WINDOWS users-- which web browser do you use and why?

[Zaubertuba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lil' Knight /img/forum/go_quote.gif Chrome here. Totally satisfied with its simplicity and speed. Firefox is slower and slower for me, which was the reason I gave it up.

x2 - I tried it just on a lark and was hooked!

I still use Firefox and IE very occasionally, but Chrome saves me the most browsing real-estate, runs fastest, and works splendidly for 98% of what I do.

 

[hectuero]

Chrome is the fastest and the most stable. Stable in the fact that it sandboxes each tab so that a crappy website/flash in one tab won't bring the whole browser to a standstill; granted, this uses a bit more resources but can be worth it.

Firefox has the most features by far. Once you start getting used to some of Firefox's extensions you start to become dependent on them (many have mentioned the great AdBlock).

There's no reason to use Safari over Chrome, IMO. It's a tad slower and doesn't have undo-tab-close (a feature I cannot live without) and it's impossible (at least on a Mac, don't use PC Safari that often) to get links to open in a new tab instead of new window by default. (Chrome & Safari both use the same WebKit rendering engine, btw)

Internet Explorer should never ever be used by anyone ever. It is the slowest, most unstable, least standards-compliant, POS. Unless a specific website only works in IE (which is because IE is so wrong sites build themselves around it rather than building it correctly). If you want proof run the Acid3 browser test (info about it and results for each browser here). For testing IE's abysmal Javascript performance there's SunSpider. (Firefox's IEtab extension is a good way to use IE within Firefox for the odd site that needs IE, btw)

Oops, I forgot Opera. That alone should say enough. (Though the beta's JS engine is very fast)

And Netscape/Mozilla? Netscape basically doesn't even exist anymore, and Firefox was the lightweight, faster successor to Mozilla; "Mozilla" is now known as SeaMonkey. Better off using Firefox and Thunderbird than SeaMonkey, IMO.

 

[hectuero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MCC /img/forum/go_quote.gif I use FF over Chrome because the former has color management, adblock and noscript.

Interestingly, the Mac version of Chrome (which is still in beta) is color-managed but the Windows version is not. (Then again, it wasn't till Vista that Windows even got real color management, which Mac OS has had for 17 years)

 

[10068]

I tihnk Firefox's awesomeness may very well be its downfall as well...... once you tweak a bunch of settings in About:Config, and have installed updates a ton of times (through Help -> Check or just it doing itself), installed plugins and AddOns, etc., now you have all sorts of junk in there cluttering things up... and I assume that like with Windows, the only way to get back to square one is to literally do just that -- uninstall, delete ALL files from the app, and reinstall using the newest version.

EDIT: For example in my case, it's been updating itself since 2.Xsomething, and i've used currently or in the past NoScript, AdBlock, FasterFox, Fasterfox Lite, Greasemonkey, Close Tab With DoubleClick, Clear & Close, and some others I forgot. I've also messed around with the About:Config stuff.

Anyway i'm just saying that if you've applied that much stuff on top of the original code, all done by freeware coders not necessarily working with each other to ensure compatability, is probably why it gets so slow for some of us

 

[kshelton]

Chrome is my new favorite. I don't use firefox at all anymore. Chrome is faster, uses less resources and works on every site I go to now. I really think Chrome will slowly become the most popular browser. Last night I got both my parents to install the beta version on their mac laptops. And they both love it!

 

[ls20]

Chrome is too slow with their ad-blocking extension. Poorly implemented post-download re-render scheme (i see the ad, and then it disappears). It is too slow on my netbook so I stick with Firefox.

IE is simply terrible. Only use it as a last resort for certain compatibility issues

 

[Buff]

I use firefox at work/home just because I'm so used to the interface. Been using it since it was firebird. When the occasional page does not render correctly, I use either IE7(work) or IE8(home).

 

[Meliboeus]

I use Opera on windows and Firefox when i'm using Ubuntu, both are fine for what i usually do with a browser...though Opera still has compatibility issues with some websites, especially shops and such...

 

[MaZa]

Firefox for looong time, starting from some version 2. And now I am pretty much dependant on it. I could browse without such fantastic extensions like Adblock Plus and NoScript.

 

[Bredin]

I use Namoroka who's a pre-beta release of firefox. Been using Firefox since the last days of Firefox 2. I love how firefox handles and how freaking fast it is with all add-ons. I also like how I can use add-ons to block all **** on the internets and get better privacy at the same time.

I use these addons:
Adblock plus
AlertStopper
BetterPrivacy
FasterFox
Fission
Flashblock
Ghostery
NoScript
Yes popups (that ironically blocks ALL pop-ups unless you allow them)
Camifox (good looking theme on windows computers using vista/win7 basic/aero theme.)

 

[MCC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hectuero /img/forum/go_quote.gif Interestingly, the Mac version of Chrome (which is still in beta) is color-managed but the Windows version is not. (Then again, it wasn't till Vista that Windows even got real color management, which Mac OS has had for 17 years)

Interesting. I already realized that Mac OS has better color management than Windows- what I didn't know is that Chrome takes advantage of that. You'll never see me switch though. I ran Linux for a couple of years and gave it up because of games.

 

[10068]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaZa /img/forum/go_quote.gif NoScript.

Why do people love this so much? There's also another called JavaBlock or something. These plugins just piss me off, since "most" sites have rich/active content these days, it's just too much of a hassle. I don't understand the usefulness of it/them...

 

[Bredin]

The use of them is to block everything that's unnecessary and dangerous. I don't see it as too much of a hassle as I normally visit the same sites that I've allowed to run certain scripts to make them functional.

 

[Lil' Knight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kshelton /img/forum/go_quote.gif Chrome is my new favorite. I don't use firefox at all anymore. Chrome is faster, uses less resources and works on every site I go to now. I really think Chrome will slowly become the most popular browser. Last night I got both my parents to install the beta version on their mac laptops. And they both love it!

Exactly what I think.

 

[Bredin]

Chrome is a POS. This page loads in about 1sec in namoroka and like 8 in chrome. 8 times slower << It doesn't handle private data as well as firefox, and the tab bar is a POS.