lien_meat

November 20, 2009 at 2:35am

I'm pretty pragmatic about browsers I think...I'll give you my personal pros and cons.

To start off, I like some things about lots of other browsers more than the same feature in any other given browser.

For example, I LOVE chrome (the very newest linux builds) because of the great development tools...they blow everything else out of the water, include my much beloved firebug extension in firefox.  Also, chrome flat out kills the compitition for speed and reliability, and I keep hearing it has good security, but I honestly never worry much about that anyway.  However, despite these strong points, it's not my default browser.

 Opera 10, seriously great.  I like everything about it pretty much.   They way it handles tabs is the best of any browser. It renders pages decently quick and correctly, and it is reliable too.  However, I don't use it much.

Safari, renders pages well, never use it (I run linux mostly).

IE...Ok.  Being honest.  IE has come SO far since 6.  Version 8 really is pretty good.  It even renders most pages really well.  However, it just doesn't have anything that I use that works BETTER than any other major browser out there, and all the other browsers have something about them I actually REALLY like that is unique or better about them, and it's not as quick as the others either. Also, as a web developer, every time I try to develop something, I get to javascript and css and things can go badly.  IE has it's own pretty querky version of javascript, and it doesn't always play well with the code that will work in every other browser (I'm not making it up).  Css can be the exact same way.  IE still can be a nightmare to develop for.  It's kinda like the kid that just won't play well with the others...even when it trys. Personally, that's why I tend not to use IE.  It's too much work to develop for, so I ignore it when I can.  Oh, and hackers target it, so there's that.

 Firefox (3.5).  It's not the fastest (but it's decent), it's not the most stable always (generally I don't have issues...but there have been some every once in a while).  However, it is the most customizable, adaptable, and I really do believe the most well rounded browser that exists.  Also, it runs on EVERYTHING pretty much (important if you use more than just windows, I realize I'm a minority here...).  On top of running on everything, it looks at home on every system as well.  Chrome, Opera, Safari, (and well, IE only runs on windows) just look freakishly alien in linux (or XP) depending on your theme.  It's not that important, but it's something I notice sometimes.  What keeps me coming back though?  Extensions.  Not gonna lie.  After you REALLY find one you like that actually makes life easy, it's really hard to give it up. Mine: firebug (cause it makes my job easier/possible), downloadthemall, download statusbar, stumbleupon(when I'm bored), ADBLOCK+(cannot live without it now), Downloadhelper, and some others depending on what machine I'm running.

 If chrome had addblock, I'd switch immediately.  What would it take for me to run IE again though (as default)? It would have to catch up to firefox and opera in html5 and css support, and also get rid of activex(I realize I can disable it, it's still the worst security hole in any browser ever...), and work on more than just windows, like the rest of the browsers do.

I've come really close to abandoning firefox for chrome, but the extentions are worth so much more than you realize untill you don't have them...and then you can't deny firefox's usefulness/appeal.

 

 

mesiah

November 19, 2009 at 10:13pm

I was a long time IE user. I've always been the "If it's not broken, don't fix it." type when it comes to software so I really saw no reason to use a different browser than the one I was used to. When websites started requiring flash 10 I was forced to install firefox at work. I haven't looked back since.

What do people love about it so much? I can only speak for myself, but for me its the little things. There are so many little tricks and features that just.... work the way you think they should work. If you want real examples: If you see a hyperlink typed out but there is no actual link to click on, highlight it, then click and drag the text up to the address window. But say you wanted it in a new tab, instead of the address window, just drag it up to where the tabs are and drop it there. Want to rearrange your tabs? Just click and drag the tab where you want it on the list. Maybe you decide you didn't want it in a tab after all, you wanted it in a new window. Thats easy enough, just click the tab and drag it out of the browser window, TADA it opens in a new window. Change your mind again? Drag the tab from the new window back to the tab bar of the old window and it puts it right back. Its amazing, and amazingly simple. You can even highlight text and drag it to the search window instead of having to open up a new google tab and type it in. Then there are things like automatic spell checking, things that should have been a part of IE a long time ago but weren't. And finally ADD-ONs! 

I didn't think I would get into the add-ons much, but there are some that I just couldn't live without. My three most used are Lazarus: Form Recovery, NetVideoHunter, and IE tab. Lazarus is invaluable. I don't know how many times I have started filling out a long form, got called away from my desk, then come back and finish only to hit submit and see that my session timed out. I hit the back button and all my information is gone. With lazarus I just right click and hit recover text and it all comes back. Its wonderful. NetVideoHunter is a small icon at the bottom of the browser, it remembers all of the videos you have viewed during your browsing session. You can click it and choose any video that you have watched and it will download it to your hard drive. It works for all major sites including youtube and hulu. It makes capturing those funny youtube videos that you don't want to lose a snap. And it lets you capture your favorite tv episodes right off of hulu so you can view them later on your ipod, zune, phone, or what have you. Finally IE tab is just that. It lets you open web pages in a new tab that emulates internet explorer. It's great for web pages that just aren't made to work with firefox. Just open them in an IE tab and you are good to go.

 Sorry for the wall of text, but for anyone wondering what is so great about firefox, I say to try it for a solid week, it will be hard to give up.