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Browser Wars

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Browser Wars

No Right Answer

from JoeUser Forums

I have several browsers on my desktop.  I have XP at home (bought 3 years ago - BEFORE 7, and did not want Vista) so IE9 is not an option (work is Vista - I was right in my home purchase).  So I am using IE8 both at home and work.  When I use IE.  I have Firefox which is my browser of choice, Opera, Safari, and Chrome.

I know many will disagree with me, and that is fine, but my experiences show that no one is winning, just some are losing slower.

Opera is fine if all you want to do is read the news.  It is relatively fast, and clean.  for a quick hit, I like it, but seldom use it.

Safari is for Mac users.  Nothing wrong with the windows version - just not a lot right (like add ons and such).  It has not given me a reason to switch to it as a primary browser - or even secondary.  As such, I do not hate it, just do not use it.

Chrome is not fast.  I wonder if the FCC will nab them for false advertising.  Doubtful since it is free.  but the lack of speed has turned me off to it.  Like Opera, I use it on occasion, but it is not on the top of my browser list.

IE is fast launching.  It is also the browser of last resort (when the Stardock forums mess up, or a web page will not display correctly in other browsers, IE will work).  But it is not fast surfing.  And has one idiosyncrasy (actually 2) that I hate.

#1: when closing multiple tabs and windows, and saving them, relaunching IE brings them all up in one window.  Why? (Did 9 fix that?)

#2: More often than not, when closing said tabs, IE will "crash" and then open all the windows again - without asking.

#3 (well, I mis-counted) Windows does not recover from a non-shutdown crash with all tabs.

But on the good side, of my top 2 browsers, it is by far the most frugal with memory (I never thought I would say that!).  I had 2 windows and 12 tabs open the other day, and it was using only 100mb of memory (ONLY!!!!!  God we have come far).

Firefox is my browser of first choice.  I like the thousands of Add Ons I can choose to add (or not), the ease at which I can enable or disable them, and the fast browsing.  But it is not perfect.

#1: It is slow to launch - especially if there is an update.  But even without an update, it will take about 5 minutes where IE takes about 1.

#2: it is a memory HOG!  Same day, I also had Firefox up with 6 tabs open, one window.  It was pegging 500mb!  I frequently have to crash the browser as once it gets over 500mb (one system has 2gb the other has 4gb of memory so it does not appear to matter how much total memory there is), it dogs it.  But the crashing leads to the reason it is my main browser - namely:

#1: When you shut it down, and then relaunch, it does not open the Home pages PLUS the saved tabs (IE does thatt - and I have 3 home pages so it really clutters things up).

#2: When you crash it (or it does it to itself - it does not crash often), it will open the previous tabs in their respective windows - not all in one.  Often when IE crashes, your tabs are gone.

#3 - and the biggest reason I prefer it - it is not IE!  In that I mean you avoid the bugs that the script kiddies and malware authors love to exploit in IE (should Firefox become #1, I am sure they will target it and I will probably change my main browser).

But that brings up another thing that is not good about Firefox (version 3.x.x).  It does not allow you to "save" tabs when you have multiple windows open until you close the last one.  Unless you crash it.

Still, with all its faults (well not so many, just aggravating), Firefox is my browser of choice. 

Now before someone gets to calling me stupid for missing something obvious on a setting, I will admit that while I have poked around in the options, I am not an expert at them.  So if you know a setting that can ease my gripes about either IE or Firefox, I will be happy to hear them!  Or if you want to tout the wonders of another browser, tell me why it is your favorite.  I am not a browser snob.  I just want a tool that I do not have to crash periodically (Firefox) - or that crashes on me (IE).

450,642 views 206 replies
Reply #76 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting MasonM, reply 68
Firefox opens pretty fast for me, so not sure about that 5 minute thing. It is my browser of choice. I have never liked Internet Exploder and refuse to use it.

I agree about Chrome being slow. I think it stinks.

I gather that is in your Windows session and not your Linux?  I will have to play with FF on my desktop computer more and see if I can strip it down and get it faster. 

As for Chrome, it is not "slow" for me, just not fast like advertised.

Reply #77 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting Savyg, reply 69
What I don't get is why we're still calling it 'browser wars' when there hasn't been a real war since IE and Netscape.

Everything's peachy.  Except for Opera, who couldn't get users if someone donated 30 billion dollars to them.

People will use what they feel like using.  That's pretty much all there is to say.

it was a catchy title.  Sounds better than "The continuing evaluation of relative performance of Internet portal software". ;)

Offworld Trading Company
Reply #78 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting Uvah, reply 70
We're practicing for when Microstuff gets it right or, at least, good enough to compete with the other browsers. Meaning IE works for everyone the way it should. Not bashing those who like it mind you. To each his/her own.

One of the good things about the latest competition (in deference to Savyg) is that it does push Microsoft to get their act together and come out with a better product.  IE9 in the future may be viewed as the "ME" of browsers, and the real killer will be IE10.

Reply #79 from JoeUser Forums Top

For me, using Chrome would be like inviting the devil to dinner then have him move in permanently.

yea, but he brings a great ham to the feast. ;)

Reply #80 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Dr, reply 79

For me, using Chrome would be like inviting the devil to dinner then have him move in permanently.

yea, but he brings a great ham to the feast.

Maybe, but who'd want him as a permanent fixture around the place?

And that reflects my feelings on Google's phone home browser.... it'll never ever be a fixture on any PC in this house.

I remember back a while ago I was doing a clean install of [I think] Winamp, and when all was done I noticed an entry for Google in my Program files and a Chrome icon on my desktop, and let's just say that I was effing furious.  There was no indication or opt out feature with that installation, and that pissed me severely so I sent an angered email announcing my great displeasure.

Hehe, and when I uninstalled Chrome, there was this survey thing to ask why, I just answered: "Because I don't want this slimy piece of phone home shit on my computer."

Do you think that told 'em? :w00t:

Reply #81 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Probably why they bought the 'wind' farm out at sea. They heard about your reputation.

Reply #82 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Don't matter where they buy shit, Google will never be safe from my anti-Google tirades.... NOT EVER.

And even when I'm gone, kids and grandkids have been trained to carry on my good work... to be sure, to be sure. :w00t:

Reply #83 from Stardock Forums Top

Hey Starkers I still don't understand your dislike of Google. Bing and even MS themselves have software that does the exact same thing as Google does.

Reply #84 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting starkers, reply 82
Don't matter where they buy shit, Google will never be safe from my anti-Google tirades.... NOT EVER.

And even when I'm gone, kids and grandkids have been trained to carry on my good work... to be sure, to be sure.

I would not say that.  We already see where speaking your mind about the president gets you a visit from the FBI.  While threatening him is one thing, no one was worried about trashing the man before.  Until now.  And who is his best friend?  Think Google.

big brother is watching.

Reply #85 from Stardock Forums Top

I have several times said I'm surprised Bush never got assassinated.  Even while he was president.  I have yet to get a visit from anyone.

Though I'm probably on a watch list somewhere wasting government time and moneys.  Heh.

Reply #86 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting Dr, reply 77
"The continuing evaluation of relative performance of Internet portal software".

Oh I kind of like that one too, sounds so official  ^_^

Here's where I ended up purely in terms of speed after playing with these, purely observation.  All are fresh installs except of course for IE.  It's on a P4 XPHome machine.

1. Fastest, hands down - Chrome

2. Pretty darn fast - Opera

3. Next - Pale Moon

4. Almost as fast as Pale Moon - FireFox 4

5. Just a dash faster than IE8 - FireFox 3.6 whatever

6. The behemoth, IE8.

In terms of features I definitely like Opera best.  Unfortunately I keep running into site compatibility issues, more and more as time goes on, so I'm not sure how that's going to work out.  Chrome is so darn stripped, probably part of the reason it's fast for me, and I don't really like the way it works in general.  Pale Moon and FF4, flip a coin.

[sigh]  So, Opera, if you could get a little less quirky you'd be my easy choice.  There's my scientific analysis  :rofl: .

Reply #87 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting StevenAus, reply 72
I wonder how Palemoon will handle the FF4 update.

Pale moon 4

 

Reply #88 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I have Opera, palemoon and FF4. FF4 is faster than both, I don't have Chrome. How come its that way for me and not for you and I have used all three of them. The slowest is palemoon. I use that one to upload stuff. As for Opera ... its no different than FF4. They even look similar. But FF4 loads about ten seconds faster. My scientific observation.

Reply #89 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Based on everybody's remarks it does seem like the different browsers run different speed-wise on different machines.  Somebody smarter than me might know the answer to that  :drool:

The features I really like on Opera that I like that I don't see on FF4 are a) Running the tabs down the side instead of just across the top and b) being able to delete all cookies upon exit except for certain sites which I can specify.  Seems like Opera has a lot more than FF in terms of configuration options, but those are the 2 that I really zoomed in on.

But if I keep running into site issues with Opera, well....

 

edit: And speaking of compatibility, Chrome just now picked up my "b"")" above as the sunglasses smiley.  Pfft.

Reply #90 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Wouldn't ya know it. Playing around in there got me logged off and my response was not submitted. Go figure. HMPH! I should remember to save the darned things before futzing around. Oh well. I didn't find the function to make exceptions. All I found was a way to get myself logged off. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

The function to clear everything when you close the browser.

Reply #91 from JoeUser Forums Top

I mainly use Firefox... 4 is really nice, but I also use the latest Opera for many purposes. Opera is criminally underrated in terms of usefulness. IE is never innovative and is a prime target for malware attacks

Reply #92 from WinCustomize Forums Top

(One of the little compatibility issues is not letting me quote at the moment)

Uvah lets see if I can do this without offing myself - To set up an exception to the "Delete cookies on exit" rule:

1. Set it to delete all on exit (looks like you found that)

2. Go to a site you're wanting to keep the cookies on

3. Menu/Settings/Preferences/Advanced/Content click on "Manage Site Preferences" button towards the bottom

4. DoubleClick on the site you want to exclude (or SingleClick then click "Edit" button) e.g.  forums.wincustomize.com

5. Click on "Cookies" tab

6. Uncheck "Delete cookies when exiting Opera"

I think I made it. 

Reply #93 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Copy/Paste/Save. Just in case I go in there and log me out again. lol

Reply #94 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting kona0197, reply 83
Hey Starkers I still don't understand your dislike of Google. Bing and even MS themselves have software that does the exact same thing as Google does.

Let's just say that Google is by far the worst of a bad bunch... that it has very few moral or scruples, if any.   Yes, when you register/activate your legitimate copy of Windows and/or Office, Microsoft has software in place to enable it to communicate with your PC, but that is purely for update purposes and keeping your PC safe from outside attack: ie, the various patches issued when a vulnerability is exploited.  However, I have never heard of anyone being spammed by MS with ads or promotional emails, etc.  

To get ads or promotional emails from MS you MUST first sign up for it.  The same is not true of Google, however.  Now while you say that you never get ads in your G-mail, I know plenty of people who do, and all of it unsolicited. I have Hotmail and I have never ever received an email from MS that I didn't sign up for.  I will admit, though, that Yahoo Mail is as bad as Google Mail for ads, if not worse.  I discontinued its use about 6 years ago, but I know people who still use it today, and people who bitch that their account is littered with spam daily, but still they persist to use it despite being given good reason not to.

Furthermore, Google is trawling the net 24/7 to seek ways to get more ads out to more people, as if it doesn't already have every finger in just about every pie already, and all that collected data is stored for future reference... yours, mine, everybody's.  Why, so one day they can dig up dirt that you said this or that about the president, or that I said our prime minister sucks saveloys [sausages]  I mean, come on.....

I could go on about Google's incessant drive for world domination in all things PC oriented and WWW related, what with it's constant development of browsers, an OS and various other apps to suck people into helping Google become a monopoly.

Oh, and kona, I'm not the only one around here who doesn't like or trust Google.... though I'm probably the most vocal of its opponents on WC.

 

Reply #95 from Stardock Forums Top

I think your just being a bit too paranoid. There are worse things on the net than Google. Why is it my MSN junk box has more junk in it daily than my Gmail spam box?

Reply #96 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I think your just being a bit too paranoid.

Nope, and sooner or later more people are going to wish that they had been thinking like me for a whole lot longer

There are worse things on the net than Google

Yes, child porn and paedophile rings, people peddling in cheap and dangerous drugs, etc, but for mine, Google still comes a close second in the evil stakes. 

Why is it my MSN junk box has more junk in it daily than my Gmail spam box?

I can't answer that for you precisely because that's not my experience, but I'd hazard a guess that some of it is from drive-bys hoping to get a hit, and that some of it is based on your search habits.  What, you don't think Google is adverse to sending junk mail to Hotmail and Yahoo accounts?  When I had a Yahoo Mail account I quite often got junk mail based on searches I had done in Google.  Now that I've stopped using Google Search AND Yahoo Mail I hardly ever see spam, just the occasional drive-by, which gets banned then deleted.

 

Reply #97 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting DrJBHL, reply 9
I use Pale Moon (a faster FF) faultless and Opera 11.01.11 - really fast, no rendering problems. Rare 'crashes'.
Same, I use Palemoon as my main browser, then IE for those sites that require it.

 

I gave up on Opera a few years ago tried the FF4beta but it didnt have the addon compatabilty at that time that I wanted.

Trying to give FF4 another shot since the official release but more often than not I miss my Palemoon when I do.

Hopefully Palemoon will release a Ver4 that has the best of both world soon.

Reply #98 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting Savyg, reply 85
I have several times said I'm surprised Bush never got assassinated.  Even while he was president.  I have yet to get a visit from anyone.

Though I'm probably on a watch list somewhere wasting government time and moneys.  Heh.

Bush is not Obama.

Reply #99 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting DaveRI, reply 86
Quoting Dr Guy, reply 77"The continuing evaluation of relative performance of Internet portal software".
Oh I kind of like that one too, sounds so official 

Thank you. ;)


Quoting DaveRI, reply 86
Here's where I ended up purely in terms of speed after playing with these, purely observation.  All are fresh installs except of course for IE.  It's on a P4 XPHome machine.

1. Fastest, hands down - Chrome

2. Pretty darn fast - Opera

3. Next - Pale Moon

4. Almost as fast as Pale Moon - FireFox 4

5. Just a dash faster than IE8 - FireFox 3.6 whatever

6. The behemoth, IE8.

In terms of features I definitely like Opera best.  Unfortunately I keep running into site compatibility issues, more and more as time goes on, so I'm not sure how that's going to work out.  Chrome is so darn stripped, probably part of the reason it's fast for me, and I don't really like the way it works in general.  Pale Moon and FF4, flip a coin.

[sigh]  So, Opera, if you could get a little less quirky you'd be my easy choice.  There's my scientific analysis  .

And a great one! I appreciate the input.  And this seems like a good place to note that I uninstalled Chrome, and then re-installed it and it is a lot faster.  I guess it lost some bits on the initial installation and that is why it was dogging it.  But after re-installation, it is now the fastest.  Other than Starkers objection (which I agree with somewhat). it will be getting more play time.

 

Reply #100 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting Uvah, reply 88
I have Opera, palemoon and FF4. FF4 is faster than both, I don't have Chrome. How come its that way for me and not for you and I have used all three of them. The slowest is palemoon. I use that one to upload stuff. As for Opera ... its no different than FF4. They even look similar. But FF4 loads about ten seconds faster. My scientific observation.

And a good one.  I am starting to hear nice things about FF4, so I may install it soon and give it a test spin.  The initial reports were almost all negative, so thanks again for the insight.