Favorite browser?

[trekking95]

So yes, this is a big question. But what is your favorite web browser?

I would say FireFox. Its fast, easy to use and has great add-ons like ad blocker (TronSector in-site joke: it fights for the users ).
IE is okay, but I found it too slow and it would crash a lot. Never had any of those problems with FF. But I still have XP so no new IE. That could make a difference.
I only have Safari on the iPod and it is terrible. No need to try it on a PC to find that out.

Also I just downloaded Chrome to try out. So far not bad, nice layout and all. I do miss the toolbar across the top since its easier to see everything that way instead of its single drop down box. Not a huge fan of the new tab page with all the apps, add-on links, Google social network stuff, etc. Apps are for Apple (and mobile devices), social networks for FaceBook and add-ons for their own website. I use my browser to search the web, come here, go on Ebay and stuff like that. But enough people must like all that stuff or Chrome wouldn't do it.

Also find FF faster, but that might be just me.....

So please vote, share your thoughts on what you think of the different browsers and what you think of the different things I said about them.

[drventure]

I've used FF for a long time, and, with Firebug, is great for working on javascript, etc. Throw in TabMixPlus, and a few other select addins and it's still my favorite for browsing too.

But, i've been working with chrome lately, and it's got a lot of things going for it as well. For browsing it seems faster than FF. I prefer the tab functionality with TabMixPlus in FF, but maybe there's similar addins for Chrome?

And the Chrome Dev tools (particularly the edit and continue Javascript), is pretty sweet.

Haven't brought up IE in years. Only time I've used safari is when I've looked at a iPhone over someone's shoulder.

[-rich-]

These days its Chrome all the way. I found FF to be a little inconsistent across platforms (I run Macs and Linux at home and Linux and Windows at work).  I love the way chrome pushes the changes between browsers - if I change my default search plugin all the browsers across all my pc's change. I also like being able to kill a specific tab (runs as its own process). I do miss two different search boxes though. I used to have yubnub as the address bar search and google as the search box which was great for the time you knew yubnub was going to do the wrong thing.

Having said that, I am very intrigued by Safari's new remote tab thing (iCloud Tabs), letting you view tabs from your phone (iOS6) on your pc. Sounds cool but I use atomic on my phone so not sure if I am ready to switch back to safari just for that but it is a neat idea.

rich

[brad808]

I'm all about chrome now. It's a beautiful thing having everything synced with my gmail account across all of the computers i use as well as my cell phone and tablet. Not just bookmarks but open tabs as well is very handy for me.

I used to use firefox and i really liked it but moving all of my stuff to google just made sense for me.

Sent from my Desire HD

[Generic Eric]

Previously, I updated Firefox on a regular basis.  I am on chrome now.  Frankly I am tired of searching for better browsers.  

My web habits changed.  Most of the video I want to watch is from youtube or vimeo.  My casual gaming is done through emulators or my ipod, so I am not installing a bunch of plugins for either of those types of things anymore.

[AtomSmasher]

Opera.  Too bad it's not popular enough to be in your poll.

[shmokes]

I had switched to Chrome for a while, but Firefoxes Tab Groups and Pinned Tabs brought me back. Not sure if those features have made it to Chrome yet, but they are major game changers, IMO. If you've never heard of them, check them out.

Tab Groups

Pinned Tabs

Iirc, Chrome had pinned tabs, but they weren't permanently pinned, i.e., you had to re-pin your tabs every time you open the browser.

[kahlid74]

FIrefox with NoScript and Ghostly securing my internet browsing!

[lilshawn]

FIrefox with NoScript and Ghostly securing my internet browsing!

psshhh. I bare back the internet like a boss. i use IE6.

...

to download Chrome. 


used to use firefox, it wasn't without it's share of issues but it was better than IE.

but after Chrome came out...never looked back.

[Samstag]

I'm disappointed to see that Lynx didn't make the list.

[lilshawn]

I'm disappointed to see that Lynx didn't make the list.

netscape navigator

[Hoopz]

Whatever is built into AOL.  I use their stock browser.

[lilshawn]

Whatever is built into AOL.  I use their stock browser.

i remember in the 90's you couldn't open your mailbox or a computer or gaming magazine without an AOL disk falling out of it.

never used it myself.

i did on the other hand insert the disk and extract the "you've got mail" sound out of it for my Eudora email client 

[Hoopz]

j/k

I use Chrome and had used FF prior to that.  At work, I occasionally have to fire up IE and it hurts my soul to do that. 

On my Nexus, I use the stock browser but have started to use the Chrome beta browser a tad. 

[trekking95]

Never thought of those other browsers. I will add them!

EDIT: Okay, they are added!! Isn't Lynx a little primitive though with the text based thing?

So looks like Chrome is the top. I didn't think it was that good. And yeah not having 2 search boxes (or home button) is not that great!

[lilshawn]

Never thought of those other browsers. I will add them!

EDIT: Okay, they are added!! Isn't Lynx a little primitive though with the text based thing?

So looks like Chrome is the top. I didn't think it was that good. And yeah not having 2 search boxes (or home button) is not that great!

Lynx was great when not everybody had highspeed and dialup was the only option. meat and potato web browsing at the internet's infancy.

course now... everybody has highspeed? ...right?

can you even buy a 56k modem any more?

[Samstag]

Primitive?  It's elegant!

Back during the Netscape/IE wars where most sites worked best with either one or the other all my web pages proudly displayed the "This site optimized for Lynx!" banner at the bottom.

[DaveMMR]

I used to be big on Firefox and tried Chrome one night to see what it was about.  I haven't switched back since then.  It opens and closes without a hitch and the browser "gets out of the way" of actual web browsing. 

[lilshawn]

Primitive?  It's elegant!

Back during the Netscape/IE wars where most sites worked best with either one or the other all my web pages proudly displayed the "This site optimized for Lynx!" banner at the bottom.

my websites had this:

[yotsuya]

IE 4 Lyf, baby!

[Samstag]

my websites had this:

Ooh graphical word processing.  Fancy. 

[lilshawn]

my websites had this:

Ooh graphical word processing.  Fancy. 

hey, i grew up with Lotus and Wordperfect.

where if something was going to be in itallics it was green text and if it was bold it was bright white and underlined was blue text.

you damn kids and yer WYSIWYG!

[Samstag]

my websites had this:

Ooh graphical word processing.  Fancy. 

hey, i grew up with Lotus and Wordperfect.

where if something was going to be in itallics it was green text and if it was bold it was bright white and underlined was blue text.

you damn kids and yer WYSIWYG!

You had color?!?!

[DrChek]

I'm old school so I like the one from the original Super Mario Bros. game.

Oh, wait, nevermind.

[hypernova]

I've been using Opera.  I like the speed dial.  Also like the popup control and email built in.  Been using them both.  And it just has extreme config options by typing opera:config in the url bar.  I also like the ability to remove the url bar (using F2 to have a popup window where you enter it).  This gives you more screen space, while not utilizing the fullscreen options, which I find annoying with any browser.  I only have the tab bar at the top, and the Windows task bar at the bottom.

Hey, atom, you have any instances where you close Opera, and go to open it later, and it says the process is still running, and asks you if you want to force close the previous instance or cancel?  I get that about once every few weeks or so.

forum.arcadecontrols.com is my very first speed dial entry!  Ctrl+1!

Dolphin is the bomb on android devices.  Stock browser blows.

[lilshawn]

I also like the ability to remove the url bar (using F2 to have a popup window where you enter it).  This gives you more screen space,

wut?


i've never even considered opera so I don't know what it looks like...it must have a gargantuan URL box to warrant having to make it go away so i can see what the hell is goin on. what is it 72pt?

[AtomSmasher]

Hey, atom, you have any instances where you close Opera, and go to open it later, and it says the process is still running, and asks you if you want to force close the previous instance or cancel?  I get that about once every few weeks or so.

This sometimes happens when I have a flash window playing in a background tab, which seems to make it occasionally take a while to shut down.

There are quite a few features in Opera that prevent me from changing.  I actually recently tried switching to Chrome, but so many of the little things were gone that I had to switch back.  Here's a few of my favorites: 
-How it caches the pages in your history so it doesn't have to reload the page when you press back or forward.  For example, while typing this post I can go back to the previous page, then forward to this page again, and all the text I previously wrote will still be here.
-Mouse gestures - Now that I'm used to them, I don't think I can ever go to a browser without these.  I tried the gesture plugins for Chrome, Firefox, and IE and none of them work even close to as well as the Opera one (they tend to have a bit of lag before activating, which makes them nigh unusable to me)
-Opera Turbo - If I'm on a slow network (like my work network used to be, or when I'm at a hotel), I can turn on Turbo which renders the page on Opera's servers, then it sends me a view of that rendering (this actually works seamlessly).  This allows fast web browsing on slow networks.
-Here's a few which I'm sure are available with plugins on other browsers, but are built into Opera:  Spell check everywhere I can write.  Built-In ability to download torrents.  Typing words in the url bar searches the contents of every recent page I've visited, not just the url of the pages.  Speed Dial (yes, I know Chrome has since copied this feature)

[hypernova]

I also like the ability to remove the url bar (using F2 to have a popup window where you enter it).  This gives you more screen space,

wut?

i've never even considered opera so I don't know what it looks like...it must have a gargantuan URL box to warrant having to make it go away so i can see what the hell is goin on. what is it 72pt?

Screen space is screen space.  With a simple press of F2, I can pop up the url window, type it in, and as soon as I press enter, the url window goes away.  Maximum screen space that I prefer.  With such a blasé attitude, I wonder how many toolbars you got active. 

[trekking95]

I also like the ability to remove the url bar (using F2 to have a popup window where you enter it).  This gives you more screen space,

wut?

i've never even considered opera so I don't know what it looks like...it must have a gargantuan URL box to warrant having to make it go away so i can see what the hell is goin on. what is it 72pt?

Screen space is screen space.  With a simple press of F2, I can pop up the url window, type it in, and as soon as I press enter, the url window goes away.  Maximum screen space that I prefer.  With such a blasé attitude, I wonder how many toolbars you got active. 

Toolbars? Do not use that word around me!    Hate the things, don't have one active.

So this F2 thing would be the same as F11 in Firefox and IE?

[Samstag]

So this F2 thing would be the same as F11 in Firefox and IE?

He's talking about hiding the address bar, which doesn't have a hotkey in FF, and I don't think is even possible in IE.

In Firefox, press alt+v, t, n to see the same effect.

[trekking95]

Yeah but F11 gives you even more screen room!

[lilshawn]

I also like the ability to remove the url bar (using F2 to have a popup window where you enter it).  This gives you more screen space,

wut?

i've never even considered opera so I don't know what it looks like...it must have a gargantuan URL box to warrant having to make it go away so i can see what the hell is goin on. what is it 72pt?

Screen space is screen space.  With a simple press of F2, I can pop up the url window, type it in, and as soon as I press enter, the url window goes away.  Maximum screen space that I prefer.  With such a blasé attitude, I wonder how many toolbars you got active. 

uhm...tons?

[SNAAKE]

firefox eZ

chrome doesnt even let me zoom just text and not everything. unless I am missing something here. and some of the flash content dont get along with chrome. I will stick to FF for now. I have a tank computer anyway. dont have to worry about resources(16gb ram too lol..pretty sure half of it is useless)

[lilshawn]

firefox eZ

chrome doesnt even let me zoom just text and not everything. unless I am missing something here. and some of the flash content dont get along with chrome. I will stick to FF for now. I have a tank computer anyway. dont have to worry about resources(16gb ram too lol..pretty sure half of it is useless)

hold control button and scroll yer wheel on the mouse.

easy peasy.

[SNAAKE]

yeah and it zooms EVERYTHING. I dont want giant blurry pictures. just bigger text.

[brad808]

yeah and it zooms EVERYTHING. I dont want giant blurry pictures. just bigger text.

You can adjust just the text size for all websites in the options. If you want to do it individually on the fly you can via an extension (add-on). Not all websites support zooming just text but the ones that do will work

Sent from my Desire HD

[lilshawn]

some of the flash content dont get along with chrome.

Chrome handles Flash content. While other browsers call upon the Flash installation of the host system, Chrome includes an internal Flash installation. if Chrome gets confused and attempts to utilize both the OS installation of Flash and the internal Chrome installation of Flash. The result is serious browser lag, temporary lockup, and then a browser-wide crash of all active Flash instances.

Run Chrome. In the address bar, type about:plugins in the address bar. After you press enter you’ll be greeted with a list of all the plug-ins installed in Chrome (this is different than user-installed Extensions). Look down the list of plug-ins for the Flash entry. If the entry looks like "Flash (2 Files)" there is a very good chance the source of your Flash-related crashes is a conflict between the two.

[hypernova]

Run Chrome. In the address bar, type about:plugins in the address bar. After you press enter you’ll be greeted with a list of all the plug-ins installed in Chrome (this is different than user-installed Extensions). Look down the list of plug-ins for the Flash entry. If the entry looks like "Flash (2 Files)" there is a very good chance the source of your Flash-related crashes is a conflict between the two.

Heh, checked that in Opera just to see if it would work, and they have the same command usage.  Shows all plugins.

Can't remember, do other browsers have a recent history/trashcan like setup where you can reopen a tab you closed earlier?

[lilshawn]

Heh, checked that in Opera just to see if it would work, and they have the same command usage.  Shows all plugins.

Can't remember, do other browsers have a recent history/trashcan like setup where you can reopen a tab you closed earlier?

Chrome has an open last closed tab/open last closed window/recently closed

I frequently get all clicky and close windows i needed. opens right back up (even most time with entered text fields still filled in).

[MonMotha]

In Firefox:  History->Recently Closed Tabs -or- right-click on the tab bar, wherever you have that, and hit "Undo close tab".

Firefox does dump basically everything but the URL the instant you close the tab, so it will "reload" the page when you re-open it.  Everything that was on the page before should be cached, but it'll hit the server to make sure everything's up to date, and it will re-render the page.


Chrome generally irks me with its UI choices, so I've stuck with Firefox.  The extension selection for Firefox is also quite nice.  Sadly, Firefox seems to be breaking more than they fix these days, and the dev team seems hell bent on emulating all the things I don't like about Chrome, so I may end up finding something else.  For now, I just disable all the new UI crap with every version (basically, my FF still looks like 4.0).  Chrome's javascript engine has been much faster on many common workloads, which is nice, though Firefox 13 did quite a bit to help with that.

I've found the Gecko engine to generally behave a little more like I'd expect it to when it comes to its CSS implementation, but that may be that I'm biased for having used it for over a decade (since at least "Mozilla Milestone 18"!).  Webkit (Chrome and Safari) seems to have a few quirks that do vary depending on which final product you use.  Opera seems to be on-par with Firefox in terms of behaving as expected.  Safari was still, last I checked, missing support for a few random things that Chrome, Firefox, and Opera were all supported (WOFF fonts, for example).

I'm told that IE10 is looking to actually be a passable browser, but anybody who's actually been using IE since 6 was actually new and current should probably have their head examined.

I don't have a ton of experience with Opera or Safari, but they seem to behave.  IE is the one I'm always having to hack pages up to work with, though I'll admit IE9 (and IE8, to a large degree) at least gets the basics right - it's just lacking a lot of modern eye candy support.