Computer Science

Question

Yasmin Hamid is a first-year college student. Knowing she will often research topics using her mobile phone and laptop, she wants a fast, secure browser that is also easy to use. Evaluate and compare reviews of three browsers, at least one of them a mobile browser. Consider Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and others you might find in your research. Recommend two browsers: one for when Yasmin uses her laptop, and one for when she uses her mobile phone. Discuss your experiences with these browsers and mention speed, security, and features in your recommendation.

Answer 1

Hi Bryjaun, I can provide some thoughts on how to approach this. I would recommend selecting three of the browsers and researching them, including the available documentation/advertised features from the developers, user reviews/recommendations, and actually installing and running the browsers yourself. Note that the browsers of choice may differ depending on the platform (mobile/desktop, OS), so leave some flexibility to change your choice of three browsers if you come across things that indicate something outside your initial set might be a better fit.

I'm not sure how technically hands-on your class is, but it is possible to design some speed tests (e.g. for various types of web pages with graphics, text only, lots of scripting, etc.) which could bolster your recommendation.

With regards to security, it can be helpful to focus on indicators of a security-focused mindset. For example, update frequency and responsiveness to new security vulnerabilities are both good signs of an organization that takes security seriously. Additionally, if we take security to include privacy, certain browsers have specific privacy-related settings that make it easy for users to control what information about themselves is shared with other parties.

This will require quite a bit of work from you, but I hope that provided a helpful start!