Internet browsers

Internet browsers have been an essential piece of software for thirty years. Let's talk about it.

The beginning : Netscape Navigator

Well, not really the beginning, because the first popular browser was Mosaic. Soon, some members of the Mosaic team created Mosaic Communications which became Netscape Communications Corporation, the company behind Netscape Navigator, which had a huge success from the mid to late nineties.

Let's talk about my beginnings on the internet. In late 1997 and for a large part of 1998, I was doing my military service and I spent a lot of time travelling by train. Before taking the train, I used to buy computer magazines and there were articles talking about Linux and Internet. These magazines were bundled with CDs containing software, it was my first encounter with Netscape Navigator, and the start of my own journey on Internet.

At this time, Netscape Navigator was still a solid browser, a huge success because it was free for home users, and it contributed largely to spread the usage of Internet. But the decline had already started, mainly due to Microsoft's blackmails to OEMs to bundle IE with their products, and the agreement with Apple to make Internet Explorer the default web browser in MacOS.

Firefox, the Successor

I don't remember when it happened (probably in the mid-2000s), but I switched directly from Netscape Navigator to Firefox which is still (for now - more on that later) my main browser. It's open-source, it performs well enough (as long as you don't try and compare with other browsers...), and can sync passwords between devices, which is important for me because I'm often using different machines running various OSes.

I tried several times the mobile version, on smartphones and tablets, but I've never been convinced : far too slow and battery-hungry. I don't even want to try if more recent versions have fixed that.

My main concerns relate to performance : Firefox systematically lags behind the other browsers, not only in benchmarks, but as a user you can feel it, when you're using Firefox for some time, then switch to another browser for instance. And the impression is that instead of investing to improve that, the company prefers to invest in useless features. Moreover, with every new CEO there is another stupid idea which make more and more people look at other browsers. I'm one of those people.

Browser Grail does not exist - Only compromises

Since a few months, I'm trying different browsers, to find the best compromise for me. In the beginning, it was a desktop-only quest, which evolved to include mobile devices. Disclaimer : I certainly don't want to irritate a particular browser hardcore-fanbase. I just give my own point of view.

Edge : Not bad, but...

On the list, Microsoft Edge is not the most natural choice, but it is multi-platform (I was not considering mobile at this point), offers synchronization, is performant (chromium-based), and is a sort of compromise between performance and privacy. I liked it, but one day the copilot icon appeared, and I stopped using it. The nail in the coffin was passwords stored in plain text in RAM. Let's move on.

Librewolf : not for me

I also tried Librewolf, a firefox clone. With no sync (you can enable firefox sync manually), and having basically the Firefox performance. Not what I'm looking for. Let's move on.

Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, Arc... No Way

From what I've read and seen, I don't even want to try them. I'd add that in general, I don't use products "based on" something : I've always chosen Debian or Arch, not distros "based on" Debian or Arch. Same applies for browsers, I've tried Edge, but if I plan to switch to a Chromium-based browser, I might as well choose Chrome itself. Let's move on.

Orion : nearly, but...

Kagi's Orion is certainly the less known there. I started to use it on iPhone and iPad, it is fast, has built-in ad-blocking, and iCloud password sync. The MacOS version is fast and polished. There is even a beta for Linux (well... it is beta. Totally horrible UX for now, plus that's a flatpak). The first point that annoyed me is how passwords work : not as smooth as in Safari, and of course it's not cross-platform. A second point is that occasionally some sites do not work correctly. The elimination point was webradios tab stopping playing when selecting another tab (iPhone / iPad). I almost switched to this browser for good on my Apple devices, but it's still not the solution I'm looking for.

Evaluating Chrome

I thought I would never install Chrome on my devices (other than Android). No privacy, "lite" ad-blockers... Let's have a try.

Firstly, on my Linux daily driver. Importing everything from Firefox, installing uBlock Lite, trying my usual sites... wow, it's fast and smooth. And not as memory-hungry as I read. In fact, tests on Phoronix showed very good results for Chrome on Linux (this article decided me to give it a try).

Secondly, on my M1 Mac Mini. Signing in, everything syncs, trying my usual sites and... wow, it's fast and smooth (bis). The exact same experience than the Linux one.

While we are at it, let's try it on the iPhone and the iPad. BIG positive, for the first time, I can sync bookmarks and passwords between ALL my devices. (I don't trust and don't want to hear about the same service provided by various companies). Very simple, very comfortable. In the EU, Chrome could use the Blink engine, but unfortunately, we still have this Webkit-Chrome version, like the rest of the world. And no extensions, which is the most sad thing.

In the beginning of the test, I just enjoyed the benefits and did not pay attention to the "limited" ad blocking and privacy (remember, I installed uBlock Lite) : I don't go on social networks except Mastodon, I don't visit a lot of websites outside of my daily sites, I rarely go on youtube on a computer, same for e-commerce sites.

Later, I had a look at the number of items blocked by uBlock Origin on Firefox when visiting my usual sites, and compared with Chrome (Chrome has the castrated Lite version since Manifest V3), and I was surprised that the number of blocked items was the same. Then I tested both browsers on Cover your tracks and obtained the exact same result : "you have strong protection against Web tracking". It seems uBlock Origin Lite does a good job and erases a major common complaint regarding Chrome.

Talking about these common complaints, which are about memory usage, resource utilization in general, and privacy, these things are repeated since many years, and it's like no one verified if that has changed since. Fact check, in 2026, Chrome consumes more or less the same resources as Firefox (see Phoronix test cited above, and I made the same observation), and it is smoother and faster. Privacy is a real problem that disappears (for my usage) with uBlock Origin Lite.

Recently there has been another "scandal" with Chrome creating a 4GB AI file without consent. Google says it "powers important security capabilities" and also says that "Chrome has provided a way to turn off on-device AI tools since February". I'm not an AI fan, but I have no problem with that, as long as it doesn't transform into a sort of Trojan Horse.

To be continued...