What Browser ?

[TonyMcC]

I use Windows Internet Explorer which seems to do all that I need although it sometimes freezes. The general advice seems to be that there other much better web browsers. If you would advise a change which browser would you recommend and why?

Edited January 26, 2011 by TonyMcC

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

I am a fan of Firefox, for its excellent security and for several extensions that make life easier for me. (Firebug, for example, makes designing and debugging web pages much easier.) I currently use the beta versions of Firefox 4, since they're significantly faster than Firefox 3.6; however, I don't recommend it for general use until the final version comes out in February or so, since there's occasional bugs and stability problems.

 

I particularly like Firefox's AwesomeBar. The location bar -- which you ordinarily just type web addresses into -- functions as a search of all the sites you've recently visited, so if you remember "I read that one site about penguins but I can't remember what it was called," you just type "penguins" into the address bar and down pops a list of sites with "penguin" in the title that you've visited. I often use it to find specific discussions on SFN: "I remember we talked about walruses" and five seconds later I have the thread I was thinking of.

 

Chrome is also a good and fast browser, although I have less experience with it. You can't go wrong with either.

[ydoaPs]

For pure nerd cred, I'd suggest Lynx. For more practicality, however, I'd suggest Chrome. Chrome even has a comic about what makes it so awesome.

[StringJunky]

I use Windows Internet Explorer which seems to do all that I need although it sometimes freezes. The general advice seems to be that there other much better web browsers. If you would advise a change which browser would you recommend and why?

 

I use Google Chrome because it's the fastest at starting up, rendering pages and takes up the least screen real estate. IE9 is pretty fast but still in beta...IE is generally considered the most secure from the reviews I've read.

[A Tripolation]

I am a fan of Firefox, for its excellent security and for several extensions that make life easier for me. (Firebug, for example, makes designing and debugging web pages much easier.) I currently use the beta versions of Firefox 4, since they're significantly faster than Firefox 3.6; however, I don't recommend it for general use until the final version comes out in February or so, since there's occasional bugs and stability problems.

 

I particularly like Firefox's AwesomeBar. The location bar -- which you ordinarily just type web addresses into -- functions as a search of all the sites you've recently visited, so if you remember "I read that one site about penguins but I can't remember what it was called," you just type "penguins" into the address bar and down pops a list of sites with "penguin" in the title that you've visited. I often use it to find specific discussions on SFN: "I remember we talked about walruses" and five seconds later I have the thread I was thinking of.

 

I'm also a huge fan of firefox. Everything Capn, said is spot-on. It's secure and has amazing things called add-ons, that make everything so much easier. For example, one makes the load progress appear behind the address bar, Safari style. Another is SecureLogin, which makes having psuedo-random passwords feasible. I could go on and on, but I invite you to take a look for yourself.

[Klaynos]

I gave up on chrome, trying to use it on a laptop with 1GB of ram it ate it all up, I returned to firefox.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

I use Google Chrome because it's the fastest at starting up, rendering pages and takes up the least screen real estate. IE9 is pretty fast but still in beta...IE is generally considered the most secure from the reviews I've read.

IE has the advantage of using sandboxing to keep security exploits from causing too much damage. However, Microsoft's response time from disclosure of vulnerability to everyone being updated is pretty bad -- Chrome and Firefox seem to convince people to update much more readily, and they make fixes much faster.

 

Google and Mozilla both have bug bounty programs to give financial rewards to people who report security issues, and they've solved quite a few problems that way.

 

Functionally I think the focus of most attacks has shifted to browser plugins, such as Flash and Adobe Reader, which is why you should use Mozilla's Plugin Check website to make sure you're up-to-date and safe:

 

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/

[StringJunky]

IE has the advantage of using sandboxing to keep security exploits from causing too much damage. However, Microsoft's response time from disclosure of vulnerability to everyone being updated is pretty bad -- Chrome and Firefox seem to convince people to update much more readily, and they make fixes much faster.

 

Google and Mozilla both have bug bounty programs to give financial rewards to people who report security issues, and they've solved quite a few problems that way.

 

Functionally I think the focus of most attacks has shifted to browser plugins, such as Flash and Adobe Reader, which is why you should use Mozilla's Plugin Check website to make sure you're up-to-date and safe:

 

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/

 

 

Chrome uses sandboxing technology as well and an extension called Secbrowsing warns of out of date extensions like the FF plugin checker. Adobe stuff is autoupdated by default as are Chrome updates....FF offers the Nth in customisibility but the Chrome extension gallery is pretty varied now and has all the stuff I need. The trouble with FF is if you customise it too much it slows down but FF4 does look nice (got Chromey look!) and minimal...will give it a proper go when it's mainstream and the add ons and themes work.

[Mr Skeptic]

I don't have much experience with different browsers, but firefox with the adblock extension is all I've ever asked for. And this for someone who spends most of his day online.

[dragonstar57]

I don't have much experience with different browsers, but firefox with the adblock extension is all I've ever asked for. And this for someone who spends most of his day online.

 

can you provide a link to a site to download the beta FF?

[A Tripolation]

can you provide a link to a site to download the beta FF?

 

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/beta/?WT.mc_id=hp_1&WT.mc_ev=click

[dragonstar57]

I don't have much experience with different browsers, but firefox with the adblock extension is all I've ever asked for. And this for someone who spends most of his day online.

it has a file size if 11.3 MB!!!

[A Tripolation]

it has a file size if 11.3 MB!!!

 

That's quite small in the days of TB HDDs and 12Mbps connection speeds.

[dragonstar57]

That's quite small in the days of TB HDDs and 12Mbps connection speeds.

well it won't open and now my computer's running like REALLY slow

Edited January 27, 2011 by dragonstar57

[A Tripolation]

well it won't open and now my computer's running like REALLY slow

 

Then delete it.

[dragonstar57]

its working now (for some reason it made my computer run at 100% cpu for a couple of mins but its better now

[CaptainPanic]

I use Firefox, because it came pre-installed with my Linux (ubuntu 10.4)... and I'm too lazy to change it. Also, it actually works fine, it's fast enough, and never crashes.

[TonyMcC]

Thank you all very much. I get the definite feeling I should try Firefox or Chrome with Firefox seeming to be just in the lead. That is what I shall try very soon - thanks again.

[imatfaal]

I use chrome for my non-work stuff such as SFN and others - and firefox for work related. I am sure there is a way of keeping everything totally separate with one browser but using two makes it very easy

[John Cuthber]

Currently using Chrome because some aspect of IE* really pissed me off at about the time Chrome came out.

 

*I can't remember what.

[CaptainPanic]

Btw, what I disliked about the latest Firefox is the location bar (where you type the web address, and it gives suggestions for autocompletion). It's too big and bulky.

 

But there is an add-on called the "Old Location Bar" which hardly removes any functionality, but makes it just a little more modest. It still autocompletes everything, and immediately gives the most likely suggestions on top and less likely ones below.

[Sisyphus]

I use Firefox too and like it, though the only others I have experience with are IE and Safari.

 

So what add-ons do you other Firefox users have? I'm using:

 

Adblock Plus: No ads!

Download Statusbar: puts download manager on the status bar instead of a separate window

Downloadhelper: download and/or convert embedded flash or videos

NoScript: Blocks all javascript/java/flash until you give permission, allows whitelist and blacklist for familiar sites

Screengrab: Button to save all or part of web page as an image

Smoothwheel: Smooths out scrolling for ease of reading and allows customization

[StringJunky]

In tandem with Sysiphus's FF list I thought I'd show my extension list for the benefit of Chrome users:

 

Adblock: Adblocker

 

Keep My Opt Outs: Opts you out of personalisation cookies..helps prevent user tracking

 

SecBrowsing: Warns when plugins are out of date...very important now malware programmers are writing to them.

 

Set New Tab To Google: Puts the Google page on when you click New Tab instead of thumbnails.

 

Simple Gmail Checker: Tells of incoming email and gives one click access to Gmail account.

 

WOT (Web of Trust): Puts a risk rating next to searches regarding malware, scams etc and will actually block a page if it's high risk until you unblock it.. .first line of defence.

Edited January 28, 2011 by StringJunky

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

WOT (Web of Trust): Puts a risk rating next to searches regarding malware, scams etc and will actually block a page if it's high risk until you unblock it.. .first line of defence.

Chrome, Firefox and IE actually have a similar feature built in; they use lists of known malware and phishing sites to stop you before getting infected. Firefox and Chrome both use a list compiled by Google as it indexes the Web.

[StringJunky]

Chrome, Firefox and IE actually have a similar feature built in; they use lists of known malware and phishing sites to stop you before getting infected. Firefox and Chrome both use a list compiled by Google as it indexes the Web.

 

You are right and this is good but WOT has the additional bonus that it has user input as well...not sure if it's the same for the others but WOT is based on this idea of information-sharing.

Edited January 28, 2011 by StringJunky