It all began with WorldWideWeb. Not the vast smorgasbord that is cyberspace, but the basic browser that was developed, in 1991, by Brit scientist Sir Tim Berners-lee. It was renamed nexus to avoid confusion with the World Wide Web. Much data has since flowed under the bridge and users are now spoilt for choice. But before you download every new beta version, we help you choose what deserves your default click.

Firefox 3

With a Guinness World Record of more than 8 million downloads on its launch day, Mozilla Firefox 3's arrival in cyberspace was nothing short of a supernova. But this was not a criterion on our test block and we put it through its paces to check if it was worth the hype and hoopla. Firefox has always been known for the features it offers and its extensibility factor with thousands of add-ons available. but since a Web browser is not only about features and add-ons, we tested it, on the basis of Design and Usability, Feature sets, Performance and Speed, and Security and Privacy.

Look and Feel

At the outset, Firefox 3 has a simple and clean layout that makes navigating easy. It has all the essential buttons like Home, Stop and Refresh prominently displayed and well-placed. The ability of adapting its look and feel according to the Operating System it is run on makes it easy to get accustomed to. On the usability front, opening up Web pages is a breeze with the enhanced address bar that display suggestions of frequently/recently visited sites when typing in any URL. There are no extra themes or skins provided with the installation, but it can be accomplished by installing addons like personas which instantly add skins to Firefox. When it comes to Design and Usability, Firefox 3 offers an uncomplicated look and feel, designed for ease of navigation, and was second only to Opera.