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Web browsers are among the most essential pieces of software we use daily, yet we often take them for granted. Most users settle for whatever default ships with their devices — and that's a mistake. There are far better options available that improve upon the default in myriad ways.
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Over the decades, I've tried almost every browserย that's come to market, from the most basic, terminal-based ones to the very complex and bloated. Within that spectrum, there are some browsers that rise so far above the rest that there's no comparison between the bad, the mediocre, and the good.
For me, there are four good browsers that I wouldn't hesitate to use.
1. Opera
Opera has been my go-to web browser for years.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
For years,ย Operaย has been my go-to browser on Linux (more on that in a bit), and it has been for a long time. I originally migrated from my previous default browser (Firefox) due to its poor tab management. Opera includes a feature called Workspaces, which makes managing tabs not only easy but also efficient.ย
Instead of having 30-60 tabs open in a single window (which can lead to confusion), I categorize my tabs into categories such as Work, Social, and Shopping. I can then dump all related tabs into each Workspace and work with a far less cluttered UI. And it doesn't hurt that Opera's new theming engine is absolutely brilliant.
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Although Opera doesn't have the same level of security as other browsers on this list, it does offer features such as forced HTTPS, protection against malicious sites, Secure DNS, and V8 security. Opera also performs very well. Outside of stripped-down, minimal browsers, Opera can compete with any modern option in the realm of performance. Plus, with the inclusion of Aria AI and…