Which Browser and Why?

Hi folks. I was looking at various browsers recently and thought I'd start a bit of a discussion going. Which browser do you use/prefer, and why? Perhaps you have different ones for different uses, again for what and why? I'm not interested in prejudice like "I never use IE because it's made by Microsoft, boo hiss" but in a reasoned and technically-led discussion befitting the high standards of these forums. Also, don't post unless you can give reasons for your preference.
I'll start the ball rolling with this: I find that with the lion's share of the user base on the internet almost every site I've tried displays 100% correctly in IE. When you go to other 'compatible' browsers you start to find, to a greater or lesser extent, incompatibility. So for everyday use it's IE7 for me. I know many say it's insecure compared to xyz browser, but it's three and a half years and counting since my PC has ever had anything nasty picked up by Spybot and AdAware (which I run regularly). It seems to me that security is much more about how you surf and whether you have the right precautions/tools in place and whether your OS is patched and properly configured than any inherent weakness or strength in your chosen browser. Within reason, of course.
What do you think?

bishop

This argument is a bit outdated as the cold war between browsers is almost over with IE and firefox as the major contenders. for a reminder for some of us visit:

www.flexbeta.net/main/articles.php?action=show&id=32

However I will like to reimage the outlook of the original title of this post as: GoogleChrome what is new?

visit:
www.infoworld.com/article/08/09/03/36TC-browsers_1.html

for an update on browser technology

I apologize in advance if the original poster of this post feels different about reimaging his post

thanks
sose

Sose,
I'm sure TheBishop wasn't aiming at starting another discussion on the ubiquitous topic of "IE vs Firefox," but rather trying to understand why forum members use whatever browser they use and why when there are many options out there (as the topic reads). In fact, with the introduction of Chrome, and many new enhancements and additions to IE and Firefox, I see nothing wrong with this discussion. I do see something wrong with your approach to this topic, though. How dare you attempt to shut down a discussion by simply throwing in a few web links you Googled in the last minute? If this topic bores you or you have no value to add, simply stay away...just like I stayed away from your also played-out and tired Linux distro vs Linux distro discussion -- "ubuntu or suse." The media did in fact overdiscuss "IE vs Firefox".....but what about Safari? Opera? Chrome? Slim Browser?

Without getting too off topic, I'd be interested to learn if there are any die-hard Opera, Safari, or Chrome fans (although it may be too early), and if so, why?

With the tough competition between browsers in terms of features, ease of use, etc, I have to applaud Firefox for continuing to please me and never failing to impress me with its add-ons -- for the fifth or sixth year straight!

Some specific features that I like about Firefox is that it allows you to clear your cache easily, blocks pop ups by default, has tabbed browsing capabilities, and has the ability to restore your open Firefox windows after recovering from a crash. Yes, some of the features are now included in all browsers, but Firefox was among the first (if not the first) browser to have these features....everyone else copied, IMO! I think Firefox basically caught my heart first.

I was recently looking for a web browser for a special project that would allow me to hide all of the browser's menus (including the address bar, bookmarks bar, File, Edit, etc menus). Firefox was losing to Slim Browser (yes, a browser that you may have never heard of ) but the Hide Menu Bar add-on saved Firefox. Another add-on that's saved me from seaking alternatives to Firefox is IE Tabs. The add-on will essentially "emulate" an IE environment in a Firefox tab, allowing you to open sites that are incompatible with Firefox, in Firefox.

I don't concern myself much with the talk regarding "which browser is more secure." As the TheBishop mentioned...

...security is much more about how you surf and whether you have the right precautions/tools in place and whether your OS is patched and properly configured than any inherent weakness or strength in your chosen browser.

I do prefer IE6 over IE7, and find it very useful at work when I need to Run As. This feature in IE7 doesn't really work, although it appears to. Furthermore, IE7 seems to take slightly longer to open (and launch tabs) than IE6. I use a browser based application for about 90% of my time at work, so I've noticed the smallest differences in browsers in terms of speed, features, ease of use, and intuitiveness.

I do find the feature in Chrome of it launching each tab in a seperate process to be nifty, but how often does Firefox crash on me? How often do I surf processor intensive/memory intensive web sites? Not very often, and so that single cool feature isn't worth me looking further into Chrome

I used Opera for a while, but didn't find it intuitive as Firefox. In addition, it contained too many features that I found insignificant to basic web browsing.

I'm using Safari on the Mac and see no problems with it. I especially love its Private Browsing feature that can easily be enabled.

I hope Google's launch of Chrome triggers other companies to launch their own Browsers.

Share your thoughts!

Your appraisal of my intentions for the post are spot on KiLLaBeE and thanks for your input. Some of the best and most informative discussions on F.cx seem to start this way, and I always follow them even if I don't post, and even if they aren't entirely relevant to me at the time. I usually learn something and anyway it's always good to have a wider feel for what others in the industry are doing. Growth comes by sharing and everyone benefits.

Firefox and me. oh what a perfect match.. but from my experience and to those who have really used Firefox version 2.11 has this exceptional stuff i cant just explain. i updated to version 3.0 then today 3.3 and i experience some >Firefox has encountered some errors, etc> it happens anytime i visit the online seminars page and webminars under www.cisco.com

Hi TheBishop,

OK, This is rather just my personal experience and observations so a plus for me could be a minus for some one else.

I've been a faithful user of IE for years. However, I used both IE and Firefox interchangeably so I can know the pros and cons of both. In it's earliest versions, Firefox was a bit slow in it's ignition and usage. I used it only on newer PCs. However, during the last 2 years I found my self using it more than often. The unbelievable amount of extensions and add-ons, the quickness, stability makes it just too hard for IE to stay on my desktop. And with the new version 3, I'm using Firefox 95% of the time. For me, It boils down to a few little things that made me change my mind:

1. Firefox was first tabbed before IE. So it had me on it mainly for that.
2. Web form texts are reserved automatically if they are not passwords. And it's not just the login names, The whole forms are saved. For the most part, this very useful to me. However, this can indeed include security/privacy risks if not handled properly. The good thing here is that all private data can be cleared with a click of a button, or chosen to auto clear once the browser is closed.
3. As KiLLaBeE mentioned. The save tabs URLs on exit. Or save tabs URLs on abnormal termination of firefox is THE KILLER feature. I'm sure you know how frustrating it can be when the browser suddenly hangs and you forced to close and loose all those 10 or 15 tabs your were working on.
4. IE (for some time) had problems with hotmail!!!!. Ya I know what it sounds like. But thats what I saw several times infront of my eyes. IE just wont login in hostmail while firefox does!!!!. However, I can't blame IE for this, it could have been corrupted settings or similar stuff.
5. Built-in auto correction/dictionary while you type. Very important for me.
6. The Foxmarks add-on seamlessly synchronizes my bookmarks on machines I use.
7. The PlainOldFavorites add-on brings me my IE favorites imideatly under Firefox.

It's an unfair battle. For me Firefox wins big time. However I have to mention that:

1. I think IE is still more compatible on many websites than Firefox. I've seen javascripts that simply don't work in Firefox.
2. IE has always started faster than Firefox on my machines. It still does. However, IE7 is a bit heavier than IE6 and (I think) Firefox 3 is a bit quicker than Firefox 2 and the race has not ended yet.
3. The zooming feature in IE7 is awesome.
4. The quick tabs button shows web page thumbnails. A brilliant idea.

I haven't used many other browsers. Tried Opera along time ago, it was OK. Avant is quick. And I tried one called "Enigma" browser. Nothing special other than it's a browser built for speed. And had good memory optimization. Good for slow machines.