Published 12:37 PM EDT Jun 14, 2018 Apple's announcement that it will add significantly stronger privacy protections to its Safari browser should remind everybody, even people not using Apple’s software, that you don’t have to stick with the same old browser. That's especially true now that Apple, Microsoft and Firefox developer Mozilla are putting renewed effort into competing with Google’s Chrome – the web's dominant desktop browser with 62.9 percent of that market in Net Applications’ measurements and 66.93 percent in StatCounter’s metrics. It's also the default browser on most Android phones. Apple This four-player competition leaves you with some interesting choices to make based on which desktop and mobile operating system you use and the browsers available for it. • In Windows, your top alternatives to Microsoft’s built-in Edge are Chrome and Firefox but not Safari (Apple stopped updating the Windows version almost six years ago). • On a Mac, you can switch from Safari to Chrome or Firefox; Microsoft has not shipped a Mac version of Edge. • On Android, your leading replacements for Chrome as the default browser are Firefox and Edge.

But after trying Firefox 1.5 and 2.0 for the Mac, I adopted Apple's Safari—and haven't looked back. Now that Firefox 3.0 is out, though, is it finally the better choice for Mac OS X?

• Sorry, iOS users; you can’t set another browser as the default, and Apple requires that such third-party browsers as the iOS versions of Chrome, Firefox and Edge be built on the same framework code as Safari. Within those constraints, if privacy is your priority, Safari is the strongest option. It already blocks a lot of third-party tracking by default, and the upcoming version arriving with iOS 12 and macOS Mojave this fall will also block the tracking done by Like and Share buttons of such social networks as Facebook. More: Amazon Echo, Apple HomePod or Google Home: which is smarter about playing music? We tested them More: Apple at WWDC shows 7 ways iOS 12 will change your next iPhone (Since USA TODAY’s site includes those buttons as well as Facebook-based comments, expect a dialog asking if you want Facebook to track your activity here before interacting with those features.) Firefox offers comparable tracking protection, but it’s not turned on by default. To activate, click or tap its three-horizontal-lines menu button, select “Preferences” and then “Privacy & Security.” Chrome’s strongest selling point remains security.

Google has stayed well ahead of Apple, Microsoft and Firefox in such areas as supporting stronger site encryption and allowing you to confirm a login by plugging in a “U2F” USB security key (an option Google added in 2014) instead of having to grab your phone and enter a two-step verification code. Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT)     >Market Cap: $751.73 billion     >Revenue: $89.95 [June]     >Net Income: $21.2 billion     >Shares outstanding: 7.7 billion     >Employees: approximately 124,000     Microsoft is locked in a battle with Amazon and IBM to be the top provider of commercial enterprise cloud services.

In the March quarter Microsoft beat both companies, posting revenues of $6 billion and a preposterous 93% year-over-year revenue increase in its Azure business. The 2-in-1 Surface and the Xbox game console are both selling well, and the company's operating system and productivity software continue to grow. For the current fiscal year, analysts forecast revenue of $107.29 billion and have a 12-month consensus price target on the stock of $105.74.

ALSO READ: States With the Most Gun Violence. Upside down text autocad for mac 2018. Jejim / iStock Edge was until last fall a Windows-only product, and it has offered some thoughtful features, like the ability to mark up a page using the cursor, your fingertip or a stylus. Microsoft has also touted Edge’s ability to extend a laptop’s battery life, although recent third-party testing suggests Chrome is closing that gap. If your biggest complaint about the web is the visual clutter on many pages, Safari, Edge and Firefox offer “reader” views that show just the core text and maybe some images of a page. Safari’s works at more sites (for instance, USA TODAY’s) and even lets you set especially noisy sites to open automatically in Reader mode. Chrome lacks that feature but now automatically blocks the most disruptive ad formats.