Best Web Browser?

Having done a little research of my own, i came up with the following conclusion. Having tested 3 specific type browsers, i think its safe to say, that Opera 8.0 has won, in my opinion. My theory goes like so (all using latest versions):

1) Internet Explorer - Due to its not so good security back hole techniques, i would say this is not the most safe browser to use, and not having a built in download manager is a let down. Tested on 2 different systems, not the most reliable neither. I give it 3/10

2) Mozilla FireFox - A greatly enhanced improvement compared to IE, loads pages up fast, manages bookmarks neatly and comes with a built in download manager. Having said that, again tested on 2 different systems, is known to produce errors, and the download manager is not very stable. I give it 6/10

3) Opera 8.0 - Does exactly as it says on the tin, is definitely the quickest browser i have ever used (im running 256K cable). Comes with a clean crisp design (doesnt eat on resources neither), easily maintainable bookmark system, and the download manager never fails. I give it a highly reccomended 9/10

The question in hand: What is your favourite borwser, which do use most, and which do you dislike the most?

Please give reasons if possible (im not gathering CIA research neither :D )

How come this has moved?

I discourages people from trashing it with useless replies. If you would prefer I can move it back to Chit Chat.

What two systems have you installed FireFox on? I've installed it on two x86 machines, one running Linux/X11, the other Windows, and they both work exactly the same. Download manager is fine also.

The biggest turn of for Internet Explorer is that it is not even W3C compliant, however, that's typical Microsoft, always trying to set the new standard. In fact, the internal graphics refresh daemon in Internet Explorer is so slow that animated gifs often appear jumpy.

FireFox is growing because of the W3C compliance. Truth is, hardly anyone knows what W3C is or how to be compliant, but the fact that one browser is compliant and the other isn't makes people lean towards FireFox.

FireFox is available on any system that can run the GCC. It's open source, meaning if you find a bug, you can fix it yourself!

FireFox RAM Usage with three tabs open? 40MB
IE RAM Usage with the same three windows open? 72MB

I haven't tried Opera, mainly because it's not open source. It's the only way to go if you're worried about security and bugs.

No, i see your point Visual ;)

I ment i tried it on 2 different Win 98's Dreamlax, and you should try Opera, NOW!

I haven't uninstalled (or run) Netscape for about 5 months.
I use IE only occasionally. Some M$ portals just don't like Fx.
For the past few months I have been using Fx almost exclusively.

Virus scans seem to be running smoother.

I installed opera once but they put ads all over there software so i took it off.

I use Camino 0.8.4, and it does fine for what I want :)

I think a web browser should be free, absolutely free; the only good free browser is FireFox, truly multi-platform, truly free, truly W3C compliant. What more could you want?

FF, because (mainly) of the tabbed browsing, and non-existence of ActiveX support.

Far out mendhak, I can't believe you're still here! I don't suppose you remember much of me though. Fair enough. Hard to forget someone with a 3-eyed smoking frog as their avatar though.

Firefox is my fav, Xul is cool as they say and user-content.css brilliant.
IE speaks for itself *shudder*
I didn't like the ads in Opera. I think Opera was the first with tabbed browsing so hats off for that.

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Originally Posted by Dreamlax

Far out mendhak, I can't believe you're still here! I don't suppose you remember much of me though. Fair enough. Hard to forget someone with a 3-eyed smoking frog as their avatar though.

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Actually, I do... I guess we just don't post in the same forums. I'm a little surprised you never noticed me though, I'm in several different forums at the same time! (three hands, you "see") :afrog:

Firefox definately - W3C compliance makes it the obvious choice. I love some of the extensions you can get for it too! Web developer, user agent switcher, Google PageRank and ColorZilla are soooo useful when developing websites!

DJ

AndCander's...erm...extensiontoo.

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Originally Posted by mendhak

FF, because (mainly) of the tabbed browsing, and non-existence of ActiveX support.

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Opera is tabbed too :wave:

And the download manager always let me down on FF, if my computer shut down, then i came back on, the download would be gone :o

Please view: http://www.howtocreate.co.uk/browserSpeed.html

As described to the bottom (skip the boring top half), Opera is best for Windows

I find the big advertising in Opera annoying.
Not so much that I wanted to pay for the software, but enough to uninstall it :)
Opera 4 was OK, Opera 7 seemed too bloated/cluttered.

Before Firefox came along, I quite liked Avant Browser.
What do you think of the IE wrappers?

Has anyone tried deepnet explorer?

you are all forgetting Avant, although it isnt that big, it is a good browser(in my oppinion). it runs off of IE's Internet settings, and (i believe) supports ActiveX, Popup blocker, Safe Recovery, and has Tabed browsing, and well, see for your self: http://www.avantbrowser.com/

oh, and the biggest thing, is the Ad Remover, it does a really good job, but it ocasionally blocks wanted data.

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Originally Posted by Madboy

And the download manager always let me down on FF, if my computer shut down, then i came back on, the download would be gone :o

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Originally Posted by Mozilla

it is not possible to resume downloads across sessions. If the user knows their network connection is going down they can use our limited "Pause" support now but only so long as the browser is open.

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This functionality is going to be added to the download manager in 2.0


The following features are required for 2.0:

• cross session resume
• storage back end
• unified download back end with XPInstall, etc.
• unified API for invoking download operations (e.g. unify code paths between link clicks and Save Target As... and other potential uses - single API to take a url and transfer)
• accessibility - listview implements accessibility APIs and proper keyboard navigation support
• download queue - user set the maximum number of simultaneous downloads (per site and total) and the download manager queue the downloads. save queued downloads across sessions.
• download speed limitation

Now then i might consider going to FF if they fix a few little snaggly loose ends like that

It is called Fx, not FF...:)

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Originally Posted by NoteMe

It is called Fx, not FF...:)

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I have allways heard it called FF, but maybe that's just me :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by ALL

I have allways heard it called FF, but maybe that's just me :rolleyes:

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No it is not just you....most of you are wrong. I am right...;)

SecureIE

MyIE 2


[edit] Oooops it is called Maxthon now..:)

FX = FireXox?

I thought it was FireFox?

How do I spell Firefox? How do I abbreviate it?

Firefox all the way :)

Cheers,

RyanJ

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Originally Posted by <ABX

How do I spell Firefox? How do I abbreviate it?

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Ohhh...finaly an other guy that has found the FAQ....:)


ØØ

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Originally Posted by NoteMe

Ohhh...finaly an other guy that has found the FAQ....:)


ØØ

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hehe :D

I've tried IE, Netscape, Opera, and Firefox, and Firefox won for me. It's best hands-down. And I don't even use the download manager. I download stuff into respective places, ie pictures to a picture folder, videos to a video folder, applications to an application folder (to be installed), etc. I don't see the need to keep a list of things I've downloaded in the browser.

Plus I love all the extensions and themes available for Fx.

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Originally Posted by The Hobo

I've tried IE, Netscape, Opera, and Firefox, and Firefox won for me. It's best hands-down. And I don't even use the download manager. I download stuff into respective places, ie pictures to a picture folder, videos to a video folder, applications to an application folder (to be installed), etc. I don't see the need to keep a list of things I've downloaded in the browser.

Plus I love all the extensions and themes available for Fx.

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Soo true, I wonder what new surprises V2 will hold... Anyone care to speculate :D

Cheers,

RyanJ

I guess in conclusion Firefox wins, either way they are all good.

I read somewhere that the developer for IE is wanting to implement tabbed browsing, but stated it is too much of hassle :eek2:

I like Opera better

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Originally Posted by Madboy

I guess in conclusion Firefox wins, either way they are all good.

I read somewhere that the developer for IE is wanting to implement tabbed browsing, but stated it is too much of hassle :eek2:

I like Opera better

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Its a bit late now - ever other browser already has it...

And even if they did by the time they would have managed to do it FF Version 2.0 will be out with even better features :D

Cheers,

RyanJ

When will that be released, and will it remain free?

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Originally Posted by Madboy

When will that be released, and will it remain free?

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Unknown, probably by 2006.

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/roadmap.html

v1.1 is scheduled for July 2005

Version Summary: Re-sync with trunk. New Gecko, ongoing HIG compliance, sw/update and extension manager improvements.

http://www.mozilla.org/about/

Since all Mozilla Products are open source, it will most likely remain free.

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Originally Posted by Madboy

When will that be released, and will it remain free?

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It would be very, very, very unlikley thay it would ever become paid-for-software. This is because to put it basically there would be no point as hundreds of of people already have the source code anyway and, they would loose most of their support if they did that anyway :)

Cheers,

RyanJ

Why isn't Safari in here as well? ;)

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Originally Posted by Gary W

Why isn't Safari in here as well? ;)

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:confused:

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Originally Posted by Gary W

Why isn't Safari in here as well? ;)

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Because it is not good. And who uses a Mac on a VB forum anyway...:)

What the diddley is Safari?! :lol:

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Originally Posted by Madboy

What the diddley is Safari?! :lol:

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A browser for Macs...

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/safari.html


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links > *

Why isnt links up there????

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Originally Posted by Madboy

:confused:

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Yeah, Safari, as in the default Apple browser that rocks?

Except the "word" rocks. That is correct. It is impossible to make web pages that works in them if you don't have a Mac your self. You can't download any version for non macs. At least not last time I checked. You can go to this URL and get a server take a snapshot to see what it looks like in Safari, but it takes ages to get the snapshot.

Well it is fast, and probably better then the IE version for Mac, but I still don't think it beats Fx...Not even near.


ØØ

I don't have a Mac yet myself. But, what I think is that the Safari is like a competing version of Opera on the Mac (yes, I know there is Opera available on the Mac as well :))

if its on OS X, its gotta be Mozilla Camino.

It combines the ultra-fast gecko rendering engine with Carbon (or is it Cocoa?) to give it a native OS X look and feel...

reminds me of what firefox used to be: small and fast.
Unlike firefox, it doesnt support extensions (yet), but there are preference pane/tools addons available if you look hard enough. (v0.9a2+ only).

Firefox is certainly the way to go. Aside from the security issues with Explorer, I cannot believe not one has mentioned the speed difference. It takes three times longer for a page to load in Explorer as it does Firefox. I hate to defend Microsoft, however, now that firefox is growing so quickly in popularity it too is beginning to have many security issues.

I have been using firefox for quite some time. It seemed as though they did not have to issue a security update for about a year or more. Now all of a sudden firefox is asking me to update quite frequently. Not as frequently as explorer, but none the less, firefox has gone from version 1 to version 1.0.6 very quickly.

Firefox tabbed browsing, speed, and extensions make it the best browser by far. Only issue with firefox is that several .asp pages appear to be designed for explorer (duh!) and firefox will struggle with them.

Just my 2 cents

I use Maxthon (Formerly MyIE2)

Add all the cool features you want to IE, but better
Tabbed
Skinned
If you "kill" it. it remembers the last pages you had open
Popup blocking better than ANYthing I have seen
sidebars.. plugins.. RSS feeds etc.
Yes.. I know its an IE Wrapper.. but the features it adds are just to good.

I do Like Fx but the one thing that I think Maxthon beats it is
Mouse shortcuts:
want to go back a page: right click slide mouse to the left.. same as clicking back
refresh.. right click.. quick up / down...
etc
Drag drop new tabs.. Find a link, give it a quick drag and pop.. new tab!
not to mention.. didnt mean to close that tab!?? edit, undo close reopen whichever tab you want

and then there is the Boss key! (the best!) ALT+~ and poof! its gone.. COMPLETELY!
the only place you can find it is the Task manager Processes.. ALT+~ again.. its back!

just too many goodies...
http://www.maxthon.com/

If Fx add some more features.. and displays ALL webpages like IE (Yes, many that I have seen screw up) then I'll switch

my 2 cents.. ;)

Still amazes me that most people believe firefox is the best browser, yet they never tried Opera for a week. I too though Firefox was the best, until moving to Opera was the BEST decision to make.

Opera is $39.... Firefox & IE & Maxthon & Avant etc.. Free
Free is good in my book

I HATE Things that are "Free" but have adds... unless you buy it. no thanks.
(Not to mention I didnt like the feel of it)

IE represent'n w00t w00t! :D

I have always used IE, and got my hands on IE7, which i was dissapointed with, what can i say, Beta versions, say no more, went back to IE6, and that i now see is also crap.

FireFox all the way now, easily the best,

ILMV

Opera may be great but the huge pile of available extensions make FireFox the best in my book, although it seems to have issues with loading pages that have a lot of large pictures in them, it slows down a lot and memory-usage skyrockets where IE handles them fine. But still.

I salute FireFox.

currently posting from Deer Park alpha2. Deer Park is the next-generation firefox browser. It supports firefox extensions, and has imporoved popup blocking. Havent yet had any problems using nightly builds.


EDIT: also use Camino on OS X.

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Originally Posted by [LGS]Static

I use Maxthon (Formerly MyIE2)

Add all the cool features you want to IE, but better
Tabbed
Skinned
If you "kill" it. it remembers the last pages you had open
Popup blocking better than ANYthing I have seen
sidebars.. plugins.. RSS feeds etc.
Yes.. I know its an IE Wrapper.. but the features it adds are just to good.

I do Like Fx but the one thing that I think Maxthon beats it is
Mouse shortcuts:
want to go back a page: right click slide mouse to the left.. same as clicking back
refresh.. right click.. quick up / down...
etc
Drag drop new tabs.. Find a link, give it a quick drag and pop.. new tab!
not to mention.. didnt mean to close that tab!?? edit, undo close reopen whichever tab you want

and then there is the Boss key! (the best!) ALT+~ and poof! its gone.. COMPLETELY!
the only place you can find it is the Task manager Processes.. ALT+~ again.. its back!

just too many goodies...
http://www.maxthon.com/

If Fx add some more features.. and displays ALL webpages like IE (Yes, many that I have seen screw up) then I'll switch

my 2 cents.. ;)

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All those are available as extensions to Firefox.
Download TabMix do get the tabs features you want.
There is a mouse gestures extension as well, but I personally don't like them so I am not sure what it is called.
I believe opera was the first to come up with mouse gestures.

RSS feeds are natively supported by Firefox, you can also get extensions to improve the support.

I do believe that Opera loads faster and it used to be my alternative to IE around v4 but I never got to like the feel of it.

The Noia extreme theme rocks!

Personally of the IE wrappers, I always thought that Avant was the best, but then Phoenix came out and I didn't fully test them all.

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Originally Posted by grilkip

Opera may be great but the huge pile of available extensions make FireFox the best in my book

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Are you crazy, the amount of extensions and plugins available for Opera would not compare to the amount of tools a handyman carries.

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Originally Posted by Madboy

Are you crazy, the amount of extensions and plugins available for Opera would not compare to the amount of tools a handyman carries.

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Sooo Opera has only a few? :lol: