Why do you choose your browser over others?

[Hex_Mandos]

I always like looking at different software, and browsers are one of my favorite programs to explore. I personally like Firefox, having tried other good alternatives like Opera, Konqueror, Seamonkey and Flock. But I always keep wondering why others use the browsers they use, especially in the Linux world where pretty much everybody knows that there are alternatives to the default options. Why do you choose your browser over others? (Please, don't use this thread to bash other browsers. I might like Firefox, but I'm not going to bash its competition, there are several worthy products out there)

Myself: I use Firefox mainly because of its extensibility. I like being able to customize its functionality to my needs. I also like its handling of RSS feeds, and I find its default handling of tabs much more comfortable than Seamonkey or Flock's (browsers that have some degree of compatibility with FF, all stemming from the common Mozilla source). Finally, it's (mostly) Free as in Freedom, and I value that (although I occasionally use proprietary software).

[Tomosaur]

I use Firefox mostly, just because I'm used to it. I do really like Opera, but it's interface doesn't seem as clean to me as Firefox. I've tried Flock before, but I wasn't too impressed with it. I can see why lots of people like it, since it promotes community and such, but it's just not something which interests me.

[bionnaki]

I use firefox.
although I do really love konqueror - there are just a few things that it cannot do that firefox can.

[ComplexNumber]

i use FF because .....well, i only have to go through the following thought processes:
a) IE is out of the question for many reasons and because of lack of trust in it
b) the other main one is opera, and although i have heard good things about it, the way i see it is: if its not broken, don't fix it. firefox does me fine. i'm used to the extensions the way firefox does them. it integrates fairly well into gnome.

therefore, i see no reason to change.

[pseudo_nz]

I use firefox.
although I do really love konqueror - there are just a few things that it cannot do that firefox can.

Like what? I use firefox at the moment, but I want to try Konqueror (I just can't get kmail to open links straight to it, in spite of advice from people here).

I tried Opera back when I was using XP, but I didn't like the way it dealt with emails, so gave up and went back to firefox.

[RandomJoe]

I started using Firefox when it was able to work better than the other alternatives at the time. Now, Konq and others are perfectly capable - perhaps even better. But I *know* Firefox, and I like how it works. Guess now I'm kinda like all those people who won't change off IE for anything...

Others are good, but since I don't have a reason to switch I don't bother. Firefox doesn't give me problems, and they don't offer features compelling enough for me to change.

[aysiu]

I'm with ComplexNumber and RandomJoe.

At the time I picked Firefox, it offered all the functionality I needed, and I've found no reasons to explore anything else extensively.

Now, Opera and Konqueror are pretty fully featured (the latest release of Opera in particular has a lot of goodies that I usually cover with Firefox extensions), but I've just grown so accustomed to the way Firefox does stuff that I've stuck with it. There's no compelling reason for me to switch to Opera. The learning curve is too steep to get a fraction of a second faster browsing speed and a closed source browser. With tabbed browsing, speed isn't a factor for me in choosing a web browser.

[FyreBrand]

I use Konqueror for 80% of my browsing and Firefox for the other 20%. Firefox works better for me on some Java based sites such as Moodles and Google. I have all features available on those sites in Firefox. I also like how I can sync my browser via GoogleSync between home and work. I love the combo of NoScript and adblock. It's fun to surf with a browser that puts control in your hands.

Other than that I would use Konqueror for everything from browsing to just everything. I love Konq and it's super powerful. I can sftp/ssh into my web folders and it's just like a directory on my own hard drive. It's just another thing I love about Linux and what makes this OS so fun to use and explore.

I use Opera for testing web pages in. I like Opera, but The first two suit my needs.

[teet]

b) the other main one is opera, and although i have heard good things about it, the way i see it is: if its not broken, don't fix it. firefox does me fine. i'm used to the extensions the way firefox does them. it integrates fairly well into gnome.

I agree.

It takes quite a lot to get me to switch a program I use on a daily basis. The new program has to not only be AS GOOD as the old program, but it has to offer me something more to give me incentive to put the time in to switch/get accustomed to it.

-teet

[Hex_Mandos]

pseudo_nz: Konqueror is a good browser: It's 100% standards-compliant, does everything we expect from a browser, is plugin-compatible (I used to think it wasn't) and has some nifty tricks (like an easy way to change the way it's identified). However, it doesn't display things like my WordPress TinyMCE editor nicely, and doesn't allow me to resize it. And in my Wordpress 2.1 installation, I can't use the tabbed editor. I use WordPress daily, so I can't use Konqueror.

Also, I don't want my RSS feeds to be handled by Akgregator. I use online services, because I don't want to reconfigure my reader every time I format my drive. I prefer the way Firefox does feeds.