Your browser is the most important software on your computer—it’s your tool for accessing the Web, and these days more and more of what we do is being shifted onto the internet. So it’s surprising that so many people never consider which browser they should use. Many stick with Internet Explorer, despite its problems, because it’s the one that comes pre-installed with Windows. But most IT professionals are not very fond of Internet Explorer; Luke Appleby explains his objections to it. Basically, it’s a security risk, and it has its own quirky way of displaying web pages that drives web designers mad.

The good news is that the alternatives are all free to download, install easily, and can import all your bookmarks from Internet Explorer.

Firefox is the main competitor for Internet Explorer, and is approaching 25% of the browser market, according to Netmarketshare. It’s a descendent of one of the first web browsers, Netscape Navigator, whose code was taken over by the Mozilla Corporation (Mozilla also put out a free email programme, Thunderbird). The great advantage of Firefox is that it’s an open source project: the innards of the programme are available for all to see, which makes it easier for programmers to write add-on software. Firefox add-ons are free and easily installed, and range from minor enhancements (like a new way of showing the download status bar) to powerful tools (the web-based alternative to EndNote, Zotero, is a Firefox add-on). The only downside I’ve found with Firefox is that it can be a bit cumbersome, especially if loaded with extensions, and it’s sometimes prone to crashing.

The third-most-popular browser is Chrome, yet another effort from the Google stable. It has a more minimal interface, does not have all the add-ons available in Firefox, but is simple and speedy. It’s only a couple of years old, and is rapidly gaining in popularity. Like Firefox, it has optional extensions available.

If you’re using a Mac, Apple’s browser Safari is an obvious alternative to IE; it’s available as a free download for Windows too. Safari is fast and looks pretty, and also has a feature that can strip away all the ads and clutter from a page, showing you only a nice readable column of text. Again, it’s now able to load extensions, although it’s not an open-source project and so the add-on library is smaller.

In fact, why not install all three, and switch between them as needed? You might want to keep a browser just for reading RSS feeds, and another for viewing your Zotero library or your Delicious bookmarks. Experiment and see which combination works for you, and don’t be afraid to recommend to your friends and family that they try a different web browser than the one which came with their computer.