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Picking a web browser
- Thread starter Mailman
- Start date
Have been using firefox for many years now and don't intend to change anytime soon. Its large collection of useful and varied extensions more than make up for the lack of speed (albeit not much) and the greater memory use. With the current systems coming with a minimum of 2 GB RAM, whats the harm in firefox using an extra 100-200 MB? The systems rarely utilize all avaliable memory at any given time, so this hardly matters.
Google Chrome rocks. It's fast, reliable, and while in "incognito mode", I can surf for porn all I want and it doesn't show in my browsing history. :)
I use Firefox, just because it was the best available when I was downloading a browser and once you have one there's really no reason to change. Unless the one you're using happens to be IE. When Chrome first came out, there was no reason to use it so I ignored it. But now it's a potential FireFox killer, and to be honest Google as the advantage in the long run because they can integrate all of their own web services into their own browser, and eventually will get to that Google desktop OS. So I mean go with what you feel man, Firefox won't be an unpleasant experience and definitely has more extensions at this point, but Chrome is faster and more streamlined.
In the website's spirit, FireFox is a LO sweeper and Chrome is a Choice Scarf user. FF is probably more versatile, but there are drawbacks (crashing, and FF especially has a problem with hanging, where the program fails but the process is still running, and you can't start a new one until you end the first one from the task manager). Chrome is definitely faster, but can't do as much. Given time though, this analogy is going to crumble, because Google is going to win in the end.
In the website's spirit, FireFox is a LO sweeper and Chrome is a Choice Scarf user. FF is probably more versatile, but there are drawbacks (crashing, and FF especially has a problem with hanging, where the program fails but the process is still running, and you can't start a new one until you end the first one from the task manager). Chrome is definitely faster, but can't do as much. Given time though, this analogy is going to crumble, because Google is going to win in the end.
So does chrome, in a few different places.
As for adBlock, I have the extention installed. It doesn't block them on youtube or the "mandatory" ads on some sites (gamefaqs), but it blocks all pop-up ads and thats all that really matters to me.
I've tried most browsers and currently use Chrome. A brief rundown:
IE6 is infamous for its insecurity and slow page loading times. IE8 has apparently improved on it greatly but there seems little incentive to revert.
Firefox has a fantastic range of user-supported extensions and plugins, but also has issues with memory usage. In particular, the single-process model means that with many tabs open, if one crashes the whole lot goes down and you have to restart the entire browser. Unfortunately this happens a little too often for my liking.
Opera is the innovator; most of the neat features you see in FF/IE/Chrome were originally implemented in Opera. However, there are a few things I dislike - the interface is too cluttered for my liking, and it requires too much care and effort to customise/setup/maintain. This is basically the Linux of the browser world.
Chrome is a fast browser that runs each tab in a separate process, meaning that if one page crashes you don't lose the whole lot. Combined with its relative stability (and recently the ability to add extensions), it is the superior choice in my view. My only criticism is that sometimes there is a feature that isn't available, that really should be, and the extensions can't provide the functionality like FF extensions can.
When FF4 is released I will give that a go - seems like they are streamlining the interface and implementing one-process-per-tab, in which case it might trump Chrome.
IE6 is infamous for its insecurity and slow page loading times. IE8 has apparently improved on it greatly but there seems little incentive to revert.
Firefox has a fantastic range of user-supported extensions and plugins, but also has issues with memory usage. In particular, the single-process model means that with many tabs open, if one crashes the whole lot goes down and you have to restart the entire browser. Unfortunately this happens a little too often for my liking.
Opera is the innovator; most of the neat features you see in FF/IE/Chrome were originally implemented in Opera. However, there are a few things I dislike - the interface is too cluttered for my liking, and it requires too much care and effort to customise/setup/maintain. This is basically the Linux of the browser world.
Chrome is a fast browser that runs each tab in a separate process, meaning that if one page crashes you don't lose the whole lot. Combined with its relative stability (and recently the ability to add extensions), it is the superior choice in my view. My only criticism is that sometimes there is a feature that isn't available, that really should be, and the extensions can't provide the functionality like FF extensions can.
When FF4 is released I will give that a go - seems like they are streamlining the interface and implementing one-process-per-tab, in which case it might trump Chrome.
I used to exclusively use Firefox due to the noted stability over IE. I had used IE up until 8, where the crash rate, combined with the security issues were just too much to handle.
Firefox introduced me to a whole bunch of add-ons such as Lazarus (which is the best fucking thing EVER) and some other tidbits. However, when I upgraded to Version 3, it just lagged really hard, and drained my laptop of too much processing power. It eventually reached a point where having MSN and Firefox open at the same time was impossible.
Of course, I still use Firefox today simply because of ChatZilla, which is probably the only client I can be bothered to use.
I tried Chrome, which I absolutely loved. The speed, the simplicity, the fact that Lazarus and Pastebin both have Chrome Extensions was just brilliant. This, however, was icing on the cake.
Halfway through my Chrome-life, Umbreon Dan introduced me to Opera 10. It's almost as fast as Chrome, but it makes up by having more functions and features.
Nowadays, I use Chrome for anything long-term. I.e, Smogon and other things I have cookies stored on. Opera becomes my "links and random shit" browser, as well as the "catch-all" for something Chrome can't handle.
My recommendation; if your computer can handle it, go with Firefox. It's actually the most powerful, and a hell of a lot more reliable than people give credit for. However, if speed and simplicity is your thing, you really can't do better than Chrome.
Firefox introduced me to a whole bunch of add-ons such as Lazarus (which is the best fucking thing EVER) and some other tidbits. However, when I upgraded to Version 3, it just lagged really hard, and drained my laptop of too much processing power. It eventually reached a point where having MSN and Firefox open at the same time was impossible.
Of course, I still use Firefox today simply because of ChatZilla, which is probably the only client I can be bothered to use.
I tried Chrome, which I absolutely loved. The speed, the simplicity, the fact that Lazarus and Pastebin both have Chrome Extensions was just brilliant. This, however, was icing on the cake.
Halfway through my Chrome-life, Umbreon Dan introduced me to Opera 10. It's almost as fast as Chrome, but it makes up by having more functions and features.
Nowadays, I use Chrome for anything long-term. I.e, Smogon and other things I have cookies stored on. Opera becomes my "links and random shit" browser, as well as the "catch-all" for something Chrome can't handle.
My recommendation; if your computer can handle it, go with Firefox. It's actually the most powerful, and a hell of a lot more reliable than people give credit for. However, if speed and simplicity is your thing, you really can't do better than Chrome.
Basically all the advice you get regarding FF can be applied to Opera, while the opposite isn't true (since Opera has so much more features).
Choose between Chrome for simplicity or Opera for features and customisation (btw monkfish said the interface was too cluttered but Opera is so customisable that you can have a completely blank interface - no buttons at all, no scroll bars, nothing - and use only mouse/keyboard shortcuts) . If you're a web designer, you might need some add-ons that are only on FF, but it's unlikely.
Choose between Chrome for simplicity or Opera for features and customisation (btw monkfish said the interface was too cluttered but Opera is so customisable that you can have a completely blank interface - no buttons at all, no scroll bars, nothing - and use only mouse/keyboard shortcuts) . If you're a web designer, you might need some add-ons that are only on FF, but it's unlikely.
curently using chrome for speed and because its simple , since I mostly browse smogon speed is prety much all I need
also I have firefox in the back but right now is just used for faster connection to IRC
also I have firefox in the back but right now is just used for faster connection to IRC
You do realize pretty much every browser can do this right? (it's called Private Browsing in Firefox, you can find it under Tools).
Anyways, I have tried most browsers, but only Firefox has allowed me to customize it the way I want. The two big advantages for me are the Live Bookmarks, since I can keep all my feeds in the top bar neatly organized for easy access, and the other thing I love is Ubiquity. Seriously I have been spoiled by this add-on and can't live without it anymore.
Chrome is nice I guess, but doesn't offers me anything that Firefox doesn't. Opera is pretty sweet. IE8 is meh.
Incognito Mode sounds far cooler though ;)
Also Chrome runs each tab as a separate process but Firefox doesn't. So it kind of does offer you something Firefox currently doesn't. Though that only matters if you have frequent crashing problems with Firefox.
Currently, I am using Safari. Yes, I have a Mac.
However, before OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard, I was using Firefox. It used much less CPU and didn't cause my laptop to run hot. Firefox for Mac is pure bullshit in my opinion. It runs very slow compared to Safrai and Google Chrome. In addition, Firefox crashes often.
If you are using a Mac and just looking for raw speed without the fancy bells and whistles such as extensions like me, Safari is the best choice in my opinion. I did try Google Chrome for a bit and I found the interface not as refined as Safari. I also found the scrolling not as smooth, but maybe that is my imagination. Maybe Firefox 4 will be a lot better, I don't know. For Windows, Firefox and Google Chrome are both excellent choices.
However, before OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard, I was using Firefox. It used much less CPU and didn't cause my laptop to run hot. Firefox for Mac is pure bullshit in my opinion. It runs very slow compared to Safrai and Google Chrome. In addition, Firefox crashes often.
If you are using a Mac and just looking for raw speed without the fancy bells and whistles such as extensions like me, Safari is the best choice in my opinion. I did try Google Chrome for a bit and I found the interface not as refined as Safari. I also found the scrolling not as smooth, but maybe that is my imagination. Maybe Firefox 4 will be a lot better, I don't know. For Windows, Firefox and Google Chrome are both excellent choices.
Firefox, Opera and Chrome are all available on non-Windows platforms, "Windows is rubbish" is nothing to do with browsers
This is the most important point. Every browser crashes from time to time, and if you are the kind of person who keeps your browser open all the time, the memory buildup of Firefox is unmanageable and the whole thing will go down.
I forgot to mention another of my reasons for switching to Chrome, which was smoother Flash playback. I think it was probably an issue specific to my machine, but Firefox really struggled with Flash whereas Chrome has no problem.
edit: yeah as Firestorm says, incognito mode is useful to stop your girlfriend/friends from logging you out of facebook/email!!
Memory hasn't been a problem for me due to how much RAM I have. But I do wish Firefox had the process per tab thing that Chrome has. It's the one thing I prefer in Chrome.
Oh and private browsing / incognito has more uses than just porn you guys! Pretty awesome to just be able to hit the button and let your friends check their Facebook / E-mail / whatever on your laptop without having to log yourself out of all the sites.
I found out that EA actually used Chrome as their main debugging tool for the UI in Skate 3 which they built using WebKit.
Oh and private browsing / incognito has more uses than just porn you guys! Pretty awesome to just be able to hit the button and let your friends check their Facebook / E-mail / whatever on your laptop without having to log yourself out of all the sites.
I found out that EA actually used Chrome as their main debugging tool for the UI in Skate 3 which they built using WebKit.
Myself I have used FireFox till now, mostly because I got used to it after I ditched IE a few years back, but I am now trying out Chrome to see if it's better than Firefox. It didn't crash on me like for some other people, but maybe Chrome will be smoother for me. It will take a bit to get used to have tabs on the top though O_o