Browser Choice

greg

For several years I've used IE8 with no problems at all, so I've not changed browser. But about 10 days ago as part of an automatic upgrade from Microsoft IE9 was installed. There are several features I don't like so I'm thinking of changing browser. One option is Safari as I already use that on my ipad, although I realise it will be different. What are the pros and cons of the various browsers that you use, particularly remembering the problems that one can have with the emusic downloader. Or should I just stick to IE9 and put up with the issues? I'm using Windows 7 64 bit if that makes any difference.

Doofy

Chrome works best/fastest for me. My wife has MSIE on her computer, astonishing how slow and hinky it has gotten. You do still need IE for certain sites.

Never used Safari much. I find Firefox to be very slow and crashy, although I have found that is a very heretical statement to make on Internet forums.

cafreema

I like Firefox, but have also had it crash more than it should. My wife uses Chrome and loves it. (Yes we use different browsers on the same computer at home.)

Craig

Plong42

I have been a long-time firefox user, but the newer updates have been buggier and bloated. I have been using Chrome for the past month or so, and it has been working out well. I use a plugin called "Incredible StartPage" so that when I open a new tab (ctrl-T) I get a nice start page with links to emusic daily download and of course emusers.

Germanprof

Has chrome died for anyone else since yesterday? Since yesterday afternoon, on all three of my computers (unconnected, in different locations, and with different software mixes) Chrome has begun crashing literally (and I mean that word in its proper dictionary meaning) every five minutes, regular as clockwork - I get an Ooops Chrome stopped working message and Chrome closes and relaunches. Never had this before. Now suddenly the same behavior in three different environments.

Browsers frustrate me. I've never liked IE. I had a long firefox phase until one of their releases stopped working properly for a wide range of sites I visited regularly (at one point they had a bug where firefox would not open gmail!). I have also had a long Opera phase - it's lean, fast, and configurable. But then I started having issues there. most recently I have had a long Chrome phase, and like it a lot. Except for the last 24 hours it has been deeply sick.

choiceweb0pen0

I go back and forth between Firefox and Safari. I used to mostly just use Firefox. It has a lot of useful plugins etc, but it is getting a bit bloated. I like Safari, but still don't use it as much. It used to not work with many big websites, but it seems to play nice with most now.

kargatron

Chrome is my preference. Each tab's a different process, so if one's causing a problem, you can kill it and recover your cpu. Firefox still has the redundant/silly search box (instead of just using the address bar for search). One annoyance with chrome is that you don't get a pulldown list of open tabs, though there may be an extension available for that, haven't looked. Safari's seems to anecdotally perform less well, ime.

greg

Thanks for everyone's input. I'll leave it a couple of days and then try Chrome. At work Firefox is the default browser, but I regularly need to go IE to open certain sites, so I have avoided it at home. It is likely however that it is an old version of Firefox, as they are still using XP and IE7

Katrina

My work just upgraded to IE8. What a relief to have tabs back.
LOL. I stuck with Netscape for years. I really liked that browser.
Then I used Firefox for a long time, but got tired of all the updates and having to re-do plugins. So I tried Opera for a few months but kept getting sites that wouldn't act right.

At home on my laptop, I use IE9 mostly. As mentioned, some sites (like my payroll info) require IE. I also use Safari, but it crashes a lot. Not sure if that's normal for Win7, but it seems normal since it's been doing it for about 2 years now.

I need 2 browers to keep cookies separate for my two eBay selling IDs.

greg

My biggest problem with IE9 is that you mo longer have the same utility with the back button to jump back several pages. This afternoon I got stuck on a page that did not want me to go back beyond that page, Previously I'd have just jumped back out of it, but can't with this version, so I had to reload the original page.

cafreema

Does it do the same thing as Firefox, where if you hold the mouse down on the back button it pulls up the list of several pages? I'd guess it probably does have that capability.

Craig

greg

Thank you Craig - solved one of my concerns!! Obvious when you realise....

Katrina

LOL, that freaked me out about IE9 at first, too. Until I mistakenly held hte mouse down and found it ; )
Safari is completely unable to do that. You have to open up history to go back more than one page.

PaulR

Holding the mouse down, on the back button, in Safari works just the same, at least in Safari 5.1.2 on Windows 7.

elwoodicious

With Safari on a mac cmd-[ or cmd-] will move you back or forward through your entire session for that tab.

Brighternow

FWIW, I use IE9 and it works great. If i keep the back buttom down with the left side of the mouse, a nice list of previous pages shows up. THAT is a nice feature ! - and new to me . . . thanks.

I tried firefox for a short time but sacked it because I couldn't get it to read RSS feeds. - and it looked pretty much like IE anyway.

I also use Crome but only for Live TV streaming.

Germanprof

Having for the moment just gone back to Firefox because Chrome is crashing up a storm, I've been reminded of a feature of firefox that I hate. They have gone and appropriated the standard keyboard shortcuts for various non-English characters as Firefox shortcuts, so every time I hit e.g. ALT+129 to insert the character "ü" I get dialog windows popping up. REALLY dumb and VERY annoying for anyone who uses the web in more than one language.

choiceweb0pen0

I also hate the placement of the home button in Firefox, though you can move it. In Safari there is no home button, but you can use Shift+Command+H

denver

I use IE almost never (except at work), Firefox rarely nowadays, Chrome sometimes, but mostly I go back and forth between Opera and Rockmelt. I find--an unscientific impression--that Opera's the fastest. The only issue I've had with it is a reluctance to open PDF files embedded in emails I trust. Besides, I like supporting a norske product. Rockmelt is based on Chrome, but has handy integration with Facebook.

greg

Now I have found out about the back button I'm now sticking with IE9 for the moment. I have also started to use Safari at times as I already have it downloaded to see how I get on with that. Thanks to all for the input.

Katrina

@Paul "Holding the mouse down, on the back button"
Well that's good to know. Because since I could never do it on the Mac I never tried it in Windows!

@elwood "mac cmd-[ or cmd-] "
Oh, again with the cmd keys, is it? Haha. I'll check it out next time I'm over there. I have learned to hate that Mac. It's gotten slower than hell over hte years and probably needs some kind of housekeeping done to it, but I'm too lazy to figure out what.

greg

I have been experimenting with Safari today and have got on fine with it. First thing this morning I had problems downloading from emusic using IE:it turned out to be an emusic issue, but it did make me change browser. No problems with Safari so far.

elwoodicious

@katrina With regards to OSes, I went from MSDOS/Windows (~20 years) to Linux (~7 years) to OS X (~2 years) and I've got to say that OS X has won my heart. I can live on the command line for my job but it is polished and stable (not to mention that AppleCare pretty much seals the deal). If you are near an Apple Store, drag that old Mac in as I've seen them help people decruft old macs.

Katrina

I actually used Macs on my job years ago. The old cube things with B&W monitor and the stupid little bomb icon when it crashed.

It was at Motorola and all they bought were Macs because they had Motorola processors in them ; ) Apple freaked out when they saw how big the network was. Ah, the days of AppleTalk and Novell NetWare.

Well, I gotta convince my hubby to upgrade to Lion. I got the disk and he keeps putting it off.

greg

My first computer was an Apple Performa about 17-18 years ago. It was great, easy to use and did all I then wanted it to do, never a problem. But then the internet came along, my work had switched from Apple to PC, so we replaced it with a PC. I'm now on my third PC, but I'd still like an Apple again.

Bad Thoughts

@GP: Why aren't you using the international keyboard layout ( " + u =ü, '+e=é, etc.)?

Germanprof

@BT, too used to the ASCII codes. They are automatic for me and work on any computer I access (which can be five or six some days).

Katrina

Bah. It takes two hands to look at the list of previous pages in Safari. IE9 can do it by just a left-click.

greg

I've been using Safari for about a week now, and so far so good. It seems quicker than IE, but that may be an illusion. I must admit, however, that I am still using IE to download from emusic. It works, so I see no reason to change it, given the problems that people seem to have with downloading there

Germanprof

The guy who founded Opera and then left just unveiled a first public version of his new browser: Vivaldi.
I was a fan of Opera in its earlier days. Can't say I am unhappy with Chrome right now, but this has me intrigued.
ETA, it's fast.

Katrina

That certainly is intriguing! I used Opera when it first came out, too. It was a lot better than Netscape, haha.