going to use these? Probably not often if user statistics are any indication.

If you're doing development or helping with development, Congruent Media recommends running Firefox and IE on a Windows machine and checking occasionally with a WebKit browser like Chrome.

• Latest Firefox
• Internet Explorer (if on Windows; IE-tab for Firefox, if on Mac)
• Safari or Chrome (Safari really runs well on Mac)
• Opera (for fun, why not)

And, hey, most browsers are free so don't hesitate to stock up and experiment! If you have any questions, like how to run multiple versions of IE on the same computer, shoot us an email or maybe we'll write that one up soon… You never know when you're going to need to check a site out on old, bane-of-your-existence IE6.