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GROUP TEST WEB BROWSERS

WEB BROWSERS GROUP TEST The is the most indispensable in your distro. Mayank Sharma looks at six of the most popular options.

On Test Web browsers eb browsers shape the A web browser is a complex way we view and piece of software, though it might URL www.firefox.com Winteract with the not look it. You want it to be secure VERSION 33.0.3 . They have grown along while you use it to pass your credit LICENCE MPL 2.0 with the internet as it evolved from card information to an online Can the default browser for most primarily a read-only medium to a retailer. Furthermore, you want it to distros stand up to the competition? content-creation platform. As be reliable when you’re using a web- content producers explore new based service or an online avenues of pushing more content office suite or updating project URL www.chromium.org and creation avenues to us users, specs on the corporate intranet. VERSION 38.0.2125 web browsers must keep pace with Finally, you want it to be able to LICENCE Various open source licences. the new and upcoming protocols handle all sorts of multimedia Is the browser from just an open and web technologies that while being zippy enough so as source hogwash? piggyback the content. not to sap the resources on your It’s fair to say that the web . And you want all of this Epiphany browser has become the most in a well-integrated package that widely used piece of software. With offers a great user experience. URL ://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Web the rising number of web-based In the good old days, the choice VERSION 3.12.0 LICENCE GPL v2 apps and cloud services, the web was simple as there were few Can Gnome’s default web browser hold browser is probably the first app options. For a long time, Firefox was the fort? you call upon after logging into the the default web browser for virtually desktop. In fact, for some people every Linux distro. However, over it wouldn’t be unfair to say that the years it’s given users a lot of the performance of the browser reasons to demand alternatives and URL www.konqueror.org dictates their whole desktop the community and the larger Linux VERSION 4.14 experience. This is why you need to ecosystem hasn’t disappointed. We LICENCE GPL v2 make sure you pick the correct web evaluate some of the best options Can this multifaceted option from KDE browser for you. that are also easily accessible. take on purpose-built web browsers?

Midori “The web browser has become the most URL www.-browser.org widely used piece of software.” VERSION 0.5.8 LICENCE LGPL v2.1 Will this minion be able to hold a Testing the browsers candle to the giants? We’ve tested the browsers on a variety (DOM) and of parameters. Some parameters, such JavaScript. In addition to the browser, as the availability of add-ons and we also look at their ancillary services extensions, get more weight than, say, such as bookmarks, users and download URL www.opera.com the availability of a feature like private management. While all of the browsers VERSION 12.16 mode. To test their adherence to web on test should be available on virtually LICENCE Proprietary standards we also subjected them to every Linux desktop distro, we’ve Do we really need proprietary software popular tests such as Acid 3, which assessed them from inside the in this field? checks compliance with elements of Arch-based Linux as well as on various including Fedora 20.

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Plugins and add-ons Customise your web experience with extra bits and bobs.

hile all browsers are usable Firefox has a dedicated add-ons addons.opera.com/en/), but its collection straight out of the box, you’ll need (https://addons.mozilla.org) and, while isn’t as diverse as Firefox’s and Chromium’s. Wto extend them with add-ons and Chromium doesn’t have a dedicated The minuscule Midori browser ships plugins for a truly customised user extensions site of its own, its users can flesh with over two dozen extensions that you experience. In that respect all web browsers it with add-ons from Chrome’s web store can enable and configure from within the give you access to add-ons for you to tailor (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/ browser itself. Epiphany doesn’t have a the app to your needs. category/extensions). Both traditional extensions model that allows The most popular browsers usually list hundreds of add-ons in well laid-out plugging in external add-ons. Instead the have the largest community of users and categories and allow you to find and install extensions for Epiphany are shipped along developers and as a result have the largest extensions in a matter of clicks. Opera has a with the browser itself. Similarly, Konqueror and most varied selection of extensions. dedicated add-ons website as well (https:// also ships with extensions. Opera 12.16 Can it conduct the choir?

pera is one of the oldest browsers, having come into being as a Oresearch project in 1994. Its first version was released in 1995 but it wasn’t until 2000 that Opera was available for Linux, and it took another five years for the software to become ad-free . Opera on Linux includes all of the features you’d expect from a web browser, including support for multiple tabs, a search- engine toolbar, management, a password manager, per-site security configuration, , auto- The browser for Android is still one of the popular mobile browsers, particularly for the updater, and optional add-ons. Turbo feature which is known to reduces pages by up to 80% of their original size. One of its best privacy-focused features is the option to delete private data, such as ignore any traffic passing on secure HTTPS an improved Turbo mode. There’s also a cookies, browsing history, items in cache channels. Opera Link is the browser’s new Discover feature that shows news and and passwords with the click of a button. synchronisation feature, which can sync other articles much like StumbleUpon. This The browser also likes to flaunt its security- bookmarks, history, searches and more. If beta version also lets you share individual related features. When visiting a site, Opera you want to extend Opera, you can download bookmarks or entire bookmark folders with displays a security badge in the address extensions and themes from the dedicated anyone on the web by creating a special bar that shows details about the website, website (https://addons.opera.com). share.opera.com URL with your shared including its security certificates. Opera also In terms of performance, Opera is bookmarks that’s valid for 14 days. checks visits against blacklists for comparable to Firefox and Chromium. But As expected, the beta version scores and websites, and displays a while it passed the Acid 3 test, Opera scored higher on the HTML 5 test than the stable warning page if you visit a known offender. lower in the HTML 5 test. That’s primarily version. Although we didn’t run into any because Opera’s current stable Linux version unexpected problems, the software is beta Resting on its laurels was released back in July 2013 and still for a reason and it must be pretty serious. The status bar at the bottom includes uses the layout engine. This has been What else would explain the lack of a stable buttons to turn on the Turbo mode and replaced by Google’s layout engine Linux release for more than a year? Opera Link. The Turbo mode shrinks the which is used in the current stable builds for pages before sending them to the user. This Windows and Mac OS X. On Linux, the Blink- helps keep costs down on networks where based Opera 26 is only available in beta. VERDICT A proprietary solution that you are charged for the amount of data The beta version is available as a binary runs well but doesn’t offer transferred. The feature is turned off by download for popular Linux distros. It anything spectacular. default and even after you enable it, it’ll features an updated simplified interface and

www.linuxvoice.com 57 GROUP TEST WEB BROWSERS Epiphany 3.12 A profound experience.

piphany, now rechristened To tweak more advanced options simply as Web, is the default you need the external GSettings Ebrowser of the Gnome desktop configurators such as or the environment. As part of the Gnome graphical dconf-editor. The 3.12 version desktop, the browser adheres to the is a major release of the browser Gnome Human Interface Guidelines that includes performance and user (HIG) and maintains a simple enhancements such as the interface with only a required minimum new design, which replaces number of features exposed to users. the traditional URL bar with the page Epiphany has all the core web title once the page has finished loading. browser features such as tabbed The recently released 3.14 version is Epiphany is now the default browser in the ’s browsing, bookmark management, just a minor update that adds support official Raspbian distro. and an incognito mode. Since version for blocking invalid SSL certificates, and 3.2 the browser can also be used as improved security by warning users can’t customise the websites displayed launchers for web apps. The launchers visiting pages with mixed content. in the speed dial, and there is no add- are standalone instances of the However, we aren’t impressed by the ons management infrastructure. We browsers that are listed along with the browser’s usability. For starters, you also feel that the redesigned address offline apps in the Applications menu can’t switch tabs by using the popular bar might confuse new users who of the desktop. You can access and Ctrl+ key combination. Also, you won’t expect to find it there. manage the launchers with the special about:applications URI from within VERDICT Epiphany itself. “As part of Gnome, Epiphany If you’re a Gnome user, use this default browser Epiphany’s built-in preference adheres to the Gnome Human for creating nifty little manager is designed to present user- web apps. only basic browser-specific settings. Interface Guidelines.” Konqueror 4.14 Too many kooks?

hat Epiphany is to Gnome, Konqueror is well integrated within Konqueror is to KDE. The KDE and uses the KParts object Wbrowser is part of the KDE model to let you view various types Software Compilation and up until the of from with Konqueror itself. So release of KDE 4 was one of the best in essence it provides you with a PDF things about KDE -- a fully functional viewer, an FTP , a text editor, a One of the good things about Konqueror is that it can be web-browser and a very capable file spreadsheet editor, a word document controlled entirely from the keyboard. manager. In fact it was pitched as an editor, an SVN client and more, all within advanced that can display the browser itself. use type and you can also view multiple web pages. With the release of KDE4, websites in a single window with its Konqueror was replaced as the default A many-stringed bow split view functionality. However, one of file manager by . However As a web browser, Konqueror includes a the things that’s missing from Konqueror can still display a bookmark manager, password Konqueror’s repertoire is an incognito just as easily as it can display a manager and a tabbed interface, and mode. You also won’t share or a remote FTP site. lets you define web shortcuts for quick find any privacy options in its long list of By default, Konqueror uses the access to popular web services. The settings, nor will you find a long list of KHTML rendering engine. Although browser comes with a nice set of add-ons. this supports the latest web standards plugins such as a custom ad blocker, such as HTML 5, JavaScript, CSS 3 and automatic web page translation tool, a VERDICT others, you should use the browser’s switcher, command As far as default browsers go, Konqueror is . ability to change rendering engine and panel, and more. switch to WebKit which enhances the Konqueror also ships with multiple user experience manyfold. profiles each designed for a particular

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Midori 0.5.8 Variants and Not as green as you might expect. other options Look beyond the obvious.

n this test we’ve only looked at some of the most popular web browsers available Iand there’s no dearth of alternatives. If you’re looking for more than just a browser, there’s SeaMonkey, which is the continuation of the Application Suite and uses the same code as Firefox but is developed outside the control of the . In fact, Firefox has spawned several browsers each with its own distinct purpose. There’s the ESR version (Extended Support Release) for users who don’t want a new version every few weeks (or for organisations that just can’t handle the In Midori, private sessions run as a separate process, so if your private browsing crashes, it hassle of constand upgrades). won’t affect the normal browser session. If you are a user, your distro ships with the Iceweasel browser, which is a evelopment on the Midori browser cookie manager, external download rebranded Firefox release stripped of all the started in 2003 and the browser manager, feed panel, mouse gestures, Mozilla trademarks. Then there’s PaleMoon, Dwas designed with the idea to custom keyboard shortcuts and more, also from Firefox, that has stopped support make most of the available resources. along with support for -style plug- for older hardware and optimised it for Quick launch speeds and minimal ins for supporting different media through performance on newer devices. resource usage are the hallmarks of the external players such as Totem and VLC. Similarly, Chromium fuels a bunch of browser. No wonder then that Midori is The latest release of the browser browsers as well, most notably the proprietary popular with lightweight distros and the features several notable improvements Chrome browser. The SRWare Iron browser default browsers on distros such as to its WebKit 2 rendering engine including is another proprietary freeware browser SliTaz, Mini and Elementary OS. improved text selection behaviour, that aims to eliminate usage tracking and It uses the WebKit rendering engine and more. The AdBlock other privacy-compromising functionality in and performs just as well as the other extension has been rewritten in Vala and Chrome. KDE users should also check out the browsers using this engine. Yet despite features a new status bar entry to toggle lightweight WebKit-based browser, its lightweight nature and design, Midori the add-on for individual sites and also which is also pretty well integrated in KDE. has all the features you’d expect from show a list of items that were blocked There’s also for resource-conscious users a web browser including a speed dial, on the respective site. The release also and some text-based browsers such as , tabbed interface, bookmark management, features two new extensions. One lets which is still in active development 22 years configurable web search as well as an you use the Ctrl+Enter key combination to after its initial release. incognito mode. autocomplete and the other adds a The browser can show you DOM little notes panel that saves any selected storage items and can create multiple text as your browse the web. browser profiles. Like Epiphany, Midori can Midori was remarkably stable and also create desktop launcher shortcuts properly rendered every popular social for websites. These launchers run simple network we pointed it to including single-instance windows of the browser , , Youtube, Linkedin, that have no address bar. and Spotify. However it doesn’t have a Midori can clear private data with a synchronisation feature, nor a mobile single click and you can also set it to clear client and while its collection of add-ons is data while quitting. You’ll also find some useful it’s no where as comprehensive as privacy-related control in the browser’s the web stores of Firefox and Chrome. settings section. And there’s a next to the address bar that lists recently VERDICT closed tabs and windows along with a An impressive browser QupZilla is a zippy browser that’s designed to that’s light only in size button to clear this list. and not features. provide a native feel on all supported platforms The browser also ships with a bunch and across Linux desktops. of useful add-ons. There’s an ad-blocker,

www.linuxvoice.com 59 GROUP TEST WEB BROWSERS Firefox 33.0.3 vs Chromium 38.0.2125 The battle of the alpha behemoths.

irefox and Chromium are by far is highly customisable. In fact you can the biggest and most rearrange the entire interface as per Fcomprehensive web browser your needs. The browser now ships projects of the lot and the only real with a new view for customisation challengers to each other. that lets you rearrange the various Firefox has long been considered components of the browser window. the de-facto browser for the open Another strength of the browser is source community. It was fast, it the plethora of add-ons freely available was innovative and it championed on a dedicated website of their own. standards compliance while other There’s also the service, browsers of the time (we’re looking at which helps users synchronise Firefox is available for all major operating systems and you, ) were trying to passwords, history, bookmarks and also works on Android smartphones. maneuvre the web as per their whims open tabs by storing encrypted copies and wishes. on Mozilla servers. includes a PDF reader. Like Firefox, Firefox proudly continues its tradition Firefox is also a wonderful platform it’s hot on new and upcoming open and is still known for its technical for web developers and includes tools protocols, and supports , innovations and customisations. If such as the Error Console and the and WebM codecs among others. there’s something you can do with DOM Inspector as well as extensions Chromium’s snapshots are built a web browser – tabbed browsing, such as . Furthermore, Mozilla automatically several times a location-aware browsing, incremental has recently announced a new release day and made available as binary find, smart bookmarking, managing dubbed Firefox Developer Edition built releases. These are then taken by downloads, browsing privately – you especially for web developers. distro packagers and included in the can do it with Firefox . The browser respective software repositories. also strives to support the new and All that glitters ain’t gold While the browser is available for upcoming open technologies such as The Chromium project impressed users multiple platforms, there is no mobile WebM and HTML 5. right from its initial release in 2008. The client, although you can compile one Firefox is also the most localised open source project lends code to yourself. You can extend Chromium by web browser, with support for over Google’s proprietary Chrome browser, 70 languages. The browser has an which only adds some Google excellent security record and is known trademarked and proprietary code on “Like Firefox, Chromium is hot for offering bug bounties to developers top of Chromium. on upcoming open protocols, who discover a security hole. It also Chromium impressed users with its implements Google’s Safe Browsing minimalist user interface. The browser and supports Vorbis.” API to safeguard its users from won accolades and users for being phishing and malware. faster than Firefox and for making fetching extensions from Chrome’s web There was a time when other judicious use of computer resources store, which is as diverse as Firefox’s. browsers scored over Firefox just for despite matching the latter for features. Chromium also sports a sync feature their looks and customisation potential. Chromium can do all the usual things similar to Firefox. However, the latest version of Firefox you can do with Firefox and also Chromium has more privacy-related controls than Firefox, but that’s primarily because the browser uses more privacy-invasive services than Firefox. For example, Chromium uses a web service to resolve navigation errors along with a prediction service to complete searches and URLs. The one area that Chromium scores over Firefox is user management, which is more intuitive in Chromium than in Firefox.

VERDICT FIREFOX: The open CHROMIUM: It won source champion does users with its speed well to keep up with but it has to pay heed the competition. to Google’s whims. Chromium uses multiple processes to isolate websites in different tabs from each other.

60 www.linuxvoice.com WEB BROWSERS GROUP TEST OUR VERDICT Web browsers

his was always going to be from Chromium is its process between Firefox and model, which handles unresponsive TChromium. That’s not to say web pages more gracefully than that the other browsers didn’t stand Firefox, but is also responsible for its a chance. In fact, we were tempted high resource usage. to give the top honours to Midori. But Firefox is more than just a This group test wasn’t lost by any browser (there’s some fantastic Midori is an impressive piece of browser and has been fighting the software for Linux) as much as it was won by Firefox. software that’s not only fast and good fight for quite some time. lightweight but is also full of useful Its commitment to promote open features and has enough room for standards, privacy and the open 1st Firefox 33.0.3 extensibility. It easily obliterates the web are as important and worthy Licence MPL 2.0 Version 33.0.3 other contenders in this group test of support as the software itself. but lacks the advanced power user Also, unlike some projects, Firefox www.firefox.com features that you get with Firefox doesn’t rest on its laurels and If it keeps up the good work, it’ll be hard for anyone to displace and Chromium, such as a strives to innovate and adapt to the Firefox from the top . synchronisation feature. dynamic space in which it operates. There’s not much to choose The project has just celebrated the 2nd Chromium 38.0.2125 Licence Various open source licenses. Version 38.0.2125

“Firefox strives to innovate and adapt to www.chromium.org the dynamic space in which it operates.” The only real competition to Firefox; loses for its focus on powering proprietary solutions instead of catering to its users. from between Firefox and 10th anniversary of Firefox 1.0 with Chromium. As browsers they are a special anniversary release that 3rd Midori 0.5.8 almost equally matched. We like comes with a Forget button that Licence GPL v2 Version 3.12.0 Firefox’s implementation of a few helps you erase recent activity if features, most notably Firefox you accidentally fall down a rabbit www.midori-browser.org The go-to browser for anyone concerned about resource Sync, which encrypts all synced hole on the web. consumption. data and also lets you use a Mozilla’s official mission custom server instead of Mozilla’s. statement is to build a better Over the years Firefox has also internet. The team also just happen 4th Konqueror 4.14 been able to streamline itself and to produce a wonderful browser Licence GPL v2 Version 4.14 match Chromium for speed and that outperforms the competition www.konqueror.org performance. The one feature on merit. We’re glad to see it back Like most things KDE, Konqueror loses out for trying too hard. Firefox hasn’t been able to adapt at the top of the tree. As part of an integrated desktop though, it’s well worth trying. 5th Epiphany 3.12 Licence LGPL v2.1 Version 0.5.8

https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Webe Gnome’s default browser is good for creating web apps, but falls behind in daily usage. 6th Opera 12.16 Licence Proprietary Version 12.16

www.opera.com The ugly proprietary duckling pales in front of the white open source swans. Midori ships with several useful plugins, and is fantastic for older machines.

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