A web browser is absolutely essential for visiting websites, but which one should you use? While there are more browsers available than I've listed here, I find these to be the top internet browsers of all time.
If you'd like for me to look at a different one, send me an email.
1. Chrome
Chrome is the free internet browser offered by Google. It has one of the most easiest to use interfaces, supports a ton of add-ons called extensions, and can sync your customizations across multiple platforms.
Chrome can be installed to Windows, Mac, and Linux computers. A mobile app is available for Android, iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad devices.
If you sign on to Chrome on more than one desktop via your Google account, any pages that are currently open, as well as bookmarks, apps, passwords, settings, history, extensions, and themes can be encrypted and synced across the different Chrome installs.
Private browsing is supported in Chrome under incognito mode, which is a portion of the Chrome browser that doesn't keep a log of visited pages, downloaded files or cookies once the incognito page closes.
Multiple users can easily access Chrome on the same computer by setting up different accounts that each have their own bookmarks, preferences, extensions, and other personal touches.
Chrome can also be installed in portable form from PortableApps.
2. Firefox
Firefox is a popular web browser that's completely free to use. It supports thousands of add-ons to extend its functionality by adding extra features.
Android devices can install Firefox as well as Windows, Linux, and Mac users. A portable version of Firefox can be downloaded from PortableApps.
Firefox can sync your personal data with other installs via an encrypted connection. You can setup the following to sync: add-ons, bookmarks, passwords, preferences, history, and tabs.
Firefox has a Page Info feature that displays general information regarding a website, any media that can be extracted from a page, and an easy way to see all the RSS feeds found on a website.
3. Maxthon Cloud Browser
Maxthon Cloud Browser is a free web browser full of unique features. It can be installed on Windows, Android, Mac, iOS, and Windows Phone devices. A portable option is also available for Windows.
Everything in Maxthon Cloud Browser, as the name would suggest, is centered around syncing with the cloud (internet). No matter what platform you have Maxthon Cloud Browser installed to, if you're logged in to your Maxthon account, you can sync many different things.
Open tabs, favorites, browser settings, notes, form data, extensions, and downloaded files can be synced.
Resource Sniffer is a useful feature in Maxthon Cloud Browser that can analyze one or more open tabs to quickly all the download links for video, audio, and image files. You can then download the files in bulk or one at a time.
This browser can also mute all audio at once, display information like the local/external IP address, CPU usage, available system memory, and upload/download speed, run a split screen to show two webpages at once, open Reader Mode to read website content easier, store text notes, set up URL alias' to open websites by shortcut names, customize every supported keyboard shortcut, and function as an RSS feed reader.
4. Opera
Opera is another free internet browser for Android, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and any internet enabled device that can access the web.
The desktop version of Opera includes an Off-Road mode to help you browse the internet while on a slow network by compressing webpage files automatically.
The Discover page built-in to Opera help find trending news stories in categories such as arts, food, living, sports, and travel, among others.
Opera has an easy way to keep a list of commonly accessed websites through the Speed Dial page, which you can access at any time from the navigation bar. Favorites can also be accessed as a whole list in what's called Stash, which allows you to preview the page before fully opening it.
You can sync bookmarks, password, Speed Dial sites, and preferred search engines across any platform using Opera's sync feature. Custom themes are also available for Opera, as well as extensions, advanced keyboard shortcuts, and mouse gestures.
5. Safari
Apple's free web browser, called Safari, comes pre-installed on iOS and Mac OS X operating systems, but is also available for Windows.
Note: The Windows version of Safari has been discontinued since May of 2012, but the download link is still available from Apple's website.
6. Torch Browser
Torch Browser is a free internet browser for Windows and Mac users that features a torrent client, one-click media downloader, and music streaming service.
At any time, you can drag and drop website links or images to either side of the browser window to quickly share it on social media sites or search for more information on Google, Wikipedia, or any custom website.
Because Torch Browser is based on the Chrome web browser, extensions can be installed from the same gallery - the Google Chrome Web Store. You can also sign on to your Google account to sync your personal data to other Torch Browser installs, just like with the Chrome browser.