Let's talk browsers: Why do you use the ones you do?

This site is best viewed in a modern browser with JavaScript enabled.

Let's talk browsers: Why do you use the ones you do?

multimediocrity

So here's another interesting debate: which browser is best? Which one do you use?

Usually the most opinionated seem to be the ones who use Firefox. If a Firefox user sees someone using anything BUT Firefox, they will complain. They walk into a library, see it has IE, so they'll download Firefox.

I like either IE or Firefox. I usually settle in to one so it saves all my sessions and cookies.

I'm not sure why people use other browsers, like Safari, Opera, or Netscape. Google Chrome is apparently a good choice, as this is growing in popularity.

My question for you is this: Which one do you use?
Does it vary depending on the platform? Do you like an older version better than a newer? Do you use a strange browser, and if so, why?

Let's talk!

scragar

Links
Debate over, I win :p

Nah, I use a range of browsers, firefox is my main browser, but I'm not adverse to using kazekage, amaya, opera or safari(in wine, they need to make a linux release already).
I use all of them for different things, although firefox is by far my favourite graphical browser.

multimediocrity

Why use links? Why would people want text and tables over graphics? Graphics are half the reason I use the web.

I know some people who turn their graphics off in Firefox and such. I think it's crazy.

scragar

I love the simplicity of the command line, and it's nice to be able to read forums etc without being bogged down with huge sigs, blinking banners and avatars, I do like images, but I also prefer simple, small pages, and honestly there are some sites out there that're so many times better viewed on a command line than in all their pink texted, green background, yellow links with flashing images everywhere glory. (Oh, yeah, and no javascript+flash+java+crashing browsers/Ram consuming techniques, yeah, I've seen those pieces of javascript and flash some people use. Not nice at all.)

multimediocrity

True. Some are better. However, I seldom find the poorly-designed websites helpful. But yes, I can see how this can be a plus. Sometimes I copy the text and paste it in word or notepad in order to read it.

Stephen_Philbin

I've been using Opera about 99% of the time for about 4 weeks now because Firefox is full of tabs my girlfriend wants to keep open for looking at curtains and bedding etc.

I'm not really bothered which browser I use as long as it's not Internet Explorer.

Jeff_Mott

I've warmed up to Chrome. It's faster, simpler and cleaner than even Firefox.

Chrome and Safari actually seem very similar. Which isn't surprising since they both use WebKit.

Stephen_Philbin

Did they make a version of Chrome ready to go on Linux yet?

multimediocrity

What made you decide to try a certain browser?

scragar

Stephen Philbin;1030195 wrote:
Did they make a version of Chrome ready to go on Linux yet?

It's in dev form, but only for debian distributions right now because they're sending out prebuilt systems packaged in .deb's for some reason (rather than, say, source so everyone could build it themselves and help out easier)

Jeff_Mott

scragar;1030197 wrote:
...rather than, say, source so everyone could build it themselves and help out easier

Actually, they did exactly that.

http://code.google.com/chromium/

I think some people have already used the source code to build a Linux version. Might have to google around for it.

Jeff_Mott

Yup. A little googling and I found this. http://www.codeweavers.com/services/ports/chromium/

(I'm not vouching for it; it's just the first one I found.)

scragar

Jeff Mott;1030207 wrote:
Actually, they did exactly that.

http://code.google.com/chromium/

I think some people have already used the source code to build a Linux version. Might have to google around for it.

Doh, I was going to http://code.google.com/chrome apparently that link doesn't work(That's what you get for trying to guess the URL that it should be on, rather than googling it).

NogDog

I use Firefox because:

It's the first browser I spent much time with after getting away from IE, so I'm used to it.
AdBlock add-on
FlashBlock add-on
WebDeveloper add-on
FireBug add-on
FirePHP add-on

But whatever floats your boat is fine with me, as long as you only use IE for compatibility testing.

Gcommer

I use chrome for my everyday web browsing because its fast and simple, and then use firefox for its plugins (FireBug and the Web Developer toolbar are a must!) when i'm working on web pages or going to use StumbleUpon.

However, from time to time i'll open opera for a little variety, but I don't think I'll ever use it (or IE, for that matter) as my main browser. To me, they're both in the middle ground between a "light" browser that displays just displays web pages without getting in the way (Chrome) and a "heavy-duty" browser like FF (especially with my 30+ extensions :p).

justinbarneskin

I use firefox for my everyday web browsing because its fast and simple, and I can block images from advertisers. Then I use IE for its Flash plugin and other media players.

Stephen_Philbin

Yeah. I was aware of the possibility of compiling it from source, but I was wondering if they'd got round to making a proper finished product, ready for general-purpose use by the general (Linux-using) public.

multimediocrity;1030196 wrote:
What made you decide to try a certain browser?

It wasn't Internet Explorer.

When I'm doing my web tinkerings, I tend to lean more towards Firefox because then the developer tools are there to hand, but for regular browsing I couldn't give a flying fudgecake what I'm using as long as it's fit for purpose.

multimediocrity

Firefox apps are great! I especially like the ones we use for web development. They are such time savers. This is a great reason to use Firefox, but most apps seem to appeal to the more hardcore users.

I like IE. However, since I started using Firefox more, I've come to like it. I guess this happened when Firefox started using tabs and IE did not have them yet. I like tabs.

The_Old_Sarge

I use IE. It's what I started with, it's what I feel con=mfortable with, and it's what I do best with.

I have and use Opera, Firefox and Safari ... but not to any major extent.

Does IE have problems? Sure. Which browser doesn't have a few shortcomings? No one browser can be all things to all people.

thraddash

I still use Internet Explorer 6 as my main browser, simply because it is the most troublesome when it comes to web development. FireFox and Chrome come a close second, as each of them come with their own unique problems but usually not as bad as IE.

Some of the newer browsers are set to just accept programmatic faults and in my opinion this is not right. It is completely possible to do 99% of what you want on the web and keep all browsers at peace with a little practice. But for now I am happy to promote IE6.

I can just feel the rain of fire coming...