Recommended browsers?

[Dave2002]

Because I do most of my shopping on line, I use Firefox together with a superb little add-in called 'Invisible Hand' that checks the price of my selection (be it a CD, DVD, dishwasher, TV or book) and notifies any cheaper suppliers.

In all truth, though, I doubt you will notice much difference whichever browser you use. I have a website promoting my business and maintain Safari, Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer on my PC so that I can check how each will display it - Firefox being my 'default' browser.

I think that IE is the slowest on the systems I use. However, Firefox can take a while to start up. I use all of them, plus a few more. Sometimes I have to use IE, because systems I link with will only work with that one.
Generally I use Firefox, Chrome and Safari. I don't like what appears to be the "new tab" or "new window" option in Safari, where I get taken to what it thinks are sites I want to use - but otherwise it's good.

[StephenO]

I've just changed (as of yesterday!) from IE to Google Chrome having had lots of internet problems over the last week or so. It certainly seems faster although some of the features take a bit of getting used to.

[Lateralthinking1]

I have Chrome and like the Google design except (1) it allows for bookmarks but not favourites and (2) the new black bar at the top doesn't add anything much and creates a very annoying hesitant jolt on search that wasn't there before.

[Chunter]

I've been happily using Opera as my browser for 12 or 13 years, first on Windows, and now on a Mac and a mobile phone.

[Dave2002]

If anyone's concerned with/about web standards they could run the acid2 and acid3 tests on their browsers.

http://www.webstandards.org/action/acid2/

http://www.webstandards.org/action/acid3/

Almost all browsers pass acid2 now, but there are still some that don't manage acid3. I had a dismal failure with IE the other day, with acid3 - it only got up to around 12%.
Some get over 90% and it's likely that Chrome and Opera will get up to 100%. Firefox gets up to 97% on my work iMac. The figures can also depend on the OS used.

Having said that, although web standards compliance is generally a good thing, some sites are designed to work with IE, and won't work well with anything else.

[DracoM]

Was suddenly getting very intrusive flash ads on IE when accessing BT Yahoo, tried Firefox - flash ads disappeared. Now use Google, then bookmark favourites via Google Bookmark manager. Clunky, but works, tho' image on screen not quite as sharp as with IE possibly.

The complication [ as far as ignoramus me could see] was that BT Yahoo seemed to work badly with Adobe Flash Player, but if you disabled Adobe to disarm the flash ads, it is much more difficult [ so I discovered ] to get iPlayer, but with Firefox + Adobe, accessing iPLayer seems to be fine.

Just waiting for someone to write in saying 'you are nuts! why go to all that trouble - there is a much quicker way' etc etc....!

[hackneyvi]

Apologies. Somehow I lost sight of this thread. Thanks for all the replies which I'm belatedly digesting.

[hackneyvi]

I've just changed (as of yesterday!) from IE to Google Chrome having had lots of internet problems over the last week or so. It certainly seems faster although some of the features take a bit of getting used to.

I did install another browser about 12 months - quite possibly Firefox - but I struggled to find the functions (Favourites being the key one) that I was so long accustomed to from IE. However, my laptop then began to send me terrifying error messages around this time, stopped working altogether. I took it back to John Lewis and the hard drive was replaced. I have no reason to think this catastrophe was anything other than coincidence but whilst I associate IE with slow performance and annoyance, I am suspicious of unfamiliar alternatives.

Despite disliking Tescos, I persist in visiting their Metro stores.

[hackneyvi]

Here are 12 to choose from. Give one or two of them a go and see what you think.

I can have multiple browsers installed simultaenously, can I?

I had been advised not to install 2 pieces of software on the same computer if they perform the same function. Though this may have related to anti-virus programmes. Thinking a bit more, I have Windows Media Player and VLC MP and use different ones for different things without problem (VLC lets a DVD start up immediately from the menu without waiting for it to churn through all the copyright like WMP).

[Word]

I had been advised not to install 2 pieces of software on the same computer if they perform the same function.

You can have problems if you have concurrent installs of multiple versions of Internet Explorer (not something you'd usually want to do) but installing multiple browsers, IE, Firefox, Safari, etc. at the same time is fine. You're likely to be presented with a message telling you that the browser isn't set as your default and asking if you want it to be set as such, but as long as you tick the 'don't ask me again' box that will only happen the first time you launch it.

For Mac users I would strongly recommend ClickToFlash, which is a Safari plug-in that blocks all Flash on a page unless you specifically click on the placeholder shown where the content would otherwise appear (or have whitelisted the site e.g. for the iPlayer).

[hackneyvi]

... installing multiple browsers, IE, Firefox, Safari, etc. at the same time is fine.

:cool2: Ta.