IE 7 vs Firefox 1.5 vs Opera 9 - The gap is closing

The upcoming releases of IE, Firefox, and Opera show that innovation in Web Browser Development has just come to an end. Companies are simply integrating the more popular features of rival products into their browsers. No radical changes are planned in any of the upcoming browser releases. It is very possible that in near future - IE, Firefox, and Opera will all have similar features and similar, tight interfaces.

1. IE 7 includes tabbed browsing, a capability that Firefox and Opera have offered for a while.

2. IE 7 has an integrated search box similar to that in Firefox and Opera.

3. Both IE 7 and Firefox 1.5 offer an easy method for deleting personal browsing data (browser cache, URL history, saved forms) via one menu option. The feature already exists in Opera 8.5.

4. Firefox 1.5 offer automatic updates similar to IE.

5. Opera comes with several advanced features that you can get in Firefox only with add-ons, and that IE lacks entirely.

Erik Larkin compares the three most popular browser on earth - Internet Explorer 7 Beta 1, Firefox 1.5 Release Candidate 1, and Opera 9 Preview 1. He also mentions Flock, a social browsing application. Flock rethinks the browser as a tool for creating Weblogs, organizing bookmarks and connecting with others online.

IE 7: The new Phishing Filter in IE aims to warn users if they visit a known or potential phishing site—a function previously available only via third-party toolbars.

Firefox 1.5: Firefox 1.5 includes drag-and-drop tab reordering. The new Auto-update process is streamlined and smooth.

Opera 9: Users can choose which Web sites can run JavaScript or display images. And the impressive built-in RSS feed handler now supports Atom 1.0. However, Opera has no plans to introduce Firefox-like extensions, so if you don’t like the way it does something, you’re stuck.

Browser Market Share: Though IE has been losing market share, it remains dominant yet. The number of users jumping to Firefox has slowed recently leading some experts to suggest only a finite number of people are willing or able to try an alternate browser.

Read full story at PCWorld - Browser Face-Off