Techy? Sometimes. Funny? Often. Relevant? Always.

Remember when Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator battled-it-out for market share dominance? Well, Microsoft won that battle. Since then, a number of great browsers have been chipping away at Microsoft’s lead. Today, we the surfers have a vast array of great browsers to choose from. Here is my take on your options in 2009.

Safari. Brought to you by Apple and currently in version 4.0. 8.3% market share. Safari is the browser that comes with your Mac, but they also have a Windows version. Since I use a Mac, Safari is my personal browser of choice. Nothing beats its speed, integration with the operating system, and features. It’s new full history search with cover flow is a magnificent and helpful feature.

Chrome. Brought to you by Google and currently in version 2.0 (only available in Windows). 1.81% market share. All I can say is “Wow! Chrome is fast!” The first time you use it, you’ll think you upgraded your Internet connection. Unfortunately, I found many sites still don’t render correctly in Chrome. It was introduced in September 2008 and still needs some time. The interface takes some getting used to, but this browser has some amazing potential. Download it now and get acquainted.

Internet Explorer. Brought to you by Microsoft and just released in version 8.0 (only available in Windows… but you knew that already). 69.61% market share (down 3% so far this year). Microsoft really got back into the browser game with IE8. I have to admit it is much faster, feature-filled, and friendlier than its predecessor. If you left because of IE6 or 7, give this one a try. Accelerators is a very useful new feature. Read this overview from the Microsoft website:

“Simply highlight text from any webpage, and then click on the blue Accelerator icon that appears above your selection to obtain driving directions, translate and define words, email content to others, search with ease, and more.”

Just because Internet Explorer 8 is great, doesn’t mean their commercials are. Please don’t waste your time watching their “History of the Internet” promotional video.

Firefox. Brought to you by Mozilla and just released in version 3.5. 19.01% market share. It is my browser of choice for the Windows operating system. You can’t beat the library of add-ons available to advanced Internet users. Want to control iTunes from your browser? FoxyTunes can help. Want to customize the look of your browser to fit your personality? You got it. The greatest thing about Firefox is its unparalleled level of customization.

Opera. Brought to you by Opera Software. 0.42% market share. This browser has all the features of the more popular browsers without all the community behind it. In other words, Opera is a great browser that nobody uses. It has some pretty inventive features — like mouse gestures — which allows you to control your browser (back, forward, reload, etc) just by making a certain gesture with your mouse. It is a unique feature, but so much different than how we typically interact with the web, it’s having a hard time catching on. Fortunately for Opera Software, they have a head start and serious market leadership in mobile web browsers.

Bottom line: Not everyone should be using the same browser. If you haven’t experimented with each of these tools, please do. You may just discover the perfect browser you never knew you needed!

I’d love to hear from you. What browser do you use and why?