Recommended browsers?

[Guest]

Hi, I'd welcome any recommendations for alternate browsers to Internet Explorer. I'm not opposed to IE/Microsoft but if there is a less corporate browser which is also straightforward to operate and reliable, I'd be glad to hear about it.

I have Windows 7 on my laptop, if that's relevant.

Thanks in advance.

[ostuni]

I've been using Google Chrome for a couple of years now (after having used Firefox before that): I like it. The 'killer feature' for me is the way the address bar also functions as a Google search box.

[french frank]

I'd say that Google Chrome is on the up, Firefox beginning to slide a bit in terms of popularity.

I fiddled with Chrome on a friend's laptop a few days ago, and I'm not going to move from Firefox because it suits me . I couldn't find a way to have a bookmarks sidebar permanently open in Chrome (which way back in my IE days I had grown to appreciate - instantly visible, one click and I'm on the site I want). That's why I don't use Safari even on the Mac.

When FoxMarks (now XMarks) came in it was great because I have a PC laptop and a Mac desktop and with Firefox on both I can synchronise my bookmarks on both machines. I'm sure there are other similar applications for other browsers, though.

[johnb]

As you almost certainly already know, many people (myself included) use Firefox as their default browser.

(When I last looked at IE, a couple of months ago, I was amazed how difficult Microsoft had made setting Google as the default search engine.)

[Mahlerei]

i use Safari on both the PC and Mac and find it very stable. Which is more than I can say for Firefox, which was always crashing.

[PJPJ]

..... I couldn't find a way to have a bookmarks sidebar permanently open in Chrome (which way back in my IE days I had grown to appreciate - instantly visible, one click and I'm on the site I want).

You can have all the bookmarks showing in a separate tab if you wish. I've used Chrome for about 18 months and prefer it slightly over IE9, Firefox and Opera. The latest IE is a great improvement I think.

[french frank]

You can have all the bookmarks showing in a separate tab if you wish.

Thass two clicks



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

[Word]

I favour Safari; it uses WebKit, the same open source rendering engine as Chrome, but I believe Apple to have contributed rather more of the code than Google. (Safari also seems slightly less 'gimmicky', though I haven't given Chrome a fair chance to be able to draw any deeper comparisons.)

For web development or general tinkering I think Firefox still can't be beaten, with Firebug and Tamper Data being essential add-ons.

May I also recommend DuckDuckGo as a search engine due to their admirable privacy policy (and slightly less admirable explanation of why people should care ).

[Dave2002]

Thass two clicks



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

I can only see five. Where are the other seven?

[PJPJ]

I can only see five. Where are the other seven?

Scroll to the right.

[french frank]

Scroll to the right.

I don't think I've heard of any of the other seven but one of them may be the next big thing. I remember telling my friends about a search engine called Google many years ago ...

[scottycelt]

Undoubtedly the excellent Chrome/Chromium for speed and stability, and Firefox for all it's useful add-ons, so I therefore cunningly use either depending on what I intend to browse..

Why so many computer users still tolerate the bug-infested Internet Explorer is quite beyond me, when so many superior non-Microsoft alternatives now abound.

[remdataram]

I'd agree with the main thrust of opinion expressed.

Firefox and Chrome are both slightly faster and smaller than Internet Explorer.

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.

In real world usage preferences really come down to taste.

[johnb]

Just a thought: Firefox has a British Dictionary Spellchecker add-on which can be useful (especially as my spelling seems to get worse year by year).

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

i use Firefox because in its latest version you can synchronise your browsers on different PCs and laptops etc .... easy to use and i have not bothered with add ons too much [yet] ... dropped Opera some while back just too cludgy to use ... and not tried Chrome although with colleagues we are discussing going completely Google for our business needs ...