Anti-virus

This one is the easiest by far. Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is the best anti-virus period. It is free, which is not to say it works any less than paid anti-virus, in fact it’s better. MSE is updated automatically with Windows updates and since it comes from Microsoft you can trust the source and know that it integrates nicely into the Windows environment. MSE isn’t bloated with things you don’t need like additional firewalls or fear inducing identity protection (here’s a tip, there’s no such thing). Windows already comes with a built-in firewall which is more than enough for home users. MSE is ligthweight meaning it takes up far less space than a lot of the ‘security suites’ out there.

Features are what you’d typically find with any anti-virus, a schedule, color coded alert system, automatic cleaning, white-list locations and automatic scan of downloaded files. Here’s a little something to keep in mind, the Windows 8 developer preview comes preloaded with MSE which indicates that future versions of Windows with ship with MSE already installed. Now would be a great time to familiarize yourself with it.

Download Microsoft Security Essentials

Browser

This one is tough to answer depending on the question. Is your primary objective speed, standards, extensions, security, simplicity? Let’s work backwards from that list.

Simplicity

If all you want is simplicity, stick with Internet Explorer (IE) for Windows and Safari for Mac. It doesn’t get any simpler than IE, it comes pre-installed and will open any webpage without issue, but with that simplicity comes danger as well. IE is the most attacked browser because of flaws and holes in the coding so it’s up to you to be aware of your browsing security.

Security

Which leads us to security. In terms of out-of-the-box security, they are all better than IE, but still vulnerable to web threats. We recommend Firefox with extensions as the best choice for a browser with top security. Extensions or add-ons add effects to the browser to change the way it behaves or looks. Frankly, to use Firefox without them is missing the point. Extensions like NoScript and AdBlock Plus are essentials. A close second and worth mentioning is Opera because of it’s built-in security features. While not as well known as some of the others, Opera is a great browser and worth a look if you want to try something outside the norm.

Extensions

Extensions we’ve already touched on and we’ll continue to recommend Firefox. A very close second is Chrome. It used to be Firefox had the developers to continue propagating new add-ons at a feverish pace, then Chrome came along and suddenly developers flocked to the new platform and so the amount of extensions has somewhat leveled out across the playing field. Chrome has a lot of useful extensions, in fact we use many of them daily, likewise for Firefox. The main difference we see is quality. Firefox keeps a stronger view over the extensions while Chrome is minimally maintained, much like the Android market. Firefox has well established extensions and continues to have new ones added so you can’t go wrong in choosing it as your browser of choice.

Standards

Chrome is our choice for standards. Google takes a definitive stance on web standards as a whole so there is no real surprise that they lead the way with adjusting their browser to support the latest and greatest in web development. Close seconds are Firefox, Opera and Safari. Sorry IE users, IE still lacks in this category.

Speed

This one could get debated forever. Speed tests will show browser A is faster than browser B until browser B gets a beta update or a different test is run. We won’t debate speed tests, they are what they are. What we will do is recommend for speed based on real world usage and performance. Our recommendation is Opera with Chrome coming in second. Chrome is fast to open, no question, but opening is only part of the process. The browser needs to open and load a page, in this case the homepage quickly. Opera does both of those things faster than Chrome. Opera also loaded pages beyond the initial startup faster than Chrome, in fact at times Chrome was sluggish compared to Opera. Note, even at sluggish, Chrome is easily number two in terms of speed.

All browsers mentioned were tested on Windows with Chrome, Firefox and Opera additionally tested on Linux. We based test results for Google’s browser using Chrome not Chromium. For what it’s worth, Chromium was much faster and more responsive on Linux.

Download Chrome

Download Firefox

Download Opera

Download Safari

Speed Enhancement Software

There is no such thing. If you want to speed up your system, the number one most important thing to change is your anti-virus. If you’re using an all-in-one suite or bloated anti-virus software package then your system is being taxed every time you boot up. The next options are to use the disc cleanup and defragment tools provided within Windows by default. There are some additional tweaks with startup that are useful, but will not be listing because layman use can wreak havoc on a system if done improperly.

Many will say third party software is an option. Third party software can clean out old data and files, but that is not “speeding up” a PC, it’s performing a function that may or may not increase speed based on the amount of cleanup they can do. We recommend against using them unless you are a tech professional who understands what everything means. Many of those software options affect system registry and that’s not a good idea even for techs. If you must use one, then we recommend DrivePurge, but we still advise calling a professional if your system is so slow that you feel the need to use software like that.

Download DrivePurge

Your Thoughts

Those are our top three field questions. What do you agree or disagree with? Do you have other suggestions for our readers? Let us know in the comments!

If you enjoyed or found this article useful, please show us some support by liking us on Facebook or by sharing us on your favorite social website. Thanks!

Browsers are probably the most used application on any computer system regardless of operating system and hardware configuration.  They are the visual window to the web and the number one tool for interacting online.

Without drudging up the past and reliving the evolution of the browser we’re going to take a look at a more recent trend in browser development.  Speed.  Microsoft’s Internet Explorer long controlled the browser market as they were the dominant operating system.  Now users have many more choices available, in fact just listing them all would be a paragraph unto itself.  Suffice to say, browsers have become very important to users and their online experience.  Now with so many choices, some are trying to differentiate themselves as ‘the most this’ or ‘the most that’.  The conversation has shifted towards speed with Google leading the way, or are they?

Google Chrome Sets the Bar High

Google’s offering has become a beacon for competing browsers.  The Google Chrome browser has been designed to be fast in all aspects of browsing.  Google has identified the most important factor to users surfing the net.  Speed.  Users want information faster and they want online applications and in-browser games to run faster.  The demand for quick access and fast browsing has propelled Chromeas a major competitor in the browser race.

Chrome has been tested by various random speed tests and third party benchmark testing.  While some are more thorough or detailed than others, the overall results show Chrome to be a leader in browser speed.  As a result, Chrome has forced the hand of other browser developers to put more emphasis and focus towards browser speed.  Even if speed is not the most important factor for you while online, the positive effects from browser development towards faster browsing will improve your overall experience.  Browsers like Safari and Opera have already started making speed one of the most important factors in current and future development to remain competitive.

The Competition

Opera development has rolled out a pre-alpha release of their web browser which shows incredible speed increase in javascript.  If Opera is able to maintain the speed increase shown in the pre-alpha version, users could see a very impressive alternative to Google’s Chrome.  At very least Opera will be a close second in speed to Chrome unless additional enhancements to the other browsers are added , Firefox included.

As mentioned, without some more attention to speed from the Mozilla team, Firefox is likely to slip in market share as users become more informed about alternate browsers and seek faster and faster browsing experience.  That’s not to say Firefox isn’t making improvements to speed, in fact the 3.6 beta 1 shows some real progress in speed when opening multiple tabs.  Additionally, memory consumption has been a real focal point and 3.6 beta 1 shows impressive results.  While not directly speed related, memory consumption on older or slower machines is very important.  It stands to reason that browsing speed will increase as memory usage decreases.  While those improvements will benefit the user, there is still much to be done to make up ground on Chrome.

For those wondering about Internet Explorer advancements, there really isn’t much to say.  IE is slower than all the browsers mentioned in this article but at the same time Microsoft does not make robust announcements about upcoming advancements in their browser technology.  Does that mean they are not working on creating a faster browser?  No, but it does mean we likely won’t know until they release an update.  IE is still playing catchup in some areas and so we will have to wait and see if they have shifted focus to point towards speed and faster browsing.

Conclusion

Bottom line is, whether you are a fan of Google or are scared to the bone, the Chrome browser has elevated the development of browsers with regards to speed.  In the end, it doesn’t matter who wins the award for fastest browser, what does matter is that all browsers will be competing for the title.  When all browsers are pushing the limits of browser speed, we all win.  Their competitive nature will benefit all users.  We will search faster, gather information quicker and better utilize time online.

If there is one prediction to make, it’s that browsers are sure to change over the next decade and likely become a far more integral part of our current desktop experience.

While it would be nearly impossible to cover all browsers, those listed in this article are regarded as top tier in terms of popularity and so we chose to focus our efforts towards them.

Which browser do you think will excel in the area of speed?  How do you think browsers will evolve over the next decade?  Your opinions are welcome, so let us know!

Thanks to our readers and visitors for the past year.  Please let us know what you would like to see in the year to come and what topics we can further explore for you.  We’ll do our best to improve as we move forward.  From all of us at GeekITDown, Happy New Year!