OK, computer people- which browser is the best, and why?

I really like Mozilla Firefox. It protects against pop-ups, is easy to use, and self-explanatory. You can customize your add-ons to benefit your user experience.

I’m with @marinelife, Firefox has a free unbeatable pop-up add-on (Adblock Plus), is fast and simple to use. Covers all the bases in my book.

The best browser is obviously Google Chrome, the reason is simple, it’s because I say so. However, you may quite enjoy fire fox for all the add ons and things.

I have Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari installed. 99% of my time is spent in Firefox. AdBlock Plus and Firebug are awesome.

Okie dokie… I guess I’ll give Firefox a try. =0)

Firefox or Chrome. Both are great, just pick one. And for the love of god, don’t tell anyone else you still used IE.

I switched to Chrome a while ago and have not looked back.

For simple point-and-drool browsing, Chrome.

For those that like to actually do stuff like download things or preview their print jobs, Firefox.

For those that view PDF files, Firefox; Chrome often won’t even acknowledge their existence while Firefox lets me download them or view them in a tab.

For looks, Firefox has the edge, especially of you get a good theme and hide the menu bar to leave only the button toolbar showing.

Overall, Firefox unless your needs are literally childlike; no downloading, no printing, no frills.

Chrome Is the only site that plays my video properly.

I’m happy with Firefox on my iMac but people with superior computer chops than I claim that Safari is better for the Apple environment. Any truth to that?

@Blackberry LMFAO, I’m sorry. So sorry! <hangs head in shame> I’m enjoying the Firefox so far… does that redeem me at all?

I like Chrome. It’s about ten times faster than Firefox to load. It handles downloads and pdfs just fine for me. It also prints just fine, albeit with not as much control as Firefox.

Actually, I use them both, since I tend to have three or four mail accounts open at the same time. Chrome can have private browsing and regular browsing open at the same time. Firefox can only do one or the other. Actually, Chrome used to be able to have one proprietary gmail and one regular gmail open in the same browser at the same time, but for some reason that changed, so now I can only have three email accounts open at once instead of the four I need.

Don’t tell me to open IE, either. I use that once—when I first open the computer, so I can download Chrome. It is a travesty.

The other problem with Firefox is that it seems to have lost its refresh button. Very weird. Anyone know what happened to it?

@wundayatta Ummm… I see a little button that says “reload current page” right next to the browser bar. Is that what you’re talking about?

@wundayatta You can also always right-click, and go to “reload”, for future reference. =D

Believe me guys, I tried all that. There is no reload page button. Right clicking doesn’t help either. Maybe it’s an updating issue. I’ll try to update and see if it changes.

Nope. Not there. My boss doesn’t have it either. Like I said. Very strange.

@WillWorkForChocolate All is forgiven.

I use FF, and have Chrome, too. Life is so much better after IE!

@wundayatta The refresh button on FF did move fairly recently. It’s circled in red here. Are you sure you don’t have it?

@wundayatta The Stop and Refresh buttons are now the same button, though I just use the F5 key. As for the other issues, that is across four computers and three operating systems, so I think it safe to put Chrome in the same league as VLC; programs that others love but that never worked for me. But the lack of Print Preview alone is a deal-breaker for me.

Yes, it is there now, but I swear it wasn’t there before I updated the software.

Also, [mod says] This is our Question of the Day!

@wundayatta Toolbars do odd things sometimes.

chrome because you can browse covert and overt pages at the same time.

@reijinni What are covert pages?

@janbb, think of covert ops and you might get the picture.

Well, yes I know what the word means. I just don’t know what secret or hidden web pages would be.

I’ve been liking Chromium, which is like Google Chrome, but better.

@janb, hidden from people that you don’t want to see it.

@augustlan Cool!

Thanks all, for your answers. I’ve been playing with Firefox for a bit, off and on today, and I’m really liking it. It actually seems a little faster than IE.

@Blackberry I don’t believe you. A geeky hit squad showed up earlier and made me prove that I’d switched to FF.

These folks agree with y’all that Firefox and Chrome are at the top of the list.
Chrome beats most browsers on speed tests but does not have all the features that Firefox does.

I liken the difference between Chrome and Firefox to the difference between a sportsbike like the Ninja ZX-RR and a sports car like the Nissan GT-R. One is small, fast, and gets you from point A to point B well enough while the other is slightly slower but has things you won’t find on a bike like heat, protection from rain, in-dash DVD player. To further the analogy, IE is like an old Ford van; big, slow, not terribly reliable or efficient, and that rear door just won’t stay shut no matter how many bungie cords you use to secure it.

One thing to remember here is that Firefox is highly customizable whereas Chrome really isn’t. Sure, Chrome can make minor tweaks (mostly cosmetic) but Firefox allows me to add, remove, and relocate toolbar buttons on a whim and has far more available add-ons in addition to more built-in features.

More importantly though, FIrefox also allows you to hide certain things in order to give it Chrome-like simplicity while still having all the options available; just because something is there, that doesn’t mean you have to use it, or even look at it.

@wundayatta :: If you go to View—> Toolbars—> Customize you can move it back.

WHatever affords me angry birds time. It doesn’t have to be the best *because it isn’t.

But I need my birds and I don’t have an I-Phone, nor do I want one.

@GabrielsLamb Nor do I, but my Droid X has Angry Bird; Regular, Seasons, and Rio. Then again, you don’t need a phone or a browser

@jerv OoOoOoOh… Thanks! That’s verizon? I forget…

@GabrielsLamb Which? My Droid X is from Verizon, so if you are taking about my phone, then yes.
That link above is straight to Rovio Entertainment Ltd. , the makers of Angry Birds. More specifically, that link is to the Windows stand-alone application, no-browser-required version

As usual, not following the herd, I use IE 90% of the time. It is supported by usually everything. Popup blocker keeps unwanted pop ups from happening. It also works well with Yahoo Antispy. I can save to my Favorites easy, as well as get to my Favorites easy. It has more apps or plug-ins than I ever use. I don’t like it for downloading files especially programs because sometimes they don’t download completely. You try to run them and they say they are corrupted or something.

I also have Firefox, but use it mostly when I plan to download something.

Have Chrome, but never unpacked it, or Safari which I don’t really use, but do when I am at my friend’s house because that is what he has on his Mac.

@jerv You da man ! I did not know there are desktop versions of the angry birds apps.
Along with the fluther, best time sinks ever.
update: boohoo ! does not work on Windows 7 due to lack of OpenGL support…. —back to the tablet !

I think the only “issue” that I found with Firefox so far is that it won’t let me open a couple of my facebook games, lol. It’s weird, too, because it says “you need adobe flash 11 for this” but I already have adobe flash 11. Anyway… no whining about that; I can still open those games with the IE extension add-on thing for FF.

IE 95% of the time.
FireFox for the few sites that load better with it.
Tried Chrome, uninstalled it.

Web pages are coded and QA’d to be compatible and load with IE more than the rest. I do not like the add-on load process for FF.

@blueiiznh I’ve heard talk that many websites are no longer going to do the extra work required to be compatible with IE. That seems contrary to what you’re saying… can you clarify?

@blueiiznh I concur with @augustlan. As per standard Microsoft poilicy, IE doesn’t always conform with internationally accepted standards, preferring instead to try to make it’s own de facto standards. I know of many sites that are optimized for HTML-compliant code, and quite a few that are optimized for Firefox.

As for the add-on process for FF, to each their own, but I personally find it better than what IE has. Long story short, unlike IE, Firefox has a large central repository of trusted stuff, but unlike Apple, you are allowed to get add-ons from third parties.

I am by no means taking sides, but from an Enterprise Business level for end to end application support IE is still what a medium to large US company stay standardized on.
When you have to present the entire picture to a CIO, the decision is a bit different. It is also one of the many reasons why Mr. Bill is so hated. Lawrence Ellison is not too far behind Bill in that camp.

@blueiiznh Many companies still use WinXP though, so I take that with a grain of salt. But given how many systems they would have to upgrade, the costs add up quick so you can’t really blame them for being behind the times.

I include lost productivity and retraining in the costs to businesses.

@jerv correct on the XP. Not sure where you grain of salt is. When you have 100,000 desktops it takes a bit of a plan, time, $$$ and forethought to upgrade.

I still have XP on this computer… do I need to hang my head in shame again?

I’m still on an XP machine, too. Don’t feel too bad. :p

Thanks Auggie! Glad I’m not the only one running amok with a dinosaur!

@WillWorkForChocolate @augustlan They probably one have one CPU core too :D