Browsers
Out of context: Reply #7
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- ukit0
One aspect that is interesting to consider (which you touched on briefly) is the difference in terms of how these browsers handle input. Traditionally browsers have two input boxes, one for URL entry and one for search. I've found a lot of the time though that I will subconsciously type searches into the URL address box.
If I type two words into the Safari address box it will take me, annoyingly, to the search results page for my internet provider (Comcast). If I type a single word with no domain suffix, it will add .com on the end, if that doesn't work, it will take me again to the search. Opera handles it the same way.
Chrome on the other hand gets rid of the search box and condenses the URL entry and search into a single box. It takes me to search results for whatever search engine I have set as default when I enter two words or a word with no .com, .net etc.
Firefox has two search boxes but actually works sort of like Chrome - it takes me to the search results if I type in two words. If I type in a single word with no suffix, it does something kind of weird and take me to the most popular match for that term. So typing in "techno site" takes me automatically to http://www.ilovetechno.be/ even though there is actually a http://technosite.com/
Overall, I think Chrome's approach is the best in this area. I don't see any reason to have two different inputs for URL and search when you can easily get by with one. Also I find the Firefox method of routing you to the most popular domain kind of annoying and not all that useful.