Windows users, what Internet browser do you use?

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daba · #1 Post by **daba** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:20 am

Please choose the one you use most on the computer you use most, then explain why!

I used to be a Firefox user; I loved the extensions, tabbed browsing, and adblocking capabilities. In addition, it was fast enough for me. However, what turned me off was its consistent memory hogging and its crashes. Especially when I was in the middle of something important.

I decided to give Opera 9 a try due to a recommendation by Christopher Wolf, a moderator here on these forums. Not only was it faster, but it used less memory. What I found later to be a bonus was its ability to make anything into a search bar, its convenient keyboard shortcuts, and lastly its ability to tile windows inside the browser itself. What users might find more tasty to them are its built-in bittorent, IRC chat, widgets, e-mail, and others.

I sort of feel like a spokesperson for Opera, but it is indeed, according to some empirical test the fastest browser for Windows. You can also block ads like AdBlocker in Firefox.

Anyways, I'm a happy Opera 9 user. What about other thinkpads.com forum members?

NS · #2 Post by NS » Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:28 am

I am using the most common Internet Explorer. Where it goes munching down all my CPU powers and cycles and always make my computer hang. Going to switch over to opera 9 also. Thanks for your recommendation.

#3 Post by **jdhurst** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 8:27 am

I use Internet Explorer because:
1. It works with all the sites I use bar none.
2. It does not absorb my machine the way some people say.
3. It does not crash either.
4. It is compatible will all else that I use.
... JD Hurst

alexzabr · #4 Post by **alexzabr** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 8:49 am

Firefox.
Used to run Mozilla since few years back - was much more satisifed then IE in many aspects.
Once acquiring my Thinkpad (actually my first laptop ever) - upgraded to Firefox - no regrets either. I did not notice it eating up my machine's resources as other report but I feel much more secure with it then IE and to the great convenience.
Opera also sounds to be a good choice, have't tried though...

Alex

Website · #5 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:44 pm

I use IE7 Beta.

I really liked firefox, but was annoyed by the delayed start. I'd always get impatient and click it more than once, then I'd have to close all of those extra browsers.

#6 Post by **Kyocera** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:52 pm

Internet Explorer, for the exact same reasons JD mentions. Have used FF in the past, liked the skins.

#7 Post by **dorronto** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:57 pm

tfflivemb2 wrote:I use IE7 Beta.

I really liked firefox, but was annoyed by the delayed start. I'd always get impatient and click it more than once, then I'd have to close all of those extra browsers.

I agree, BUTTTTTTTTTTTTT I'm sticking with FireFox anyway. IE is a hog and once FireFox is up and running it's fast. Or maybe it has to do with anything Bill Gates owns..........

Ron

dsigma6 · #8 Post by **dsigma6** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 2:00 pm

dorronto- how is IE the hog vs firefox? i had to take memory out of my 600e to test on another machine, so i was left with 128mb instead of 350. using firefox, with one blank window open, i was left with only 5mb of ram. with one blank window open in ie, i have about 20mb free.

unless youre talking about resources that are used by windows services before you even open ie up?

#9 Post by **dorronto** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 2:11 pm

IE for me, uses more resources and memory. I've been using FireFox for 2 years and I don't see that it's slowing my system down or crashing either.

Except for the intial startup, FireFox is a better browser for me. I also have plenty of memory (usually 1GB in all my machines) so I can't say what happens with less memory. Just my opinion....

Ron

#10 Post by **AlphaKilo470** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 2:23 pm

I used to use Internet Explorer 6 religiously because it was fast, ran reliably on my computer and had no compatibility issues with any site I visited. However, Firefox's tabbed browsing and the ability toclear cookies and cache with a single keystroke along with the fact that it's nice to have a browser that's not always running as part of the OS are all factors that made me switch over. Still, the browser isn't perfect as I get memory holes and patches of slow performance every now and then but I still like the interface better than all the other browsers I've used. Currently, the only browser that I think could get me away from Firefox is Safari if they were to port that to Windows but I know that's not happening anytime soon.

dsigma6 · #11 Post by **dsigma6** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:27 pm

whether it uses more resources than ie or not, i do use firefox on all my machines. initial load time can be discouraging, but i sit back and realize if it takes 2 seconds or 5, im going to eventually find my way to the forum..

christopher_wolf · #12 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:43 pm

I use Opera now; first started out with Netscape, then Mozilla and IE, then Firefox, then Opera.

Firefox on all my systems grew at a slightly enlarged pace; I have gotten it above 300MB of memory usage with just 10 tabs (and *no* streaming video or music or flash as that will do that most easily). FF is good, but if you aren't careful in how you set it up when customizing things it can get slightly clunky and manifest a large load time. I have all the abilities of Firefox, just faster. Page load times are quicker, the auto-fill works faster, and it just feels faster overall. That and I have never been able to get Opera above 150MB with the heaviest browsing I could do, loading files, RSS feeds, torrents, searches, setting pages to auto-update (very useful for forums such as this one); that and it actually reduces the amount of memory it uses when I close tabs, clear the trash, and flush the cookies (each can be done in one keystroke, or together as one). Plus, it looks alot better than what I had for Firefox.

#13 Post by **GomJabbar** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:22 pm

Figaro, Figaro, Figarooooooooooooooo!

Rob Mayercik · #14 Post by **Rob Mayercik** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:27 pm

IE at work, FF at home.

sugo · #15 Post by **sugo** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:09 pm

Rob Mayercik wrote:IE at work, FF at home.

Same here

#16 Post by **archer6** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:36 pm

I use Firefox first and IE second. I like the tabbed browsing of FF and have not noticed a performance issue. That said, there are times when IE is the best for a particular web site, so I use it. Again, really have'nt had a performance issue with IE either.

Now that I have seen the dialog here on Opera, I will give that a try. I'm always up for something new... Thanks...

#17 Post by **archer6** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:40 pm

Just checked my post (above) noticed it's the shortest I've written in a long while _(mr. longwinded)_ sitting here and laughing at myself....

dsigma6 · #18 Post by **dsigma6** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 8:28 pm

at work i have ff installed, and for the shortcut i changed it to an ie logo and wrote internet explorer under it. im such a douche, who would that fool..

christopher_wolf · #19 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:28 pm

dsigma6 wrote:at work i have ff installed, and for the shortcut i changed it to an ie logo and wrote internet explorer under it. im such a douche, who would that fool..

Why?

leoblob · #20 Post by **leoblob** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:42 pm

I use Firefox since I somehow feel it's a bit more secure. Maybe I'm just kidding myself, but that's OK.

I'm aware that Firefox uses a LOT of resources, but I seem to have plenty, and it doesn't appear to be a problem. It does take a while to load, but since I only have to do that once a day, I'm OK with that, too.

However, some pages simply do not work correctly with Firefox, and in those 5% of situations, I use IE.

christopher_wolf · #21 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:53 pm

To make sure that FF is more secure than IE, *always* make sure it is updated. There are, however, some situations that FF won't guard against. I have tested it on certain phising sites and, suprisingly enough, it didn't note anything amiss even though that is one of its goals whilst Opera, and even IE6, seemed to think that the site had security that was way too low (Opera reported that) or was a reported Phising site (IE6).

There are certain login sites that work better with one or the other and/or a certain browser will alert you to what the security settings on that site are. Short length public encryption keys don't seem to be flagged as a security problem in FF, Opera bugs you everytime it sees something like that happening. IE7 isn't that bad, but the GUI needs to be less "fruity" for most of my tasks.

There is always ViolaWWW and Links should you want to get really minimalist.

dsigma6 · #22 Post by **dsigma6** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:58 pm

we're not supposed to install any software on the computers. my "solution" was silly but that's just my nature. typing on a jornada 680 is ridiculous.

christopher_wolf · #23 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:18 pm

dsigma6 wrote:we're not supposed to install any software on the computers. my "solution" was silly but that's just my nature. typing on a jornada 680 is ridiculous.

So I see; certain IT Naz...Department decisions can be strange.

bigtiger · #24 Post by **bigtiger** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:25 pm

Firefox for sure. I do not like Opera. It shows some pages very funny. Memory is an issues. I hope the developers will solve this problem pretty soon.

#25 Post by **KristianJ** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:36 am

Like most of you, I'm FF at home, IE at work. I have Opera 9 that I use occasionally at home as well, but I'm pleased enough with FF to stay with it as my main browser

Torque · #26 Post by **Torque** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:41 am

I use FireFox.
Heavy tab user, and fan.

Use the IE-Tab pluging. Just right-click a link and select "open in IE tab" and tadaa, my homebanking works fine.

Use adblock and the filterset.G.
Sorts out all the banner etc. without causing problems.
Its just bliss.

Havent got any problems with memoryleaks and such. Dont think I've ever had FF over 100MB.

christopher_wolf · #27 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 3:05 pm

Torque wrote: Havent got any problems with memoryleaks and such. Dont think I've ever had FF over 100MB.

Lucky you.

There are certain skins and extension combos that do manage to leak memory; it gets worse if you have streaming content or a particular server decides to make you reload a page by saying the previous one expired too quickly. If you have everything barebones, then it runs clean as a whislte.

Torque · #28 Post by **Torque** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 4:40 pm

christopher_wolf wrote: Lucky you.

There are certain skins and extension combos that do manage to leak memory; it gets worse if you have streaming content or a particular server decides to make you reload a page by saying the previous one expired too quickly. If you have everything barebones, then it runs clean as a whislte.

I use only the three extensions mentioned. No skins and other stuff. No need for it, and FF runs fine without the extra bells and whistles

Indeed some flash sites can hurl FF out in a memory frenzy, but it still seldomly comes over 70MB.

FF is currently using 38MB of memory, with three browser windows and a couple of tabs in each. Which is what I usually have open. Not alot, but with the occasional flash-site or streams, its ok.

christopher_wolf · #29 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 8:43 pm

Torque wrote:
christopher_wolf wrote: Lucky you.

There are certain skins and extension combos that do manage to leak memory; it gets worse if you have streaming content or a particular server decides to make you reload a page by saying the previous one expired too quickly. If you have everything barebones, then it runs clean as a whislte.
I use only the three extensions mentioned. No skins and other stuff. No need for it, and FF runs fine without the extra bells and whistles

Indeed some flash sites can hurl FF out in a memory frenzy, but it still seldomly comes over 70MB.

FF is currently using 38MB of memory, with three browser windows and a couple of tabs in each. Which is what I usually have open. Not alot, but with the occasional flash-site or streams, its ok.

You know; everytime I get to a site that is a flash orgy, I have to wonder to myself....Did they really need to make the entire content smaller and replace the browser scroll bar with a flash one? Same goes for the buttons. Whatever happened to plain old HTML and Javascript (ugh) code for that?

Might even get FlashML one of these days.

daba · #30 Post by **daba** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 12:35 am

Torque wrote:I use FireFox.
Heavy tab user, and fan.

Use the IE-Tab pluging. Just right-click a link and select "open in IE tab" and tadaa, my homebanking works fine.

Use adblock and the filterset.G.
Sorts out all the banner etc. without causing problems.
Its just bliss.

Havent got any problems with memoryleaks and such. Dont think I've ever had FF over 100MB.

Opera 9 has all of these features. In fact, Opera 9 has a lot of features and pseudo-extensions Firefox has. See this list.