The Browser Choice
I am a child of the early Internet browser. Nothing will replace my beloved Netscape Navigator. It was the first browser that I ever used. Although, the all powerful Internet Explorer all but wiped it from the face of the Internet. There was something that to me is nostalgic about it. While countless people still yearn for this day (myself included) it is hard not to see the dominant browsers still be taken for granted.
On Windows, Edge is front and centre and Microsoft wants you to know it's there. Everywhere. Even when you are in Edge and go to Google, Google reminds you that Chrome is better. These types of behaviour annoy and saddens me. People will undoubtably choose one of those browsers because it is forced on them, and it causes zero friction, why would it, the browser is already installed for them? If that is how you (Google) make money, of course you are going to make sure every possible Internet user uses your browser.
What saddens me is that there are a ton of other browsers out there that people need to be offered too. I have seen and used just about every browser out there. From Firefox and Safari to Opera, Konqueror and Vivaldi. I honestly have been searching for and using the browsers for quite some time.
My issue is: I just can’t pick one and settle down, I like the shiny, new and fresh. I love the quirky and the disrupters. I am using Arc Browser, my issues: it’s new, it is missing many features that I like in other browsers. With the latest release onto iOS it has got better, and I like the ability to rethink what a browser is, your window to the Internet. There is something in Arc Browser that seems to intrigue me, for starters, the tabs are at the side, not the top. The tabs only stay active for 12 hours unless you pin them. AI is dusted about it (and not in a way that you start to hate it), dusted in a way that it is helpful to you, like instant searching for answers or summarising the page you are currently on. You can open a split tab view, you can hide everything and just see the Internet. It is helpful, it is new and fresh.
What makes it different is the people who are creating it seem to take every feature and really think about how they can make it work. Make it genuinely work, if it does not work in a way that is frictionless and effortless then they won’t do it. If they can’t refine it then it might simply be removed in the next update.
Of late I have found myself sticking with Arc, although I keep finding myself dabbing between Safari and Orion browser too. Safari simply because it is fast and is just like Edge on Windows — just there — but the extensions and the support for countless other features just seems very clunky in the world of Apple’s Safari. My biggest hate about Safari is custom search engines, I should be able to use whatever search engine I want in my browser and should not be limited to the ones that Apple “thinks” is good for me.
Orion, on the other hand, is another one that I am keeping a close eye on. Made by the same company that is making you pay for searching the web — Kagi. It has all the speed and quirks you like about Safari. The same browser engine and the same integrations into macOS and your favourite i*OS but, it can do extensions from both Chrome and Firefox, which opens up a considerable world of possibilities for interoperability. Now granted, Orion is still in beta and not all the extensions work, but it is showing promise of becoming a fascinating contender for the masses.
Depending how much time you spend on your computer, mobile device or Internet-connected device, a browser is, or should be, a deeply personal choice. There is plenty of information and choice out there. Just don’t accept the one that your big tech company gave you, see what’s out there, you might just find your Netscape.