BYTE MARKS
Browser alternatives keep coming

By Burt Lum

The browser wars are much more heated than I thought. Having written a few columns about browsers in the past few months, I should have realized that when it comes to browser choice, it is like having a discussion about religion, politics or operating systems: You avoid these topics if you don't want to provoke confrontation.

But at the risk of getting vilified on message boards, I submit the following.

My leaning toward Microsoft Internet Explorer in my June 25 column, implying it was a one-browser world, was taken by some as an admission of going to the dark side. A week later I followed up with a column on other strong contenders such as Mozilla, and Netscape's adoption of Mozilla code for their latest version. But the e-mail kept pouring in, nudging me to consider other alternatives.

Here are a few that I have since downloaded and run on my Mac.

The first is a product from Norway called Opera (www.opera.com). Billed as a fast, cross-platform browser, Opera takes up about 9.9 MB of your hard drive. It features tab functionality like the new version of IE and Netscape but also has advanced mouse gestures for quick maneuvering through the browser window.

The mouse-gesturing is a feature geared for the Windows PC equipped with a multi-button mouse. The Opera software development team supports itself through advertising banners that kick in after 30 days. They say they are not spyware. If you don't like the ad banners, you can pay them a $30 license fee and the banners go away.

A Mac-only suggestion is iCab (www.icab.de) from Germany. This is the fastest, smallest browser, requiring only 3.7 MB. That's about one-tenth the size of Netscape, but bear in mind, Netscape includes applications such as mail, news, instant messenger and address book.

Speaking of Mac-only browsers, OmniWeb (www.omnigroup.com/applications/omniweb) is gaining in popularity. It runs only on the latest Mac OSX. Based on what I have read and comments from readers, it is worth checking out. Now I need to find some time to upgrade my operating system. ;-)

Burt Lum is a click away at burt@brouhaha.net.