Useful Windows, Making Windows Useful, Tips and Tricks

Ah Windows XP, I still remember seeing it installed on new computers in late 2001 and I wanted a copy for myself, it was just a great OS.  Now in 2010 I would take Windows 7 over it any day, however Windows XP is still being used a lot to this day.  That being said, a 9-year-old operating system in this modern-day of online trouble is just not up to the demands placed on it.  But all is not lost as there are many different Internet Browsers out there that one can use.  Let’s take a look at them.  All of these test will be done in Windows Virtual PC on a computer running an Intel Core i5 661 running at 3.33 Ghz with 4 GB of ram.  All updates to Windows, WVPC, The Internet Browsers, Flash, Silverlight, and Java have been installed.  I have cleared the cache of all browsers with Ccleaner.

1. Firefox 3.6.3  Firefox seemed to load web pages the fastest and since the new version of Internet Explorer will not be available for Windows XP and that new version will support web standards, websites in the future will have some rendering issues in Internet Explorer 8.  Firefox is a great replacement for IE and offers a lot of customization.  you can get it at www.firefox.com

Firefox 3.6.3 in Windows XP

2. Internet Explorer 8.0.6001.18702  While there is a new version of Internet Explorer in the works and it will not be available for Windows XP Version 8 works fine for now.  It has a lot of nice features and is rather fast at loading webpages from my tests.  It seems too that computers running IE 8 are less likely to get viruses and spyware. Even if you decide to use a different browser you should keep IE updated in Windows XP it will help keep you safe as the operating system uses parts of IE.  You can download it at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx

Internet Explorer 8 in Windows XP

3. Apple Safari 5.0 (7533.16)  Apple has done a great job at getting Safari turned around from the dud that version 3 was.  While version 4 finally looked like a normal Windows application version 5 has picked up speed.  I prefer its interface to Google Chrome however Chrome seems a little faster and is a little safer, however those looking for something to replace Internet Explorer I would suggest Safari first.  You can get it at http://www.apple.com/safari/download/

Apple Safari 5 in Windows XP

4. Google Chrome 5.0.375.70  Google Chrome has gotten better with every release.  Version 5 gets some nice speed boosts.  While it is faster and safer than Apple Safari the user interface for Chrome is lacking, looking rather odd in Windows XP.  Still if you want to check it out you can get it here at http://www.google.com/chrome

Google Chrome 5 in Windows XP

5. Opera 10.53  In Windows XP the other browsers leave Opera in the dust, and to make matters worse Opera changed the default user interface and it is not a win in my opinion.  It too looks out-of-place in Windows XP however if you click on the red Opera button in the upper left hand corner and click on Show Menu Bar it will take it back to the older user interface that I like a lot.  The nice thing about Opera is that if you mouse over a tab it will show you a preview of that webpage, something I think other browsers could use.  Oh if you have a mobile phone I would suggest getting their mobile version it is much better than any other mobile browsers out there.  You can get opera at www.opera.com

Opera 10.5 in Windows XP With the New User Interface

Opera 10.5 in Windows XP with the old user interface

It is nice to see that there are still great internet browsers for the aging Windows XP.  I do suggest people start to upgrade to Windows 7 as soon as they can though as Windows 7 has a lot of great features like jump lists and the thumbnail previews in the start menu bar that makes it even easier to browse the internet.

Go back to Part 5 for Windows 7 32bit

Go on to Part 7 for Windows 7 64-Bit