Which Web Browser Do You Use and Why?
With so many Internet Browsers currently on the market I wanted to pose a question, which Internet Browser do you use and why?
Currently, the readers of Crenk have so many different browsers and operating systems in use it is simply crazy. The majority of our readers either use the traditional Internet Explorer or Firefox.
Internet Explorer
IE is the automatic defualt browser for any computer running Microsoft Windows. Internet Explorer 7 was a huge step forward for the Microsoft Internet browser. IE 7 was light, faster and a lot safer than ever before. The new IE8 has just come out in beta and we are in the process of testing, in which we plan to write a review in the coming weeks. You can download the new IE 8 here.
Firefox 3
Firefox has always been a tech geeks favourite browser. The new version of Firefox is Firefox 3 in which has more theme, add-ons and features than ever before. The main reason why Firefox 3 is a browser that is favoured by geeks, is that it is so fast and light. Web pages are normally a lot faster to load in Firefox 3 because they have a much quicker javascript engine than IE, thus making web pages load in your browser quicker.
Safari
Safari is the traditional browser from Apple. Safari can be found on all Apple macbooks and mac computers as its default browser. Safari is a very light browser with very limited add-on capabilities and themes. Safari also has a PC version that can be found here. Apple claim that Safari is fastest browser on the market for both HTML and Javascript.
Chrome
Chrome is the new browser by Google. Chrome is a very light browser with currently no add-ons or themes available. Chrome runs on a very fast javascript engine so you can expect your websites will be in front of you in a flash. Due to Chrome being so new it tends to currently freeze on occassion, which can get annoying after a while.
Overall
After quickly running through those browsers Im keen to find out what our readers are using and more importantly why they are actually using that browser. Just post a comment below and let us know!
14 Comments
Firefox 3 on XP at work, Firefox 2 at home on Mac.
We have a store wide policy at work to only use Firefox, mainly because of all the security issues with IE. I’ve been using Firefox since v1.something at home and the only real time I used Safari on my Mac was the first day to download Firefox.
For me, once I started to use tabs, it was the end of IE, even though IE7 now finally supports them, it’s too late. I use too many Firefox add-ons that I really like to give them all up. The reason I still use Firefox 2 at home on my Mac is that not all the add-ons I use are fully supported yet, so I can wait a bit longer.
Firefox 3 is my favorite, but I use both firefox 3 and IE.
Opera, and FF3 for stuff Opera doesn’t handle well (such as Google Reader).
WebKit all the way. Safari feels pokey in comparison.
I’ve got Macs at work (both jobs, in fact) and home and I prefer Safari because of a few features I’ve really gotten used to that FF doesn’t have and since it’s more Mac-like in a million little ways that matter to me. (FF3 fixes a few things but there’s still a long way to go.) I use Firefox for sites that require it (like Google Notebook) and I test sites I build with it and I like the fact that it has lots of extensions but I hardly use any so it’s just not that big of a deal to me. People always rave about AdBlock but a custom /etc/hosts file from http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm blocks most ads–enough to keep me happy.
I like to run internet explorer on my mac because it’s fun cleaning off the virii.
Firefox all the way, even on a Mac. I enjoy the extensions and it’s a less of a hassle when creating websites.
Opera really is the best, but it was the target of M$’s vitriol. Most sites that are “optimized for IE” are really just optimized not to work with Opera.
All the coolest things in the world of browsers these days was developed first by and implemented in Opera. It’s still the only browser with true multi-threading tabbed browsing, which it developed in 1995 (try resizing tabbed windows in Firefox, tee-hee). Chrome, still in beta, now does it. Mouse gestures was developed and comes standard in Opera, it requires an add-in in Firefox. Resizing a page is as easy as clicking the + or – key, no shift+ or CTRl+, just a quick click on the + is all you need, click the * to restore to standard size…etc., etc.,.. the notes functionality in Opera is great when you’re clipping a bunch of texts from various pages to build an email or fill in a form or whatever…
Having said that, like beta vs VHS or M$ vs Mac, or McDonald’s vs other hamburger joints, the market winner doesn’t always come down to quality. Marketing, business model, anti-competitive behaviours are all a part of the mix.
Which isn’t to suggest Firefox uses anti-competitive behaviour like, um, other browsers. Firefox brings a user experience that is easy (Opera isn’t as easy if you’re not at least mildly technical) and is thinner (many things that are in Opera standard require an add-in in Firefox, which is not bad – sometimes you don’t want what you don’t need, and this keeps Firefox relatively thinner).
I used Opera until it became frustrating to arrive at yet another site “optimized for IE”. Started using Firefox but now it’s acting flaky (it will dump my proxy setting for no apparent reason and change my settings; questions at the Firefox support forum have gone largely unanswered; that’s another thing, the Opera community is very adept at getting you answers that work; I haven’t been able to enjoy the same level of acumen amongst the Firefox crowd; but then, again, the Opera community is a tad more tech savvy, no disrespect to the Firefox crowd, but anything that is aimed at the masses can’t be too hard, right? If it were, it wouldn’t appeal to the masses.
So, I’m now looking for a browser that is stable, feature-rich, and not IE… which is what brought me to this conversation.
I use IE for everyday browsing, I find it quick to use.
I use Firefox for more web development with SEO plugins.
I’ve been testing some since my Firefox started crashing on me so much. Now I use Opera and Flock.
Flock is fantastic for social networking and blogging.
Have you ever used Flock?
Flock is the “ultimate social browser”!
Every single social-networking add-on from Firefox, plus a smooth easy-to-use theme,it’s very fast and even contains a sophisticated password saver.
Compared to Firefox, if you:
A:Are a web socialite.
B:Don’t really need fancy themes…
C:Want an awesome start page.
Then you should use Flock.
(I use Firefox, but the Flock start-page is still tempting me…)