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But now, there are more than half-a-dozen browsers available from the App Store from companies other than Apple. This sudden plethora of new browsers results from Apple's decision to in the App Store--as long as they're based on , Apple's open source browser engine.

So why might you want a browser other than Safari on your iPhone? Each of the eight browsers reviewed here has found a rationale for its existence, whether that be faster page loading by skipping images, implementing tabbed browsing, or some other such reason. But how well do they work, and can any of these alternatives supplant Safari's role as the primary Web browser for iPhone users? To answer those questions, I loaded eight browsers on my iPhone, then started testing.

I didn't get very far before I ran into the first limitation--none of the eight browser's would open my family's password-protected Web site. I don't know why, but it seems that sites that use the standard Apache access controls can't be accessed from a third-party browser.

One of the browser's description pages in the iTunes Store noted that "pop up links are not working due to a limitation on iPhone SDK." So perhaps, somehow, the pop-up window that appears when you reach a password-protected site qualifies as a pop-up link. If true, then it seems that Safari will remain the only way to access such sites, at least until Apple changes the iPhone software development kit.