What web browser do you use?

[stephan12]

I managed to crash and burn my Ubuntu the other day and I've just finished reinstalling most of the programs that I had before and now I'm wondering what web browser I should use. I formally used Google Chrome but just learnt about Chromium which seems more "linuxy", Mozilla Firefox is up there too for me but I really love the integration that Chrome has with my nexus.

What browser do you use?

[kerry_s]

chrome only cause i use netflix.
if i wasn't using netflix i would use chromium.
i'll use firefox sometimes, but it just gets slower & slower.

[DuckHook]

I use three on desktops, plus a fourth on laptops.

1. Links2 as my main browser for all new, untrusted, or paywall sites. About 50% of use.

Pros: It is so primitive that it simply lacks any cookie, scripting or pop-up capabilities. This means that it cannot be infected or tracked no matter how careless I get. A great fringe benefit is that paywall sites cannot run their paywall cookies/scripts/pop-ups on it either, which allows me to effectively bypass many paywalls.

Cons: Same as above. Can't look at anything except content of static pages.

2. Firefox as secondary browser, but locked down tighter than Fort Knox, for all banking, trusted, cookie/script-required sites. About 40% of use.

Pros: With WOT, ABP, NoScript, CookieCuller, BetterPrivacy and FoxyProxy installed, and no java, flash, pipelight or other scripting plugin, it is hardened enough that I don't worry about it too much.

Cons: It's both scary to see and painful to sift through the insane number of scripts that most sites want to run on your browser and permit only the minimum number that allow the job to get done.

3. Chromium with Pepper Flash for those rapidly dwindling (thankfully) number of sites that require flash. I visit only sites that I carefully decide to permit Google to track (they only get to see the behaviour that I want them to see). About 10% of use.

Pros: It's a decent browser as a last resort. Has some sandboxing built into it natively. I get the benefits of Google's free apps but largely on my terms.

Cons: Permits bloody well everything in its default configuration. You are dealing with an entity that makes its living from selling your data.

4. I use Midori on some laptops running Lubuntu and Bodhi. These are for very occasional use and installed as a convenient lightweight browser for guest use.

...and yes, I readily admit that my paranoia is overkill for most people, and even friends and family find it silly.

[buzzingrobot]

Chromium *is* Chrome minus the Google bits.

I use Firefox. Not fond of Chrome/Chromium's style and use no Chrome apps, etc. Memory use of Firefox and Chrome/Chromium seems about the same, although that's not a concern for me. Only use Adblock Plus, Hostname in Titlebar and HTTPS Everywhere extensions.

[kc1di]

I use Chrome for 90% of my web surfing. But also use F.F. at times and Opera sometimes also. they all have their pros and cons.
Chromium also works well but my wife plays and on line game that doesn't play as well in chromium don't know why but chrome plays is fine so stick with that one.
happy hunting.

There is also a new chrome like browser call vivaldi - it's only in beta now, but shows promise as a replacement for both Chrome and Opera.
you can find it here if you want to give it a try

[Alex_Dechant]

I use both safari and chrome. Safari for browsing and chrome to run certain applications

[slickymaster]

Since this is not a support request, I'm moving it to the Recurring Discussions sub-forum.

[Tar_Ni]

I managed to crash and burn my Ubuntu the other day and I've just finished reinstalling most of the programs that I had before and now I'm wondering what web browser I should use. I formally used Google Chrome but just learnt about Chromium which seems more "linuxy", Mozilla Firefox is up there too for me but I really love the integration that Chrome has with my nexus.

What browser do you use?

Firefox. I am a big fan of the browser, it's cuztomization power, the huge number of addons available and the ideology behind Mozilla.
As for integration with your Nexus, the Firefox browser as a feature called ''Firefox Sync'' with which you can -as the name says - sync all of your bookmarks, extensions, history and webpages on all your Android devices with your laptop/desktop computer.

[monkeybrain20122]

chrome only cause i use netflix.
if i wasn't using netflix i would use chromium.
i'll use firefox sometimes, but it just gets slower & slower.

Strange because firefox is very fast for me, and if you use many tabs like I do FF wins hands down. Chrome would choke even with a fraction of them (I have about 200 + tabs open in FF, Chrome can't handle more than 20 even with the foo-tab addon which prevents unused tabs from loading)

I use Chrome only for Netflix (which I watch rarely and can use pipelight on Firefox if I haven't had so many tabs open ) and odd websites that need the latest flash. Apart from the tabs Firefox is also a lot more flexible and extensible because of the addons. I fire up Chrome may be once every couple of weeks, so it is almost like I never use it.

Chromium is neither here nor there, not really seeing the point of it It strikes me as strange that people say they prefer Chromium over Chrome because it is open source but go out of their ways to install pepper flash and the pdf viewer (which is also proprietary).

[Tar_Ni]

I use Chrome only for Netflix and odd websites with I need the latest flash.

Netflix is working on an HTML5 player to get rid of Silverlight which means that soon enough Firefox on Linux will work perfectly with that streaming service.

Last October the Netflix CEOs said:

"We are midway through switching to native HTML5 streaming for our laptop players, eliminating downloads (of Silverlight) and improving the consumer proposition with a smoother playback experience and longer battery life. This has been a successful four-year effort to get strong DRM integrated into the major browsers."

Link: http://www.zdnet.com/article/netflix-goes-html5-for-laptop-streaming/

Mozilla came up with it's own way of integrating a built-in, sandboxed DRM without compromising their users' privacy to Hollywood.

See: http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/14/m...-bends-on-drm/