Free Browsers & Add-Ons

Chrome 1.0
Google’s web browser attracted a lot of interest when it first launched. Although it had much to recommend it, the initial version was missing some key features, including a bookmarks manager. The first official release corrects this oversight and Google has added some other tweaks too, such as blocked pop-up notification, and updates to Gears and the V8 JavaScript engine. Add-on support is coming too.
Minimum requirements: Windows XP/Vista
File size: 476KB (installer)
Download: Chrome 1.0

Firefox 3.1
Due for release soon, the next version of Mozilla’s popular web browser introduces several new features. These include tab tearing (which lets you pull tabs out into separate windows), a 3D tab-switching interface, geo-location support and faster JavaScript. A new private-browsing mode is also included. You can try out some of the forthcoming features by downloading the beta version of the browser now.
Minimum requirements: Windows XP/Vista or Mac
File size: 7.4MB
Download: Firefox 3.1

Opera 10 alpha
Opera has struggled for recognition behind Internet Explorer, Firefox and even Chrome, but it’s one of the best and most innovative browsers around. If you’re feeling adventurous you might want to take its new alpha version for a spin. This is built around the Presto 2.2 rendering engine and promises speed improvements of up to 30 per cent compared to previous versions. The alpha also includes an inline spell-checker and auto updates.
Minimum requirements: Windows XP/Vista or Mac
File size: 6.3MB
Download: Opera 10 alpha

IE8 Beta 2
The next generation of Microsoft’s browser has some innovative new features. WebSlices lets you subscribe to a marked portion of a website while Activities adds various contextual options to the right-click menu (letting you share content on Facebook, or look up a word on Dictionary.com, for example). The Smart Address Bar makes URL suggestions as you type, there’s a Favorites Bar for storing bookmarks, and an InPrivate secret-browsing mode.
Minimum requirements: Windows XP/Vista
File size: 15.9MB
Download: IE8 Beta 2

Ubiquity 0.1.1
This experimental add-on for Firefox lets you gain access to a number of different web services from any page using natural-language keyboard shortcuts. You can find and add a Google map to an email without leaving Google Mail, for example, or look up a topic on Wikipedia without having to load that site. You can even translate text directly on any foreign language page.
Minimum requirements: Windows XP/Vista, Firefox 3
File size: 414KB
Download: Ubiquity 0.1.1

Spicebird 0.7
An attempt to make Thunderbird more like Outlook, Spicebird combines email, a calendar, to-do lists and instant messaging in one program. Each feature (including News, Contacts and Calendar) is contained in a separate tab, but they are all neatly integrated.For example, if someone sends you an email with a date in it, you have the option of adding it to your calendar. The latest release adds support for Google Gadgets on the home screen.
Minimum requirements: Windows XP/Vista
File size: 10MB
Download: Spicebird 0.7

Songbird 1.0
Is it a media player or a web browser? Well, actually it’s both. Songbird can play tracks from your computer and any website. You can create dynamic playlists and browse, organise, sort and search your music. Songbird also supports add-ons, and there are ones for iTunes, SHOUTcast radio and Last.fm, among others.
Minimum requirements: Windows XP/Vista or Mac
File size: 11.8MB
Download: Songbird 1.0

UTorrent 1.8.1
Although it’s a tiny download, this BitTorrent client doesn’t skimp on features. It provides bandwidth prioritisation and RSS auto-downloading, which downloads items as soon as they become available, in a manner similar to subscribing to podcasts. It can also resume interrupted transfers in a jiffy.
Minimum requirements: Windows XP/Vista or Mac
File size: 264KB
Download: UTorrent 1.8.1

Flock 2
If you spend a lot of time on social-networking sites, Flock is the ideal browser for you. Built around Firefox 3, it lets you browse photos or videos pulled from sources such as Flickr and YouTube and view friends’ updates from MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, among others. It also includes an RSS reader and a built-in blogging tool.
Minimum requirements: Windows XP/Vista or Mac
File size: 264KB
Download: Flock 2