Which New Browser Is Best: Firefox 2, Internet Explorer 7, or Opera 9? is about the worst review I’ve seen in a long time. (CNet ought to be happy that someone has finally published a worse review than they usually do.)

I’m not saying this because I think it’s a bad review of Opera (it is) but because it is a bad review of all 3 browsers. How bad? If this review was a high school report I would give the reviewer an “F” and send a note home for a parent teacher conference and possibly a drug test.

First of all: comparing Opera 9 final to Firefox 2 Beta and IE7 beta? Hello? What’s next, a comparison of a gourmet meal with raw McDonald’s ingredients?

It even started out strangely with this quote: “So, three new browsers in the same year, after no action for a half decade.” (citation). Um, what? 2 of those new browsers have been churning out new versions pretty much constantly. It’s only IE which has been idle for 5 years.

Then there’s the chart at Features at a glance has apparently been updated since people started pointing out mistakes on the feedback page but it still lists Opera as not having Anti-Phishing features.

Um, excuse me but… Whisky Tango Foxtrot? Opera introduced anti-phishing capabilities with the Opera 8 release over a damn year ago. I believe that Opera was the first major browser to introduce this feature.

Then there’s “Built-in search with multiple engine choice” which lists “Yes” for all 3 browsers. Ok, great, but Opera 9 will let you click on any search engine box on any website and easily add that to your list of available browsers. That’s a different league than anything else I’ve seen any other browser do.

Then there’s this one: “One-Click Button to add Favorites: 1) Firefox2: No. 2) IE: Yes. 3) Opera 9: No.”

First of all, talk about solving a problem that no one has. Because for years no one has been able to figure out how to bookmark. Thank God that IE7 has finally figured this one out! Maybe next time they can help us help me figure out how to blink my eyes.

“Can remember open tabs for next session” Opera and IE: Yes, Firefox2: No. Except that it can. I know almost nothing about Firefox 2, but even I knew that it could do this. And if I didn’t I could have, oh, I don’t know, maybe used Google which led me to Tweak Firefox 2.0’s Session Restore Feature which explains the 5 step process (really 4):

  1. Start Firefox. (Ok these are apparently idiot-proof instructions)
  2. In the Address Bar type “about:config” and press Enter.
  3. Right-Click and select New->Boolean.
  4. A box requesting the Preference Name will popup and you should enter “browser.sessionstore.resume_session” (without the quotes). Press OK to continue.
  5. Select “True” from the box and press OK again.

Good lord, I just posted a Firefox tweak… Forget the Middle East situation, that may be the sign of the apocalypse.

OK, so there’s two major factual mistakes: 1 for Opera, and 1 for Firefox. Failure to do basic fact checking.

“Macintosh/Linux version” Obviously IE does not have this. So advantage to Opera and Firefox, right? Sure, but how about the fact that IE7 won’t run on anything less than Windows XP? So how about revising the chart “Macintosh/Linux/Windows 98/ME/2000” and leaving the chart as-is: Firefox/Opera: Yes. IE: No. See this reporting thing is supposed to involve getting beyond the obvious.