Browser guide

A friendly guide to choosing the right web browser

At Lexer, we test our products and features on all browsers to make sure they work. We know you probably have a preferred browser - we do too!

We want to make sure you have the best Lexer experience, so we’ve come up with this guide to breakdown the things we’ve noticed across different browsers, to help you choose the right one for you.

Chrome (Google)

We love Google Chrome, it’s Lexer’s preferred web browser.

  • Lexer is developed in Chrome.
  • It works with all operating systems, and performs the same way for all.
  • It’s fast! Performance is optimized.
  • All web-based platforms are accommodated with ease.
  • It can easily maintain new web standards.
  • Easy to use, with a clear, simple interface.
  • Considered the most secure browser in the world.
  • Syncs our preferences across multiple devices.

These (and more) tick all of our boxes, so we recommend Chrome for our clients too. But who are we to tell you what to do? Of course there are other browsers you could use.

Note
If you’re currently on IE11 and looking to make the switch but Google Chrome isn’t your thing - that’s okay! Let us take you through some things we’ve found about other browsers that are up-to-the-minute, offer a smooth experience, and are generally tested by developers everywhere…

Firefox (Mozilla)

It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster for Firefox, since its release in 2002. It skyrocketed to it’s peak in early 2010, with around 32% of the market, before Chrome swooped in and took the lion’s share. However, it recently received a massive overhaul — it’s light on system resources so it’s super fast, and provides flexible support for extensions. It’s also great for privacy.

Safari (Apple)

Safari’s been around since 2003, and there are currently 1.3 billion Apple devices worldwide. Although Safari is Apple’s default browser, it’s only ever maxed out at just under 7% of the market. So it’s not the most popular browser, but we kinda like it. It’s clean and tidy (great for screen shots - check out the rest of Lexer Learn for examples), fast, and (as with all Apple products) easy to use, energy efficient, and secure. A lot of its features are similar across iPhone and web browsers, with handy tools that help you save, find, and share across both. For example, did you know that if you’re logged in to your Apple ID on two devices, you can copy something from one, and paste to the other?! #mind-blown

Edge (Microsoft)

Edge is the new default browser for Windows 10 and for users on this operating system — it’s great. It’s really fast, has awesome security, and some pretty nifty tools. These include ‘Reading Mode’ that helps filter out the unnecessary fluff when you’re trying to read a web-page, Cortana voice assistant, and cool page sharing options.

Making the switch from Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer was a popular browser. While it’s often preferred for its simplicity — it’s certainly very easy to use — we’ve seen the most amount of incompatibility and performance issues, and it can make your Lexer experience feel a little clunky and can result in security issues as it is no longer maintained.

Internet Explorer has retired
Microsoft has decided to retire Internet Explorer as of 15 June 2022. We recommend you transition to another browser.

Facts and figures

  • Chrome was only introduced in 2008, rocketed to the top of the market in 2012, and has remained there with 63% using it as their preferred browser today.
  • Firefox has only ever captured a third of the market at its peak back in 2010, but today it’s still second favourite (after Chrome) - even with less than 10% using as their preferred browser.
  • Check out this video to see how browser usage has changed over time.

Your browser

These are our browser recommendations, but ultimately it's up to you and your preferences for which browser you use.

Updated:
September 19, 2022
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