Compute: Google Chrome the winner in browser war

One of the most overlooked pieces of software on the PC today is the lowly Internet browser, mostly because people typically use whatever is pre-installed on their computers.

But there are lots of choices out there, ranging from Internet Explorer to Firefox to Safari to Opera to Chrome.

Finding a "best" of these is one of those "fistfight-in-a-nerd bar" questions but the editors of PC World this week tried a browser shootout and picked a winner. Their pick could be surprising to many.

First of all, what makes a "best" browser? According to the magazine, it should include quick page loads without plug-ins, no crashes and plenty of safety and security. It should also warn users of fraud, "phishing" attempts, and have lots of add-ins and extensions.

In voting on best user-interface, which, of course, is largely subjective, the winner was deemed to be Google's Chrome. With its trademark minimalist view, Chrome is lovely -- plain and loads quickly, just like the Google home page.

In terms of security, which should protect you without you knowing it, the winner was also Chrome. That's because each site you open with Chrome is opened in its own "sandbox" to protect your computer from malware from the websites you visit. I have been impressed with Chrome as my primary browser in this regard. In fact, Chrome was the last browser standing in a famous annual hacking contest, the magazine noted.

The third category, extensions and add-on support, goes to Mozilla's Firefox, which has a long-established base of add-ons. There are tons of modifications you can make to your Firefox browser to get it to behave just as you wish it to, ranging from weather updates to sports scores to movie times and news updates.

The fourth category, speed, was divided into two parts: JavaScript loading times and page loading times. The winner of both categories was Chrome. JavaScript, which is used on many Web pages today, was clearly superior in Chrome and that made pages zip along faster. In terms of overall page loading, Chrome's load was statistically superior -- but not by much. The magazine correctly pointed out that most users won't notice this benchmark because the real variability is the user's connection speed and the page that they are loading. We don't all live in labs.

The overall winner in the browser war was Google Chrome. "We like Chrome for its clean and friendly interface, good performance, and strong security," the magazine said. "It covers all the basics for most users, and offers plenty of customization for power users."

Chrome is gaining the most in terms of market share, with something around 8 percent, compared to about 22 percent for Firefox and 60 percent for Internet Explorer. The tricky part about market share is most people use more than one browser. I have three on my computer and use them for various things. I visit some websites that work only with IE and some that work best in Chrome, so I use the browsers interchangeably.

However, I echo PCWorld's recommendation and suggest most Windows users give Chrome a try.

(James Derk is owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm and a tech columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com )