Web Browsers for Linux



by Danny Kalev

Currently, there are at least four Web browsers that run on Linux.
This column is a quick overview of those browsers and their
major advantages and weaknesses.


- Netscape -
Netscape is included with most Linux distributions. The
latest version, Communicator 4.7, supports the latest standards,
including HTML 4.0, XML, and CSS. However, its resource-gluttony and
instability are two noticeable weaknesses. For acceptable
performance, you need at least 64Mb of RAM and a Pentium 233 or
higher. Netscape still crashes occasionally, although recent
versions have shown continuous improvements in this respect. The
latest version is available from http://www.netscape.com.
  Pros: fully-featured, supports the latest standards, free, includes
a mail client.
  Cons: bulky, resource hungry, still unstable.


- Mozilla -
The Mozilla project has been working, over the past couple of
years, on an Open Source Web browser. Originally, Mozilla relied on
Netscape's legacy browsing engine, but later it was abandoned in
favor of an entirely new engine written from scratch. Thus, Mozilla
is independent of Netscape. M13, the latest release, is still an
alpha version, yet fully-featured. Future releases, however, will
add missing functionality. The latest binaries and source files are
available from http://www.mozilla.org.
  Pros: free, open source, graphical, written from scratch; includes
a mail client.
  Cons: bulky, still unstable, not fully-featured.


- Opera -
Opera offers a small, fast, and efficient browser that performs
satisfactorily, even on old PCs with vintage processors and little
memory. The latest release, Opera for Linux 4.0a, is still an alpha
version. While it offers an interesting alternative to the more
cumbersome mainstream browsers, it's not free: a registered copy
costs $35. Still, Opera's creators claim that the product offers
incontestable qualities in terms of compactness and speed. You can
download a 30-day trial version from http://www.opera.com and
decide whether it's worth the price.
  Pros: small, fast, can run on old PCs.
  Cons: costs money, still a preview version.


- Lynx -
Lynx, a text-based Web browser, is included with most Linux
distributions. What's the use of an age-old browser that displays
only text without graphics? For some folks, this is a plus -- many
sites are replete with ads, banners, and animation that take
forever to download and consume precious bandwidth and connection
time. Lynx filters out non-textual contents such as applets,
images, animation, and audio files, thereby significantly
decreasing download time.
  Pros: free, small, fast, and secure.
  Cons: displays only text, command line operated.