Text mode Web Browsers in Ubuntu

Ubuntu Linux has Mozilla Firefox as its default web browser. But, I feel among the modern web-broswers, Chromium Web Browser (Google Chrome) works better than Firefox as far as Ubuntu is concerned. Mozilla Firefox gives slow Internet on Lucid Lynx (Ubuntu 10.04). However, this problem seems to be solved as Maverick Meerkat (Ubuntu 10.10) has come up with a nice fast Internet. Now, coming to the actual discussion, Ubuntu has two types of web-browsers predominantly which are listed below:

1. Graphical-based Web Browsers
2. Text-based Web Browsers

There are two text based web browsers that I mainly used:

1. ELinks Web Browser
2. Links Web Browser 

ELinks Web Browser:

The ELinks Web Browser supports only text based browsing and pictures are not displayed. ELinks is a feature-rich program for browsing the web in text mode.  It is like enhanced Lynx and Links. The navigation of the web pages is done through space (Page Down) and b (Page Up); Up and down arrows predominantly. Remember that this browser accommodates the contents of a website much like the "more" in UNIX. The URL of the currently viewed web page is not seen anywhere in the browser. When you click on the upper part of the Browser you get the menu bar.

Links Web Browser:

Links is a graphics and text mode WWW browser, similar to Lynx. It displays tables, frames, downloads on background, uses HTTP/1.1 keepalive connections. In graphics mode it displays PNG, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, and XBM pictures, runs external bindings on other types, and features anti-aliased font, smooth image zooming, 48-bit dithering, and gamma and aspect ratio correction. But the content is not well-organized a handicap when compared to the contemporary Web Browsers. The navigation is similar to the way as it is in other web browsers. The URL is shown at the top-right of the window. Take a look at the Yahoo home page viewed in the Links Web Browser.

Switching between the X Window mode and the Command-line mode

Not many would like to work with the command-line in Linux (Ubuntu), but there may be a few geeks who want to try the command-line to really learn the commands. The third type of users want to use both the X-Window mode and the Command-line mode. The present post is specially targeted to such a kind of users.

To go to the command-line mode from the X window system, press the keys Ctrl+Alt+(F1-F6). Any one of the Function keys in between F1 and F6 is alright. Now for suppose, you want to switch to the graphical mode (X Window system) for some purpose, you can do with an easy shortcut Ctrl+Alt+F7.

   Switching from X window mode to command-line mode -- Ctrl+Alt+(F1-F6).
   Switching from command-line mode to X window mode -- Ctrl+Alt+F7.