Best Browser

[u'b'u'n't'u]

Is it Firefox, Opera. Wahtever it is, give reasoning why.

ok ill go first:


OPERA CUZ ITS FRIKEN AMAZING.

your turn.

[Gizenshya]

You aren't asking the right question.

Ask "Which browser is your favorite and why?"

Then... 1. You will get answers. and 2. the answers might actually mean something.

[zemon_]

I would say firefox just because of the addons also it feels alot faster than other browsers:p

[binbash]

Firefox of course because of addons and speed (especially firefox 3.1b)

[howefield]

You have a few trivia sections you could post this in, but General Help aint one of them :o

[Simian Man]

If there was a "best" broswer than why would the others bother to keep developing. They have different goals and targets. For example Firefox is more extensible than Opera while being slightly slower. These are tradeoffs that the developers make.

Also Lynx is awesome because it works without needing X.

[Chase Young]

I was extremely fond of Google Chrome when I used Vista, but I'm pretty sure it isn't compatible with Ubuntu, which I was instantly hooked on when I first used it on my friends computer.

I preferred Google Chrome so much because of it's more then advanced view source capabilities, but it's speed, ease and revolutionary tabs. If you are in FireFox or IE, and you do something stupid in tab number 1 and you have an important document open in tab number 2, you lose the entire thing. In Google Chrome, you'd only need to close the tab that has the error, so you can keep your important tab2 stuff.

[phinullfermata]

Chrome can be ported to a gnu/linux system with cross-over chromium on codeweavers (http://www.codeweavers.com/services/ports/chromium/).

My favourite browser is firefox - mainly because it has a plugin that has an interface that allows me to be the most productive without a mouse - vimperator.

[tmcarson1]

I prefer Opera for the speed, and Firefox for the addons.

So, if I could get a browser that is as fast as opera and cool as firefox I would be set.

Perhaps we could call it Operafire or Foxyopera. =P

[mb_webguy]

I prefer Firefox. It has very similar performance to Opera (at least when you're comparing the latest versions to each other), and is customizable to my user experience. It's also FOSS, which Opera is not.

[sox fan Matt]

Making a small turn here, as of an hour ago, I upgraded to the at&t pro dsl speed for a faster speed for downloads and such, so also wouldnt it also depend on the speed of your internet connection?

[x1a4]

Seamonkey (http://www.seamonkey-project.org/) (what Netscape evolved into) is a great browser, so is Netscape (http://browser.netscape.com/releases) 9. GNU IceCat (http://gnu.org/software/icecat/) is basically Firefox without any of the non-free stuff with additional security features which can be further enhanced with the GNUzilla Privacy Extension. Flock is great for many social networking sites.

As to which is best--they all are, depending on your tastes and what you're doing. Currently I use SeaMonkey as x-www-browser for most of my browsing, Galeon as default HTML viewer which I use to view documentation and random HTML files. I use GNU IceCat, enhanced with the GNUzilla Privacy Extension and various Firefox security/privacy plugins, for online shopping and banking. I use Flock for YouTube and blogging.

I recommend IceCat and/or SeaMonkey.

[Chris Musampa]

Opera for me. The original tabbed browser, speed, mouse gestures and an email client all built in.

[jpeddicord]

...moved to Recurring Discussions. How will this thread end? The shocking conclusion continues after these messages. News at 11.

[Rokurosv]

There is no best browser, just one that works for you. I mostly use FF, but I'm itching to try the linux version of Chrome. I love it on Windows and if it's stable enough in Linux I might just change browsers

[gnuvistawouldbecool]

Firefox. Why use a FOSS OS then contaminate it with a proprietary browser such as Opera?

And while it is not the best, Lynx is great since it doesn't waste time rendering all the images, flash, and Javascript, and any other stuff the site may have.

[konqueror7]

google chrome in windows (hopefully in linux soon), firefox in linux...

[brainac0cult]

firefox is best cos' its really cool

[Dixon Bainbridge]

Firefox. Why use a FOSS OS then contaminate it with a proprietary browser such as Opera?



Why does that matter?

Opera is the best. People will learn that one day. Until then, more puny Earthlings must suffer.

[karellen]

chrome and firefox

[Bachstelze]

links

[Circus-Killer]

should of been a poll.

anyways, favorite would have to be firefox. use it in both windows and linux. love the plugins. guess mostly use it cos i haven't had problems with it, so just kept on using it.

did install opera just outta interest. it is a very nice browser, but ill stick to firefox for now.

[gnuvistawouldbecool]

Why does that matter?


Because I like the whole "Free Software" idea. As such, I try to use things that are free, and besides, I didn't really like Opera anyway.

In any case, you have the freedom of choice to like Opera, or Firefox, or even Internet Explorer if you want. Whether or not you have the freedom to see it's source code is another matter....

[Bart_D]

Opera and Google Chrome.

Firefox makes me want to throw up.

[Newuser1111]

Firefox because it has Add-ons.

[jrusso2]

Firefox is slow and a bit bloated but I still got to love those extensions. You can add the features you want to your browser.

[jrusso2]

Seamonkey (http://www.seamonkey-project.org/) (what Netscape evolved into) is a great browser, so is Netscape (http://browser.netscape.com/releases) 9. GNU IceCat (http://gnu.org/software/icecat/) is basically Firefox without any of the non-free stuff with additional security features which can be further enhanced with the GNUzilla Privacy Extension. Flock is great for many social networking sites.

As to which is best--they all are, depending on your tastes and what you're doing. Currently I use SeaMonkey as x-www-browser for most of my browsing, Galeon as default HTML viewer which I use to view documentation and random HTML files. I use GNU IceCat, enhanced with the GNUzilla Privacy Extension and various Firefox security/privacy plugins, for online shopping and banking. I use Flock for YouTube and blogging.

I recommend IceCat and/or SeaMonkey.

Why spend the resources to run all those programs when you probably just using one or two of them?

[Twitch6000]

FireFox and Opera are my favorites :D.

As to which is the best... there is never a best... only a opinion to which is a best.

[x1a4]

Why spend the resources to run all those programs when you probably just using one or two of them?

No real reason. I've plenty of resources so that's not much of an issue. I used to use Epiphany as x-www-browser but it lacks features and I couldn't use the PrefBar extension (http://prefbar.mozdev.org/). I'm also partial to light-weight software and SeaMonkey satisfied everything I needed. Thus, I now use SeaMonkey most of the time and GNU IceCat when I need solid security as when shopping/banking. I sometimes use Flock for video sites because I love its media bar. Galeon opens instantly on my system (with the Galeon server running) so it's great for reading documentation.

Bookmark management is another reason. My SeaMonkey bookmarks are so full of links they're almost unmanageable. If I were to add all the docs and other sites they would be. This way I can very quickly visit what I want without having to go through a lot of menus and submenus.

Variety is another reason. There is no reason whatsoever why I should use Netscape but once in a while, just for the heck of it, I like to use it.

[dburnett77]

Is it Firefox, Opera. Wahtever it is, give reasoning why.

ok ill go first:


OPERA CUZ ITS FRIKEN AMAZING.

your turn.

I'm using SeaMonkey 1.1.2 and it's almost as good as watching magic crystals grow in water while tiny brine shrimp race around...

[bobmatino17]

says it in the title.

[cKGunslinger]

I was a Firefix fanatic for years, but it has gotten so slow and buggy (possibly a faulty addon,) that I switched to Opera. So far, so good. Nice speed and seems compatible with everything.

[mamamia88]

firefox is faster than opera for me. i tried seamonkey but really like the ui of firefox even if seeamonkey is faster.

[crimesaucer]

Profile-Guided Optimization of Firefox 3.1b2 (of course it still has some issues since it's a beta).


This browser is so nice. I also am using it in Vista (not PGO) and it has caught up to the quickness of Google Chrome and the latest Opera.

[x1a4]

Because I like the whole "Free Software" idea.

Then you should really try GNU IceCat. Firefox has non-free (libre) aspects while IceCat is pure GNU. It's also more secure. You can still use most Firefox plug-ins & extensions in IceCat.

You may also want to try IceWeasel which is Debianified Firefox without any non-free (libre) stuff.

[boltz]

Speed :D

Opera 85/100

Konqueror 81/100

Firefox 71/100

source acid test 3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid3

ignore the alphas and betas as vast magority of people don't use them

[karellen]

my own fingers, browsing through books' pages :)

[Starlight]

I like both Opera and Firefox. :) I wished they added an Adblock Plus-like feature in Opera that automatically updates adblock filters. Then I'd like Opera even more :)

[edyeeh]

I am using Epiphany now and I think if you go for lightweight, its good. Its small number of extensions are enough for me.

[Stalker72]

I prefer Opera for its speed, design and web standards compatibility.

Stalker72

[kaixi]

My favourite browser is Firefox. It's by far the most complete browser out there. Memory management and overall stability are excellent as well.

I don't like Opera's interface in Ubuntu, though it's a nice browser.

[Erunno]

Memory management and overall stability are excellent as well.

Ha.

Haha.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

We're talking about the same Firefox, right? The one that will easily eat 300 MB of RAM permanently when used heavily on sites with many images and Flash plugins and not restarted regularly? Firefox has an ridiculous memory usage especially when compared to a browser which does it right: Google Chrome. And since extension support has been announced the air will be getting thin for Firefox.

[Sashin]

Chrome and Firefox seem the best as of yet but I'm not going to switch until Chrome is properly made for linux. Cross over chromium is really horrible.

[4pr1l]

the best ?
it is (and would ever be) lynx
if you asked for my favourite, hm don't know it could be some other :-)

[kaixi]

Ha.

Haha.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

We're talking about the same Firefox, right? The one that will easily eat 300 MB of RAM permanently when used heavily on sites with many images and Flash plugins and not restarted regularly? Firefox has an ridiculous memory usage especially when compared to a browser which does it right: Google Chrome. And since extension support has been announced the air will be getting thin for Firefox.

I don't agree with you. See why Firefox is better than Chrome:

Chrome uses much more memory per tab than Firefox.

Despite the multi-process blablabla technology, on my computer Chrome has crashed more times than Firefox.

Chrome lacks basic functionality. Can you sort your bookmarks, or sync them? No. Does Chrome have a full screen mode? No. Does it have smooth scrolling? No. And RSS support? No.

Is there a Linux version of Chrome? No.
Firefox is mantained by a non profit organization, but Chrome is a product from a big corporation.


The ONLY good thing Chrome has is its speed.

[Erunno]

Argh, I had a longer and more detailed reply prepared but I managed to close my browser involuntarily. Anyway, let's keep this short then...

I don't agree with you. See why Firefox is better than Chrome:

Your whole argument is a straw man as I was referring to the memory usage of each browser while you build up a defence which has almost nothing to do with the original point.

Chrome uses much more memory per tab than Firefox.


Do you have any concrete numbers and exactly how did you measure the Firefox' memory usage per tab? I did a quick and admittedly crude test to get at least an impression about each browsers memory usage:

1) Created a new Firefox profile and started it with an empty tab
2) Measured Firefox' memory usage after about a minute to give it enough time to initialize
3) Opened GMail
4) Measured memory usage again

I operate under the assumption that the delta in memory usage between 1 and 4 is the memory used for GMail. It's, of course, easier for Chrome which shows memory usage for each individual tab. My results don't support your general statement. The delta for Firefox was 35 MB, almost exactly the same as for Chrome.

Despite the multi-process blablabla technology, on my computer Chrome has crashed more times than Firefox.


I've experienced frozen tabs in so-called "porn mode" but never outright crashes using the latest stable Chrome version, but stability tends to vary from system to system due to different configurations so I may be just lucky. The Chrome newsgroup claims that the current developer release is far less stable though so are you sure that you are not using the developer channel version?

Chrome lacks basic functionality. Can you sort your bookmarks, or sync them? No. Does Chrome have a full screen mode? No. Does it have smooth scrolling? No. And RSS support? No.

Chrome seems to be developing at a rapid pace considering that the first beta was released less than half a year ago. By the way, Firefox does not sync bookmarks either and Foxmarks already stated that they will release a Chrome version once the extension API is finalized.

Is there a Linux version of Chrome? No.

A Google spokeman hinted that the Linux and Mac version will be released in the middle of this year.

Firefox is mantained by a non profit organization, but Chrome is a product from a big corporation.

I hope you are aware that this Big Evil Cooperation is responsible for almost all of Mozilla's income which in turn is used to pay developers. Don't kid yourself thinking that Firefox would be where it is today without Google's money which was invested in development and huge advertisement campaigns. Chromium is open source anyway so I don't fully understand what you are trying to imply with your statement.

The ONLY good thing Chrome has is its speed.

The process separation also has advantages beyond stability and superior memory usage: Firefox whole UI can stall if too many computationally intensive plugins are used (for instance, a site with 10 embedded Flash video players), something Chrome is not suffering from due to the plugins running in their own processes.

[-jay-]

i love firefox even tho its a memory hog its still the best browser for me