The usage share of web browsers is dominated by a few mature applications. Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera account for around 95% of all desktop web browsing activity. However, there are a myriad of other web browsers that are worth investigating.

There are good reasons to experiment with alternative web browsers. As they have a much smaller user base, they are less susceptible to being targeted by spyware and other nasties. Alternatively, you might choose to use more than one web browser for different purposes, which can help combine speed and reliability. You might want to use one for business, work and school, another for general use, one only for your social media interactions.

The purpose of this article is to highlight interesting open source web browsers that are in a very early stage of development. They have very different target audiences. Fifth is based on the WebKitFLTK web library, and seeks to retain the best features of Opera, but add a new few features. Dooscape uses the QtWebKit as its engine, and offers an intuitive interface. The latest major release of Emacs includes a built-in web browser, eww. The final web browser featured in this article is also distinct. Breach is a modular browser written entirely in Javascript. All four web browsers are released under an open source license.

Gngr is another new web browser under development that is worth keeping an eye on in the future.

Cutting Edge Web Browsers Fifth Offers the best features from Opera, as well as a few unique features Dooscape Written with the Qt framework and using WebKit as the web engine eww Emacs's built-in web browser Breach Modular browser written entirely in JavaScript

Return to our complete collection of recommended free and open source software including our latest additions.

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