There is quite a range of browsers available now, mostly based either on Mozilla or Internet Explorer. My favorite is one of the latter, Avant Browser, a fast and efficient application that does everything a browser should without unnecessary complications. All that, and it's free. I am a fan.

Features

• Speed - Launches quick, browses fast.
• Tabbed Browsing - The best implementation of tabs out there.
• Website Memory - When you open Avant you can take up your browsing from exactly where you last left off.
• Full Screen, Desktop and Compact modes - Make the most of your screen real estate.
• Popup Blocking - Save irritation.
• Ad Blocking - Save bandwidth.
• Flash Blocking - Save both.
• One-touch Script, ActiveX and Java Blocking- For ultimate security.
• Multilanguage - 43 world languages supported so far!
• RSS Reader - Get newsfeeds.
• Mouse Gestures - Highly customizable mouse control.
• Multiple Homepages - Go straight to all your favorite places.
• Groups - Make sets of related sites that open together.
• Similar Pages Bar - Searches in the background for pages like the one you're on.
• Built-in Searchbar - Use either Google or Avantfind, a custom version of Yahoo.
• Quicksearch - Set up keyboard shortcuts to any search engine you like.
• Record Cleaner - Remove browsing tracks with one click.
• Built-in Translation - Read foreign sites.
• Zoom Control - Enlarge or reduce pages.
• Autoscroll - Look, no hands!
• URL Alias - Set up fast keyboard shortcuts to often-used sites.
• Highly Configurable - You have absolute control over what menus, toolbars and buttons are shown.
• Image, Flash and Text Tools - Grab and edit website content with floating mini-toolbars.
• Skinable - You can customize Avant's appearance, even make your own skin.

Links

Avant's Homepage
There are new versions of Avant pretty often. Find out about the latest and read more about its features and specs here.

The "Avant Tip"
How to fix a problem from about 2001...

Screenshots

Avant Browser 10 with Tristan skin and minimal toolbar use

Avant Browser 10.1 beta in compact mode with sidebar open

The Skinny

So why don't I like Firefox?

Well in short, I do. It's a great idea, and Open Source is a great movement. I always keep a recent build installed. But Avant has been my default browser ever since I discovered it.

Firefox is flexible and extensible, and can be made to do almost anything a programmer imagines. But the same can be said of IE; that too is designed as a frame to hold third-party extensions. This hasn't proved to be the best approach.

Avant uses the opposite philosophy. Rather than be extensible, it aims to put everything you're actually going to need for browsing into one integrated, well-designed package. Instead of groups and committees of programmers, it is created by one person - Anderson Che - and his great instincts for design are visible in every aspect. In both its ergonomics and aesthetics, Avant is just sharp.

Is Firefox more secure? Probably, but it needs to be remembered here that a browser is not a firewall. The danger is that people will think of Firefox as some sort of cloak of invulnerability, a thing a browser can never be. What really matters is whether the system behind the browser is secure. (See here for some tips on Windows security.)

As for web standards, this is a huge issue. As an author I'd like all browsers to render pages to the same standard - whatever that standard is. In the meantime however, all the pages I create will be carefully designed to work in all mainstream browsers - no matter how frustrating that can be at times!

As a user though, I want my browser to work in every page I visit. Here Avant is the best of both worlds, combining IE's ubiquity with the far superior feature set and ergonomics of an alternative browser. It stands as a reminder to Microsoft that Internet Explorer could and should be so much better.