Which Is The Most Power Efficient & Battery Friendly Browser?

We all know that Google's Chrome browser and Mozilla's Firefox have been most used browsers in recent few years. But recently, Microsoft claimed that the recent number 1 browser Chrome may not be a friendly tool for your laptop's battery. In a battery test video, the software giant has pitted its Edge browser against Chrome, Firefox and Opera browsers by streaming the same HD video for hours.

The below results came up after the test (in hours : minutes : seconds):

• Chrome: 4:19:50
• Firefox: 5:09:30
• Opera: 6:18:33
• Microsoft Edge: 7:22:07

As per the above results, Microsoft proved that it's Edge browser lasted 70% longer than Chrome. It also claimed that even for non-video tasks, its browser lasts 36 to 53% longer than the rivals.

Picture Credit : Microsoft

These tasks, as claimed by the company, include things like opening sites, tabs, reading emails, scrolling articles and watching small videos. Microsoft has also reportedly published data it collected from millions Windows 10 PCs. In a blogpost, the software giant claims, "We designed Microsoft Edge from the ground up to prioritize power efficiency and deliver more battery life, without any special battery saving mode or changes to the default settings."

According to the latest data from NetApplications, Chrome is now the most popular browser in the world. The browser has over 45% share in the market. The biggest loser, according to the study, is Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which went from 41.37% down to 38.6% during the month of May.

Microsoft is working to make Microsoft Edge even more efficient with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update soon. No doubt about that, once immensely popular Internet Explorer is almost dead now and a re-birth has been given as Edge to it. Let's see how it goes in it's journey ahead competing it's rivals.

‘Targeted Attacks’ For All IE Versions

A security flaw has been discovered in Microsoft’s browser which enables them to launch “targeted attacks” against users of IE versions 6 through 11. Microsoft declared the most common attack being leveraged against IE users is tricking them into visiting malicious websites. These attacks are known as “drive-bys” which enable a hacker to hit a vulnerable browser as soon as its user clicks on the malicious URL.

Redmond software giant said in a security advisory that “Microsoft will take the appropriate action to protect our customers, which may include providing a solution through our monthly security update release process, or an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs."

Microsoft explained it as “actively working with partners” in its Microsoft Active Protections Program (MAPP) to offer information they can use to provide broader protections to customers. We can find information about protections released by MAPP partners here : MAPP Partners with Updated Protections. Microsoft is also urging customers to enable a firewall, apply all software updates and install anti-malware software.

Microsoft Internet Explorer on Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 runs in a restricted mode called Enhanced Security Configuration that reduces the likelihood of the user being infected.

Microsoft told that “This is a mitigating factor for websites that you have not added to the Internet Explorer Trusted sites zone.”

Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing group director Tim Rains said in a blog post that “Microsoft Windows XP was released almost 12 years ago, which is an eternity in technology terms. While we are proud of Windows XP’s success in serving the needs of so many people for more than a decade, inevitably there is a tipping point where dated software and hardware can no longer defend against modern day threats and increasingly sophisticated cyber-criminals. When we release monthly security updates for supported versions of Windows, attackers will try and reverse engineer them to identify any vulnerabilities that also exist in Windows XP. If they succeed, attackers will have the capability to develop exploit code to take advantage of them.”

Microsoft Wants You To "Rethink" Internet Explorer

Once Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) used to be the most used web browser worldwide. But gradually the number of users came down and it is observed that it is trying very hard in recent competitions with other brands to make a come back in the niche market. With a new campaign in their website rethink, it wished to catch the stream line like it used to hold in earlier days.

"What if Internet Explorer could show you a web that did things you didn't think were possible? From gaming to entertainment, we are helping to create entirely new experiences on the web that are fast, beautiful and perfect for touch. See for yourself below." rethink-ed by Microsoft.

Nowadays people are keen in using more popular browsers like Firefox and Chrome. Microsoft hasn’t given up the hope. In its latest release, IE11 is coming with support for touch screen devices and is faster and more efficient as a whole.

Microsoft made partnerships with Red Bull, Atari and GlacierWorks and other developers. The main effort is to help create a new experience for IE11. So it launched its “Rethink IE” campaign to create some positive response among the internet users news about the browser.

The very new IE’s features would provide a full screen browsing, multitasking, reading view and a feature that allows users to pin websites. Although it comes with a similar look to Windows 8 with its tiled menu comforts tablet users too.

You can download and try experiencing the newer version at : http://windows.com/ie

“We are helping to create entirely new experiences on the web that are fast, beautiful and perfect for touch,” quoted by Microsoft's Rethink website. Lets see the response from internet users with the new features IE11.

Google Chrome Is Now The Most Popular Web Browser

Global Stats from StatCounter published a report which says Google Chrome is fast approaching and the most popular Web browser worldwide. Last week, Google Chrome surpassed Microsoft Internet Explorer for the first time with 32.76 percent market share, while Internet Explorer dipped to 31.94 percent. Currently both are having a difference of less than a percentage in market share.

Source: StatCounter Global Stats – Browser Market Share

StatCounter is a free, online visitor stats tool. The StatCounter Global Stats are based on aggregate data collected by StatCounter on a sample exceeding 15 billion pageviews per month collected from across the StatCounter network of more than 3 million websites.

Last year, Internet Explorer was leading the web browser market share with 43 percent, followed by Mozilla Firefox with 29 percent, and Chrome at the third position with 19 percent.

Even though Chrome is now leading worldwide, Internet Explorer still leads in the USA with 37 percent, while Chrome is only 23 percent, followed by Mozilla Firefox 22 percent.