Starfinancer

THE web browser are software that we use to browse online or read emails. All computers, tablets or smartphones have them preloaded directly from the manufacturer and we often use the ones predefined by the system. On Windows and Apple computer operating systems there are Explorer and Safari, while on Android there is Chrome. There are actually many alternative browsers that are constantly evolving.

THE most used browsers they differ not only in graphics, but also in performance, speed, security, and other added services including the incognito mode to eliminate traces of the sites visited. In order not to be tracked online while protecting privacy and security, there are some tools to block trackers and make the visit of web pages completely anonymous.

Index

What is a browser?

THE browser they are our window on the web that we use every day, perhaps without too much attention. Whenever we want to visit a site and connect to the internet, we click on an icon that opens a window on the monitor. By entering the url address to visit, the program displays the content of the site by deciphering the code with which each page is built to return texts, images and videos.

All the best browsers they have certain characteristics in terms of performance, speed and additional options for browsing and searching online. In addition to allowing you to browse the web by keeping track of our operations, they can take notes, take pictures and perform an inexhaustible series of functions that include online safety and other features such as the ability to browse anonymously without leaving a trace of the sites visited.

The task of the best browsers is to make the life of online surfers easier by saving favorite sites, blocking annoying pop-ups, or using a series of extensions to browse better and be more productive at work. Users who connect to the web from various different devices can synchronize browsers to have the same configuration on each device regarding favorite sites, saved passwords and privacy.

They are called default browsers those already present in the operating system when we buy a new device. Everyone will remember the first one Internet Explorer from Microsoft, pre loaded on all Windows versions, now replaced by Edge. Android systems use Chrome of Google, while Apple has in Safari its nerve center of the web. Since these are software to browse online, it is possible to replace them.

Best web browsers

If you are looking for the best browsers for functionality and performance, nothing prevents you from downloading them for free and trying them by installing them on your computer together with the default ones. Some may be better for quick access to video calls, others may be used for streaming content due to full compatibility with audio and video codecs. Still others offer the ability to manage sidebar codes for site developers.

It is worth replacing the default browser to browse online on one device with another alternative? The communities of enthusiasts and programmers are divided. If the speed, or the time it takes to show us online content, is similar, some are better from a graphic point of view, others simpler in the most common operations, still others are rich in features, extensions and plugins.

Google Chrome It’s Google’s free browers. Like all Google products, it stands out for its simplicity, lightness and functionality. He managed to undermine Internet Explorer among the most used in the world on Windows systems.

Microsoft Edge Among the browsers it is certainly the best known and used also for the fact that it is an integral part of the Windows package when a computer is purchased.

Safari The Apple alternative to internet browsers for the Mac world but not only: PCs, tablets and smartphones can enter the web from this now very functional and fast port

Firefox One of the first reference browsers for an audience of geeks on the web. It currently still offers countless options and is a favorite of webmasters and online site developers

Opera Free functional, light and secure software. It is an alternative to the most used systems, especially in the light version for not too powerful smartphones

Falkon Lightweight web browser available for all major platforms. Born for educational purposes, it is now available for all surfers with bookmarks, history and tabs

Avant Allows you to browse different sites at the same time through various windows, has a popup blocking system and automatic search on Yahoo or Google

Anonymous browsers

The theme of the undercover browsing it is an important distinction in the choice of browsers. In fact, when we visit a site we share our digital fingerprint through so-called cookies, codes that are used by companies to precisely target advertising for marketing purposes. If we do not want to be spied on avoiding cookies, advertisements or other forms of spying, we can install anti-tracking extensions or anonymous browsers.

Between privacy extensions there are Privacybadger which has filters to control tracking and ad blocking cookies, Duckduckgo which automatically blocks trackers by providing a report for each site visited. Decentraleyes protects against background monitoring while Trace hides the IP address, removes trackers and has a large choice of settings for truly anonymous browsing.

Between anonymous browsers there are Slimjet developed on the open source Chromium project, which promises fast, ad-free browsing and respect for privacy thanks to an anti-tracking technology. Vivaldi has a grouped tab system to keep order between visited sites, allows you to not be tracked and has many other useful features built in. Brave is a lightweight browser capable of consuming less resources and battery on portable systems as well as ensuring anonymity by blocking ads and trackers automatically.

Toolbar and extensions

When Internet Explorer dominated the field, other browser makers like Google or Yahoo had a hard time trying to get users to use their engine. So toolbars were invented, additional buttons that tried to enforce the use of a certain engine. Today the use of these systems has practically disappeared and replaced by so-called extensions, in practice plugins that add additional functions.

Chrome Extensions The time of toolbars is over, this is currently the most used browser in the world having proved to be the fastest and most accurate. It goes without saying that it encompasses the search, while through the extensions you will find on this page you can implement an almost infinite series of alternative functions that everyone can customize at will. A fundamental resource for anyone who wants to browse more simply by adding new and interesting content easily and for free

Alexa A customizable and free toolbar that can provide a lot of information on the traffic of the sites visited and on the origin of the visitors. In practice, those who use it become part of a community of users who provide statistical information on the world of the web, on the most visited sites and on the pages viewed.

Softonic An overview of toolbars still available on the web. You can download them for free after carefully reading all the descriptions for what they are used for and what they do.

Google Tone for Chrome

Reading articles or documents, browsing, listening to music, exchanging information: when we browse online everything is done through links or URLs, the addresses of the sites we type and view on the browser. Google has developed a function for its Chrome browser to transfer these links through sounds: the Google Tones. This is a free extension that allows you to produce a different sound for each url.

This sound contains the link which will be transmitted and heard by nearby computers through the microphone. In this way, sharing site addresses with fellow students or work colleagues in classrooms and offices is immediate and simple. Of course, the other computers in the room must also have the Google Tone extension installed. Once they click on the blue Tone icon, recipients will receive a notification on their computer indicating that a link has been sent and can decide whether or not to open the link.

Like any communication that occurs through sounds, the limits of the system are obvious: there must not be too many background noises in the room, the volume of the speakers that transmit the sound must be high enough to be heard by the microphone of the other PCs which clearly must be lit and of good enough quality. It is not difficult to obtain good results, a bit of tests are enough to make everything work for the best in the end: with Google Tone, exchanging links and url addresses on the browser in business meetings or group lessons is certainly easier and faster.