Best browser?

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

I have IE at work and both IE & Mozilla Firefox at home and I prefer Firefox but I am wondering what others think and why. I am especially curious about Opera after seeing the link in <bleedingheart> 's sig.

[<bleeding_heart>]

I've used every major browser and a few others I find opera to be the best IMHO. Its not perfect but every aspect of it is customisable (tons of skins, custom mouse gestures, toolbar setups etc), so I have set up exactly as I want it, it has inbuilt IRC, email, newsfeeds, notes, intelligent pop-up blocker plus more.

For the sites I visit most often it works better the firefox, renders pages faster. Is a screenreader, has voice capability and loads of other stuff. Obviously as with FF its more secure and standard compliant than IE and IE Clones. Depending on what sites you visit and what tools you want its prob. a choice between Opera and FF.

Opera features (its obviously edged towards Opera but it goes through a lot of the other features.)

Edited February 15, 2005 by <bleeding_heart>

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

O..this exactly the kind of information I was after. Thanks BH!

[seeking]

i chose IE, most people just jump on the bandwagon when a new browser comes out as it is "cool" to not use IE now a days it seems, i cant even remember the first alternate browser to come out was, but it has since died, now firefox is in its place and ina few months it will be dead too

[Janiel]

I've already had it for a few months

[Saru]

I still prefer Internet Explorer, although I use Mozilla Thunderbird as my e-mail client instead of Outlook Express.

I've tried using Firefox, but it still has some problems that need to be ironed out before it can truly replace IE in my opinion.

[Guest Lottie]

IE is an oldie but still a goody and a firm fave. I have also had problems with firefox. Opera is okay and I use safari too but I always go back to IE.

[<bleeding_heart>]

Well Opera has been around since 94, IE since 95 and Mozilla (in various stages) since at lest 98. Ive been an Operauser for about 2 years and its far from dead. FF is gaining ground and certaintly wont be dead in a few months, too many people willing to keep developing. The ones that fall are the browsers built on IE they take it put a different skin on it and maybe added a basic tabbed browing option but dont improve any on the foundation. As for it being a bandwagon, why is it so bad for poeple to have options if they prefer the alternatives they will stick with them, if it makes MS improve IE it will be good for all concerned. IE was afterall a MS attempt to loosen Netscapes stranglehold on the market (upto 80% market share) it succeeded for two main reasons IE is free and Netscape started to get lazy.

The biggest failing of the alternative browsers was the big sites making it difficult to access them, this is slowly changing with the like of Google and Yahoo giving people that option.

IE will never be as problem free as the others, MS is too big a target the anti-spyware program is an example of this. If any of the larger alternatives come out with a program to match Outlook MS will see serious competition. Although to be fair MS dont really care, regardless of the browser a person chooses it will still have the bulk of the OS market.

Edited February 16, 2005 by <bleeding_heart>

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

What I would like to know is why people prefer IE? I have used FF for quite a few months and I find I have less problems with spy/ad ware than with IE. With IE on the other hand I still find things that sneak past.

[seeking]

i have had no problems at all with IE, no spyware, popups are taken care of with the googlebar, IE is programmed by microsoft, the biggest software company in the world, those are my reasons

and by what i meant about in a few months FF will be dead, is that it wont be the talk of the town anymore, sure there will be people who use it and develop for it, but its 10 minutes of fame will be up

[Dancing_Dumplings]

I'm telling you. IE chooses who its nice to and who its not

no seriously, I mean it.

But I would like to see how the new IE turns out.

[kikuchiyo]

Well the best as in it doesn't cost anything and is reliable (no pop ups! and controle of cookies) Firefox, but if you want one with the same reliability and with more options go with Safari.

It comes free with Os X (10.3) panther...which rocks!

[seeking]

Os wha???

oh that must be some crazy macintosh system

jk

[<bleeding_heart>]

and by what i meant about in a few months FF will be dead, is that it wont be the talk of the town anymore, sure there will be people who use it and develop for it, but its 10 minutes of fame will be up

Thats what the netscape faithful said about IE.

[Saru]

What I would like to know is why people prefer IE? I have used FF for quite a few months and I find I have less problems with spy/ad ware than with IE. With IE on the other hand I still find things that sneak past.

I prefer IE because it's simple, straight forward and does the job. I don't tend to have any problems with spyware, spyware can be avoided by making sure you don't run or install dodgy software or e-mail attachments, and be wary of strange active-X or script components on some web sites.

I've tried Firefox, and i've found that it has trouble displaying some elements on some web sites. Whether that is signficant or not though I suppose depends on whether I am overly picky, as I tend to be looking at it from the perspective of someone who makes web sites as oppose to someone who is only viewing them.

Overall i find IE more useful than Firefox, but then that's just me. Different users will find either browser more or less useful depending on personal preference.

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

Thanks to everybody who responded.

[AliceCoopersGirl]

I've always had problems with IE...every time I wanted to click on a link my computer would freeze...used to bug the life out of me...so I changed for that reason.

All I want is a browser that works for me and does what I want it to...its down to what you as an individual feels comfortable using

[gabe]

[story that is told like if it has a moral, but doesnt]You know... I had a poll like this in a Norwegian forum. When i said i liked IE best. This are some of the responses i got (translated to English):

Gabe, You don't have a clue what you're talking about

That's the dumbest thing I've heard

Now, i have nothing against FF, but when I meet hardcore FF fans that can't respect others opinions, then I get alittle p***ed off.[/story that is told like if it has a moral, but doesnt]

I got my pop-up blocker, antivirus, antispyware and firewall so I'm well protected.

I prefer IE!

[The Banana Pie Eater!]

Got IE...

[Boo_ Boi]

i love Mozilla Firefox its really is great and i love all the add-ons like foxy tunes and bug me not i found that it something cant display things on some websites but add-ons take care of it for me firefox is the best .

[antares]

I prefer Firefox, I use also Safari for Mac OS.

Firefox has really cool extensions - you can install weather watch, mail check, Chatzilla...

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

FireFox seems to be the browser of choice with IE a close second.

[about]

I hate Opera (free version anyways) So many distracting banners and advertisemenst! AHHHHHHHHH!

IE is OK but my ones broken (The adress bar has dissapeared )

FF is 'The' browser for me.

I recently got a beta leak of Windows Longhorn, and with it it has a new 'Internet Explorer' Looks alot like the tacky MSN browser, and it still doesn't have tabbed webpages

[Daedalus]

Uhh... banners in free Opera? If you mean the 32px high Google text ad at the top, I don't even see it anymore. The pros of Opera definately outweigh those 32px. IE's stupid prev, next, stop and whatever buttons take up more space. And in Opera, all those buttons are unnecessary. I have deleted them all.

But the main reason for not using IE for me is that all that IE does with web standards is wipe its ****. Why can it not simply render html and css like it is recommended? Why does it not automatically load the alpha channel in PNG images?

[seeking]

I hate Opera (free version anyways) So many distracting banners and advertisemenst! AHHHHHHHHH!

IE is OK but my ones broken (The adress bar has dissapeared )

FF is 'The' browser for me.

I recently got a beta leak of Windows Longhorn, and with it it has a new 'Internet Explorer' Looks alot like the tacky MSN browser, and it still doesn't have tabbed webpages

571027[/snapback]

this is what im talking about, people...just because you expierience a simple problem you think IE is garbage? try going to view >> toolbars >> address bar and make sure address bar is checked...problem solved, all you did was accidently hide it

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one other thing i find funny, is statements like these

...i found that it something cant display on some websites then add-ons take care of it...for me firefox is the best.

its the best because you need to download add-ons for it work like a normal browser