Hard Light Productions Forums

Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Nemesis6 on March 09, 2011, 09:29:51 am

Title: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Nemesis6 on March 09, 2011, 09:29:51 am
I figured I'd post this thread because I, personally, am split between Firefox 4.0 and the latest official version of Chrome 10. I veer more toward Firefox now for two reason -- On websites with a lot of images, Chrome grinds down the page when you scroll, whereas Firefox has absolutely no problem. Both of the browsers have adblock, but the original Firefox version works best, so what I find myself doing is using Chrome because it starts fast, it's generally more responsive. The only addons important to me are ForecastFox and Adblock, and they're available on both browsers. The Firefox version I'm running is an optimized 4.0 Beta 10 version from this page - http://www.binaryturf.com/free-software/blazing-fast-firefox-optimized-distributions/

So, what are you running and why?
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Pred the Penguin on March 09, 2011, 09:46:23 am
Chrome for me. There are better alternatives no doubt, but I'm just used to it.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: General Battuta on March 09, 2011, 09:48:41 am
Chrome for now, Firefox 3 just left a bad taste in my mouth.

I hear the new IE is actually good.  :nervous:
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Kolgena on March 09, 2011, 10:02:36 am
Firefox 3.6.14 (when it went thru 3.6.12 recently, I lol'd)

It starts getting ridiculous in memory usage, but it's familiar and hosts the addons and scripts that I use a lot.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Delta_V on March 09, 2011, 10:05:21 am
Yeah, I am actually using the IE9 release candidate right now, and it is much nicer than IE8, in fact, I'd say it's at least on par with Chrome  :nervous: (never thought I'd say that about IE).  It doesn't quite have all the bugs worked out yet, for instance, the new Flash Player that was designed with IE9 in mind (it supports hardware acceleration) doesn't want to play Pandora, but it will play YouTube and most other sites, but it's not a final release yet, so bugs are sorta expected.  If I want to listen to Pandora, I have to use Chrome, which I will usually use if I know I'm going to be using the flash player. 

I would be using Chrome right now, but I heard about the IE9 RC and heard that it was actually good, so I've just been giving  it a spin.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Rodo on March 09, 2011, 10:41:57 am
Chrome, I like it better, besides Firefox seems to chew up my cpu usage for some reason.
I used to like Firefox a few years back, when Chrome came out I tested it and switched to it immediately.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: blackhole on March 09, 2011, 10:48:49 am
CHROME because it is FAST.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Scourge of Ages on March 09, 2011, 10:56:11 am
I was using IE8 exclusively for a loooong time. But I finally got fed up with the terrible, terrible lag when opening new tabs sometimes and at other times, and various other issues led me to test Firefox. I immediately switched, and only use IE for printing stuff anymore.
When IE9 comes out, I'll give it another shake. Never tried Chrome though.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Nuke on March 09, 2011, 11:07:04 am
i use firefox mainly because i like how portable user profiles are. however i notice that newer versions are really ****ing slow on old computers. ive used chrome but i dont like it much, but its my first choice on a slow computer. though i will never ever use ie. i think as a matter of system integrity that the os and browser should be made by different companies. il use firefox until it really starts to piss me off, on a computer with a lot of ram, it aint bad.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Bobboau on March 09, 2011, 11:36:41 am
firefox 3.6, I eagerly await the version 4, I have been tempted to switch to chrome, but I am dedicated to wait and give FF4 a good year before I do that, FF got me away from IE and have done IMMENSE services to the internet, so I am going to make sure I give them a very good opportunity to take back the lead from chrome before I switch.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Mongoose on March 09, 2011, 11:37:17 am
Always Firefox for me, though I'm still on 3.6.  I'm sure Chrome is a decent browser and all, but Firefox's "speed issues" have never noticeably bothered me, and I have too much invested in the way of extensions and such to switch anyway.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: LHN91 on March 09, 2011, 11:46:49 am
As someone who, up till last year was dealing with woefully out of date computers and who still regularly needs to maintain computers with specs similar to 1.8GHz Pentium 4's with 256MB of ram, I go chrome. Firefox 3.6 takes upwards of 30-40 seconds to load on these systems. Chrome is generally up in half that time. Chrome does have a couple of issues, and because of this i keep a copy of Firefox on my personal computers for those one or two sites (primarily my school's Courselink). Pre-Chrome, I had a similar setup with Opera being my primary and Firefox being my backup. Haven't tried IE9 yet, but I likely will in the near future. It would be nice if microsoft manages to follow up Windows 7 (Which is probably the most best windows OS i've ever used, and i've used every version since 3.1) with a halfway decent browser.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Luis Dias on March 09, 2011, 11:52:21 am
chrome ftw.

simple, neat, fast. Secure architecture. Want a copy? Phone me and I'll make you a discount!
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: achtung on March 09, 2011, 12:07:14 pm
Chrome/FF3/FF4.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Sushi on March 09, 2011, 12:19:22 pm
FF3, by force of habit more than anything. No real compelling reason to switch (and I like my adblock and firebug).
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Aramil on March 09, 2011, 01:00:12 pm
Minefield 4.0b12pre  (64bit mozzila) takes all of firefox's 32bit add ons  :yes:

Chrome gave to many security warnings (not from chrome but a secure network) when trying to use a work VPN & internal system.

Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Scotty on March 09, 2011, 01:05:32 pm
Currently using IE, can't complain.  Then again, I've only ever used IE, so take that how you will.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Luis Dias on March 09, 2011, 01:13:36 pm
Currently using IE, can't complain.  Then again, I've only ever used IE, so take that how you will.

The horror!!
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: S-99 on March 09, 2011, 01:26:25 pm
IE only for non admin usage. Then again i have liked the direction microsoft took with IE with version 7 on up. Otherwise check out opera. It's a great alternative to the other browsers.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: General Battuta on March 09, 2011, 01:30:02 pm
Currently using IE, can't complain.  Then again, I've only ever used IE, so take that how you will.

Brother, you can complain.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Ghostavo on March 09, 2011, 01:53:24 pm
Opera, because it's both fast and has a nice user interface.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Scotty on March 09, 2011, 01:54:29 pm
Currently using IE, can't complain.  Then again, I've only ever used IE, so take that how you will.

Brother, you can complain.

...by which I meant that I'm satisfied by IE's performance.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: General Battuta on March 09, 2011, 01:57:49 pm
Currently using IE, can't complain.  Then again, I've only ever used IE, so take that how you will.

Brother, you can complain.

...by which I meant that I'm satisfied by IE's performance.

I'm satisfied with my mud hut in southeastern Bangladesh too. I have never been anywhere else! My children all have malaria and my fields flood every spring, but there could be nothing better.

Try a browser that isn't a weeping security and performance abscess, even if it's just the pre-release version of the next Internet Explorer. Very little is worse for your computer than using one of the older IEs.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: The E on March 09, 2011, 01:59:32 pm
No holy browser wars, please.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: General Battuta on March 09, 2011, 02:02:31 pm
he didn't want to use when-arguments either and now he loves them
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: headdie on March 09, 2011, 03:01:25 pm
Chrome for day to day use

Opera for the small number of sites which dont like chrome and IRC
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Scotty on March 09, 2011, 03:17:35 pm
he didn't want to use when-arguments either and now he loves them

Well, I still don't use them very often. :nervous:
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Mika on March 09, 2011, 03:18:18 pm
Opera at home, FF3 at work.

I'm starting to think I should migrate to Opera at work too. The responsiveness of newer Firefoxes has started to become an issue with a dual core laptop. Dual core laptop I say! And while at it, I'll likely change the Acrobat Reader to Foxit Reader.

So far Opera has been quite nice.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Dark Hunter on March 09, 2011, 04:10:05 pm
IE on my desktop, mainly because I can't be bothered to install Firefox on it.

Firefox on my laptop... because. Don't really have a reason. *shrugs*
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: watsisname on March 09, 2011, 04:18:41 pm
FF 3.6.15 for me still, though I am considering trying out Chrome.  My main reasons for sticking with FF are scriptblocker (love it) and a hatred/procrastination for switching programs unless I absolutely have to.  (It took me ages just to abandon IE) :ick:
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Scourge of Ages on March 09, 2011, 05:10:45 pm
What browser would be the best for an old, old cheap laptop? It's really struggling with more than 3 tabs at once, currently.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: IceFire on March 09, 2011, 05:21:59 pm
What browser would be the best for an old, old cheap laptop? It's really struggling with more than 3 tabs at once, currently.
That's a good question. My brother's netbook runs slightly better on Chrome than anything else. IE would be a close second thanks to sharing some core resources with the OS. Chrome would be my suggestion... if it doesn't work try something else :)

I'm a fan of keeping up with browsers. So far the only one I really truly don't like is Safari on Windows. On Mac OS it's fine but on Windows it doesn't feel like a native application at all. Plus the reports suggest quite a few more security issues than most of the other types and slower turn arounds. Firefox and Chrome are the two I prefer the most... although IE9 beta had me for a while and I love the simplicity in the new design.

Recently I've gone from Firefox to Chrome. Chrome runs better on the whole (version 10 came out today... very fast!) and each tab is process independent (and has been for a while now) so if some website with a screwy plugin does manage to screw things up, it's just the one tab. Everything else is fine. Firefox isn't quite there yet on this one.

Firefox still has the edge in plugins but Chrome's new App Store approach is very seemless too. Just not all of the tools are available that I want yet.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Flipside on March 09, 2011, 05:28:54 pm
I use FF, have done for a good few years. I got a bit nervous when IE was going through a "Vulnerability -> Patch -> Vulnerability" cycle, tried FF for a while, and found that it did what I wanted quite effectively. Probably Chrome would be better for me because I really don't need bells and whistles with my browsing, but since FF is installed, there's no real point to changing.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: LHN91 on March 09, 2011, 05:37:58 pm
How old and cheap of a laptop is it? I've successfully run Chrome reasonably well on a P3 1Ghz with less than 512 Mb of RAM. Just don't try to use youtube. Opera is the other option for a system like that, but the last time i used it regularly was pre-version 10, and it has bloated a bit since then. That ran well enough for email in windows 98 with a Celeron 433 lol.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Flipside on March 09, 2011, 05:39:29 pm
Seems odd that anything above Pentium level should struggle to run a browser anyway, that implies bloating to me.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: NGTM-1R on March 09, 2011, 05:41:01 pm
When I switched computers, Firefox's storing things in active memory became far less of an issue so I went to that. Although I still have to kill the plugins process to fire up a game on occasion.

I may drift over to IE9 as a newer generation of more system-resources intensive games gets onto my computer.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: LHN91 on March 09, 2011, 05:46:21 pm
If all you care about is that it opens and runs, yeah, anything that is capable of installing XP (i.e. Pentium 1 233 with 64 Mb RAM) should be able to run a web browser. But on an old system, the amount of RAM and the slowness of the hard drive, compounded with the fact that browsers like Firefox 3.6 tend to eat upwards of 40 Mb per page at a minimum, necessitating paging, leaves you with only the smaller browsers truly usable. Atm, the smallest reasonably useable browsers are chrome and opera.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Flipside on March 09, 2011, 05:52:53 pm
It's ironic if you think that, at heart, a browser is just glorified terminal software that is supposed to transmit/recieve information as quickly and efficiently as possible.

I think that the problem is that the Internet itself runs contrary to the 2nd law of thermodynamics, the longer it exists the more complex it becomes, rather than working towards a more simplified, universal transmission system, it just gets more and more complex. I cannot remove IE from my computer (even if the system would let me) for example, because some sites (Windows update being the most notable) won't run on anything else.

I personally think this may well become a problem in the future.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Fury on March 09, 2011, 11:36:56 pm
IE9 final will be released next Monday. IE9 RC worked very well, it is fast and lean browser, definitely a huge improvement over older IE's. Won't be available on Windows XP though apparently, which is a good thing since that obsolete OS should be upgraded already.

Chrome has been my default browser for very long time and I can't see myself switching to any other browser other than perhaps IE9 for simplicity. Only IE9's upcoming track record of security issues and other problems will tell whether I stick with Chrome or go with IE9. Firefox 3 has been a huge disappointment, which is why I went with Chrome in the first place. I don't see FF4 changing that, though I haven't actually bothered to try any of the FF4 betas or the new RC. Nothing so far has indicated FF4 performs better than Chrome, so I don't really have a reason to try.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: S-99 on March 10, 2011, 12:17:34 am
And while at it, I'll likely change the Acrobat Reader to Foxit Reader.
Pdf readers. By far adobe acrobat is sludge with bloat. Foxit reader is better, but not too much by far. Both bother you with updates and bull****.

The best i've found was evince (http://projects.gnome.org/evince/). Download for windows here (http://live.gnome.org/Evince/Downloads).

Evince is the gnome desktop environment document viewer for linux. It's simply what you expect; to look at documents in this case with the focus on pdf's. No annoying reminders for updates, no bloat, it's easy to use, and it's great. Currently replacing adobe acrobat installations at city hall with evince. For windows, it's the most hassle free pdf viewer i could find. So glad they it for windows too.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: rev_posix on March 10, 2011, 02:32:35 am
Depends on the platform I'm on at the time.

MS Windows: Firefox (scripts and extensions) and Iron (chrome with all the tracking code removed)
Linux with a GUI: Firefox and Chromium
Other UNIX with a GUI: Whatever the environment has to offer
*NIX without a GUI: Lynx
Mac OS 10.x: Firefox and Iron again
Android: Testing out boat
Win Mobile: Opera

(I just have to be complicated, don't I?)
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: headdie on March 10, 2011, 02:36:32 am
Another issue with browser speed and system performance is flash player, especially on older systems, I mean it is everywhere even on this site, just right click the ad banner at the top
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: LHN91 on March 10, 2011, 07:54:40 am
Adblock helps with that a bit, especially on old/underpowered systems
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Sololop on March 10, 2011, 08:01:59 am
I use firefox. But only because I don't like Safari for Windows. But Mac's version of Safari is superior in my opinion ';..;'
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Veers on March 11, 2011, 06:43:28 am
Im a Firefox user, will avoid IE unless I have no other viable alternative.

But I have heard a few things about Chrome, and if you guys say the IE9 is pretty good, maybe IE is actually going to be on par with these others?

I suspect I may have a browser war on my hands soon....

Quote from: Fury
Won't be available on Windows XP though apparently, which is a good thing since that obsolete OS should be upgraded already.

That reminds me, I must find a copy of XP to reinstall on my XP-based machine, such a faithful machine she was... (damn AGP slots though)
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: MR_T3D on March 11, 2011, 08:53:22 am
Really liking everything about firefox 4

the new interface is neater than it used to, taking a page from chrome and trimming vertical space, and has all the features and setting I've grown accustomed to
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Androgeos Exeunt on March 11, 2011, 09:30:52 am
On my Mac: Safari and Firefox
On my IBM: Chrome

My sister uses IE8 on her PC. She dislikes any other browser for reasons even I don't know. :blah:
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Topgun on March 11, 2011, 09:57:58 am
Firefox here, for the plugins. Chrome is overrated.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Mongoose on March 11, 2011, 09:13:15 pm
Quote from: Fury
Won't be available on Windows XP though apparently, which is a good thing since that obsolete OS should be upgraded already.

That reminds me, I must find a copy of XP to reinstall on my XP-based machine, such a faithful machine she was... (damn AGP slots though)
Woo, someone else keepin' the XP faith. :yes:
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Kopachris on March 11, 2011, 10:35:12 pm
Firefox, because it was preinstalled (Linux, here), has plenty of addons, and is fast enough for what I use it for.

Except on school computers, where I'm forced to use IE7.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: redsniper on March 11, 2011, 11:29:38 pm
Chromium because it is like Chrome the open-source project on which Chrome is based, but doesn't spy on me for Google.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Nohiki on March 12, 2011, 04:04:41 pm
Opera, because it's fast (right FF?), it supports standards (right Chrome?) and it has all the gizmos i need as a web writer.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Bob-san on March 12, 2011, 04:11:47 pm
On Windows: Firefox
On Linux: Chromium
When 100% required: Internet Explorer
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: jr2 on March 12, 2011, 04:38:24 pm
In order of preference:
if not latest Chrome
then
latest Firefox
then
latest Opera
then
latest Safari
then
Internut Exploder
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Polpolion on March 12, 2011, 05:56:30 pm
I use Iceweasel.

Because I am ****ing insane.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Aurora Paradox on March 12, 2011, 06:14:16 pm
Firefox here, for the plugins. Chrome is overrated.

That is my position as well.  I use Firefox for its vast array of extensions.  The release candidate of Firefox 4 is already running smoothly on my desktop.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Bob-san on March 12, 2011, 07:16:11 pm
Firefox here, for the plugins. Chrome is overrated.

That is my position as well.  I use Firefox for its vast array of extensions.  The release candidate of Firefox 4 is already running smoothly on my desktop.
Quite. I tried Chrome but found a few major issues...

1) Only supports 1 search engine (In Firefox, I hit Ctrl-Up/Down and can switch between searching Google, Wikipedia, etc.)
2) Doesn't handle Live Bookmarks (and the add-ons that do don't really support syncing)
3) Takes up 3x as much space on the HDD as Firefox (which is an issue on my netbook)
4) Download manager is whacky
5) Doesn't support many add-ons or doesn't have an equivalent (like DownThemAll)
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Mars on March 12, 2011, 08:36:11 pm
The addons issues has improved drastically lately.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Veers on March 12, 2011, 09:04:15 pm
Just installed FF4 RC.

Definately a performance boost on my netbook (that Im using now, will install of gaming machine later).

Overall interface is less cluttered, and just looks fantastic. (total usage time so far: 15 minutes) :)
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Androgeos Exeunt on March 13, 2011, 08:40:17 am
...hang on, what's this still doing here?

/me deletes Google Chrome from his MacBook.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Kolgena on March 13, 2011, 11:43:21 am
I just tried the 64bit blazing fast FF posted in the OP.

Is it normal that it starts up fresh using 130 megs of RAM?
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Bob-san on March 13, 2011, 02:40:45 pm
I just tried the 64bit blazing fast FF posted in the OP.

Is it normal that it starts up fresh using 130 megs of RAM?
Yeah pretty much. It doesn't bother me in the least; I have 6GB in my desktop.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: pecenipicek on March 13, 2011, 03:31:18 pm
Firefox here, for the plugins. Chrome is overrated.
quoted for the truth


was on chromium for a while. gave up on it after a month. tab navigation gets completely unmanageable when you get past 30-ish tabs....





ram usage is not something that bothers me tho.
Title: Re: Which browser do you use and why?
Post by: Topgun on March 13, 2011, 06:59:14 pm
unused ram is wasted ram. Firefox doesn't wast ram on stupid things, everything it uses, it uses for a reason, it does however, use LOTS of caching, which is why it appears to waste ram. use firefox on a computer with limited  ram and you will see that it uses little ram, more than say, seamonkey, but not as much as say, opera.