What's your favorite browser?
Which one you end up using the most often comes down to an overall aesthetic preference for the interface. But there are functionality differences too, such as extensions, add-ons, widgets, etc. If you don't mind adding why you like one best, please share. Thanks
- What's your favorite browser?100 votes
- Internet Explorer6.00%
- Firefox41.00%
- Chrome34.00%
- Safari10.00%
- Opera7.00%
- Other2.00%
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Comments
Generally Firefox/Aurora, but I often switch to Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, or, on the rare occasion, Lynx.
I like the Firebug add-on in Firefox, which I consider a little better than Chrome's built-in functionality or the default Firefox Web Developer tools.
Firefox also seems to be more up to date with the HTML5 and CSS3 (example being gradients; Firefox can use the default linear-gradient or -moz-linear-gradient, whereas Chrome and Safari require their own -webkit-gradient or -webkit-linear-gradient in order to function, which means deviating away from a set standard and limiting cross-browser compatibility or increasing the size of HTML document and limiting those on slower connections).
Take this example of an Aero-style title bar, the code for this is humongous, and the inclusion of -moz-linear-gradient, -webkit-gradient, -webkit-linear-gradient, and -o-linear-gradient make it even more so (enough so that it breaks the comment box
(And good luck trying to see it in IE)
If they get something to replace the now-defunct FoxyTunes add-on, though, I'll move over in a heartbeat.
Chrome? What's that?
Google should stick to being a good little search engine.
Then I realized four seconds later that I use Safari more...probably should have voted correctly
I use IE for .swf files though.
I also like the Ctrl-O option in IE with typing in a web address which doesn't record in the address bar which the other browsers don't have.
Any recommendations?
The toolbar can switch between BBCode, HTML, and Wiki tags. The options include: font size, images, URLs, font colour, lists, quotes, strikethrough, underline, italics, bold, and text alignment, as well as allowing custom buttons (never tried that). When I used it some time ago, it was easy enough - highlight the text you want to format and click on the appropriate button.
I haven't used it in ages, though. I'm not even sure it even works with the new versions of Firefox. I would imagine that there are a number of similar toolbars out there, and some could very well be compatible with Opera (I'll have a look around the internet and report back
this is how this thread looks in IE:
and this is how it looks like in Firefox:
The main differences are that in IE
1) you cannot see the grey background in @Lemernis post that shows he is a moderator
2) the title bar posted by @Troodon80 is just a white rectangle instead of an elegant silver gradient
and this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Of course anyone is free to make is own choices, I just thought people still using IE should know about that.
I'm a rudimentary sort of guy, nuts-and-bolds, fundamentals, simplicity, etc. I do like efficiency, though. I would appreciate if someone could highlight the performance difference between IE and Firefox. If one is significantly quicker than the other. If one is tellingly less demanding on CPU resources. If one takes up noticeably less hard drive space. If one boasts a broader range of compatibility around the web.
I'm not into bells and whistles unless they are a bonus on top of efficiency and dependability. I could be using the worst browser in those areas and simply not know it. I can only plead ignorance on the subject. I've stuck with IE because it has never let me down with regard to the tasks I require of it.
If that is what you are looking for in a browser, even though I don't use them myself, I would recommend for you Chrome or Opera.
They both display properly web sites (like Firefox and unlike IE) including this forum. AFAIK Chrome is the fastest, Opera is light and simple. I would suggest you to try them both and see if you like them.
For both Chrome and Opera, you can eventually try first the portable version from
http://portableapps.com/
The portable version doesn't require installation and can be removed by simply deleting his folder.
If you happen to like one of them more than IE, you can then do a proper install.
The image above is making fun of IE6, that was indeed terrible. More recent versions of IE are honestly better but still not as compliant with html and css standards as other browsers are.
- Yahoo mail says it doesn't recognize the browser (yeah right, come on). It still works, but you have to click the mail item checkbox twice for the check to appear, etc. A bit annoying (my issue is with Yahoo here, though, not Opera).
- Some Microsoft services that I really like (and use a lot myself) such as Word Web App and iframes coded contents don't appear.
But on the plus side, overall Opera is super fast and it gives possibly the crispest display among the big five (it's unsurpassed at least in terms of speed and display, I would say, at least anecdotally). Opera's Adblock and cleanPages work great. I like how it lets me set up a Search box on the bar at the top for any search engine (versus typing a search term into the address bar, which I have never liked). I really like Opera's Speed Dial, which is essentially a more visually oriented bookmarking feature akin to Safari's Show Top Sites except that it doesn't curve the screenshots of the bookmarked page as Safari does (I don't want the pages curved, thank you). Opera has an extension named "Readability" which is identical to Safari's Reader, that takes an article festooned with ads and just gives you the text. Opera's News Portal page is also very good (although myself I use Netvibes as my home page with all my frequently used links and feeds organized into cells). Opera has a good selection of extensions.
Chome and Firefox are the kings of add-ons. But somewhat to my surprise I've found that I don't actually use all those bells and whistles very often. In fact, almost never. I most often forget that they are even there, and then don't use them anyway.
Anyway, at the end of the day I still like just the look of Opera's interface the best compared with all the others--and it is lightning fast and displays gorgeously. And I like supporting the David versus the Goliaths.