Web browsing on a netbook

One of the big adjustments users have to make when purchasing a netbook is the reduced screen size that comes with the small form factor.

Users will have to get used to scrolling vertically because of the standard netbook's low resolution of 1024x600 compared to the usual 1024x768 which means the lower part of a website gets cut off, thus forcing the user to keep scrolling down.

Thankfully, there is a simple solution to this problem. Switching to the Google Chrome browser is fast and easy. Not only will you get a bigger viewing angle, there's also a noticeable improvement in the loading of web pages using this browser.

Above, we have a comparison shot of the three most popular web browsers displaying the New York Times website. As you can see, Google Chrome does the best job, hiding the bookmarks toolbar by default, displaying the status bar only when needed and foregoing the menu toolbar altogether. Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 also does a good job although its title bar proves to be its undoing. The venerable Mozilla Firefox is the loser in this match-up, on its default settings it takes up much more screen space than both Chrome and Internet Explorer. However it must be noted that Firefox can be customized to reduced the space occupied by its toolbars but this involves editing a file called userChrome.css, installing a few extensions which may not be suitable for novice users.

Overall, Google Chrome gets the win because of its faster performance and minimalist interface. If you are wary to make the switch from Mozilla Firefox, you can hide the Bookmarks bar or any additional toolbars you may have (Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask.com, etc.,) to maximize your screen real estate.