'm using Opera since 2006,its safer and fastest and lots of features inbuilt. Where Firefox can be better with its lots of add ons. IE is just a crap! Safari seems to be promising but lack of customerization and no anti-phishing keeps me away from it.

Rudradeep Biswas, Kolkata, India

Nobody is forced to use IE but some enterprise employees. If vendors want their products to be popular, they need to invest in marketing as FF did. However, Apple puts Safari in Macs and truly forces its use within iPhones and iPods, the same is done by FF with Google. Why they are not sued?

Roberto, Mexico,

got to give a mention to firefox's add-on called "stumble upon" . Its a toolbar you can customise to your own interests which "stumbles" you to the most popular pages on the web - hours of happy fun ! don't take my word for it - try it ! perfect antidote for surf-boredom

F C, newcastle upon tyne , uk

I think opera,firefox or safari are far better options.All are much more secure and faster.Any of them would be better in my opinion.

I use safari (because we have macs at home) and am really happy with it.I think it is the fastest browser after a recent comparison test with firefox.

andrew, lincoln, uk

For developers, IE is the least w3 compatible browser .You have to code everything twice, once to work on IE and then again for Safari, Opera, FF, etc.

The cynic in me suspects that this is deliberate - lazy developers produce IE only sites which deter adoption of other browser as "they dont' work"

Adam Potter, Minnesota, MN, USA

I've been using opera for around five years and find it a much better experience then IE. The mouse gestures are so quick and easy to use, I'm amazed these aren't standard on other browsers yet. The only drawback is the compatibility as on some sites it's not recognized and doesn't work fully.

Ian , Sale, England

DAVID B in Stockport, England: for your information, Safari is now available for windows, though I have no idea why anyone would want to use it. Little known Opera is much faster than IE and safer. Just take it out on a test drive. You will be surprised

Raymond H, Los Angeles, USA

Microsoft was not only legally challenged for bundling IE with Windows they were found guilty. People forget that it was the Bush Administration that decided not to invoke any penalty for Microsoft's bare faced antitrust violations.

Ian, Frederick, USA

safari is the best, and can not be used on windows. Anyway, get a mac and enjoy.

david b, stockport, england

I don't use anything but opera, because hackers have written most of their spy/ad ware, hijackers and keyloggers for I.E the most popular browser.

jayil, london, uk

The problem is the settings (proxy etc.) are too complicated for most non-specialists. After you've been burnt once you're twice shy to install a second browser, who knows what it will do to the settings? And if you lose your internet access it's a pain to call the provider and get help to reset.

Ronald Cantrell, Oklahoma, USA

hardly anyone uses IE these days because firefox is so good

peter c, devizes, wessex

I downloaded the Firefox 3 Beta today.
Its very good indeed, such a shame people don't look beyond what's handed to them on a plate.

Alex, Colchester,

A nice balanced article, its a shame so many people ignore Opera when it is such an innovative and brilliantly made piece of software.

Richard, its moust gestures, pres right then left mouse buttons in quick succession and it goes back, or visa-versa to go forward, its neat.

Dan Hensby, London, England

"The Opera browser also has a neat feature which lets a user return to the last page he or she visited with two clicks of the mouse"

Well, that's a feature that has existed in IE a while now. Right click, then click 'back'. Not that IE is better than opera though.

Richard, Stavanger, Norway

Its true it is a bit unfair to include IE on a windows OS, but at the end of the day, Microsoft make their money from their OS, not the broswer.
If ppl looked at alternatives they would see the benefits. I use opera because its fast & has neat features. however some websites dont load... shame

Mark, Wolverhampton, U.K

IE is "the world's most widely used internet browser" only because Microsoft forced it to be part of Windows, something they have been legally challenged for. IE is in fact the worst browser, letting in spyware and viruses, and being buggy, slow and inefficient like most Microsoft software.

Alex Kerr, London, UK