Firefox vs. Epiphany

[ronlybonly]

I'm a little confused here. A lot of people around here are very passionate about their browser, be it Firefox or Epiphany. I have used both and they seem pretty similar. So what ARE the differences between these two apps?

Thanks!

-Andy

[zAo]

The engine (Gecko) is the same, the GUIs are from diffrent creators (Mozilla Corp. and Gnome devs).

I prefer Firefox, but use Epiphany for it's speed.

[Orunitia]

Konqueror > both of those. :p

Now that my unneeded statement is done with, I never liked epiphany. It seemed slower for me (I know someone's going to attack me for that, but I haven't played with epiphany in a good year, and when I tried it, it was slow for me.) , and didn't have firefox's extensions.

But I stick with Konqueror because it's damn fast and it has adblock, which is the only extension I ever use on firefox.

[grte]

Epiphany is the Gnome web browser. If what I'm told is correct, Epiphany is all GTK whereas Firefox is a mix of GTK and XUL, so Epiphany integrates better into the Gnome desktop. I also find it faster.

[Pahanilmanlintu]

I prefer Epiphany for its user interface. It's more convenient for my habits and looks nicer :P. But the idea of hiding "unnecessary" information does sometimes go too far imho, like not showing the speed of incoming downloads. That's definetly relevant information that might reveal issues with network settings or such. And of course the plugins would be nice too, altough i'm very rarely interested in anything that requires them. Oh, and there should be a quicker way to clear history and cache.

[RAV TUX]

I prefer the Galeon web browser !










http://elevagemo.free.fr/emoticones/animaux/animo21.gif

[fuscia]

firefox is a beautiful browser, but being impatient, i primarily use a patched version of dillo. i've never been able to use epiphany for more than thirty seconds.

[Juippisi]

In my opinion Epiphany is fast (I used that newest which came with Gnome 2.14) but it is mingled and "poor". The menus are a little confusing to me and functionality was hard (tabbing, new page...).

Firefox is still the browser I use.

[RAV TUX]

firefox is a beautiful browser, but being impatient, i primarily use a patched version of dillo. i've never been able to use epiphany for more than thirty seconds.


what is the download link to Dillo again I want to get this running, do they have a Deb download?













http://elevagemo.free.fr/emoticones/animaux/animo21.gif

[Sef]

I like epiphany. I find it faster loading pages, and it has an adblock extension too. :)


I prefer the Galeon web browser !

Epiphany is based on Galeon.


... and didn't have firefox's extensions.

To get the extensions for epiphany, open a terminal and type

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install epiphany-extensions

The extensions will be under Tools (between Bookmarks and Tabs.)

[Sef]

what is the download link to Dillo again I want to get this running,....

dillo (http://www.dillo.org/)



do they have a Deb download?

Yes. Open a Terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo aptitude install dillo

Note: It is an unofficial older version 8.5. to get the newest version go to dillo.org (see above.)

[fuscia]

here's a link for the patched version of dillo that i use. it has tabs, does frames and some ssl support - http://teki.jpn.ph/pc/software/index-e.shtml
i don't know if there's a deb for it.

[Sef]

i don't know if there's a deb for it.

Yes, there is, but it is 8.5 instead of 8.6.

dillo_deb_package (http://packages.debian.org/cgi-bin/download.pl?arch=i386&file=pool%2Fmain%2Fd%2Fdillo%2Fdillo_0.8.5-4_i386.deb&md5sum=64297626a250a032f91846e7334403eb&arch=i386&type=main)

[FISHERMAN]

I prefer Firefox because I can easily customize it with the extensions(The epiphany extension-pack is pretty pathetic compared to all the Ff-extensions).
However if you don't care about the extensions, you're better off with epiphany beacause it is a bit faster.
PS. You might wanna try Swiftfox (http://www.getswiftfox.com/) for a faster browser, that is compatible with the Ff-extensions.

[Wolki]

But the idea of hiding "unnecessary" information does sometimes go too far imho, like not showing the speed of incoming downloads. That's definetly relevant information that might reveal issues with network settings or such.

Just put a network speed monitor on your Panel if you're interested in that stuff. It'll also show you your total up/down speed which in many cases should be more interesting for noticing network problems than the speed of a single file.


Oh, and there should be a quicker way to clear history and cache.

Yeah, probably. I quite like how firefox does this, though I'd like the private mode idea even better.

[bruce89]

The bookmark tagging thing is my favourite thing about Epiphany. You can tell which I prefer from my signature,

[catlett]

To go off topic a bit. Is there a way to use the "my portal" page that Galeon uses as it's default home page with other browsers? Or is there a way to set up that type of page with Firefox? I like the "my portal" page of galeon but I can't live without Firefox's bookmark syncing and a few other extensions.

[Lovechild]

Epiphany integrates with my environment, it's faster and the translations for it are way superior.

[bruce89]

Epiphany integrates with my environment, it's faster and the translations for it are way superior.
All 65 languages! - proof (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_web_browsers#Internationalization)

[frodon]

You will find a lot of arguments on the same topic there :
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=76916
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=69034
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=93219

[Lovechild]

All 65 languages! - proof (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_web_browsers#Internationalization)

I wasn't really talking about the amount of languages covered, more the quality of the translation and I know the people who translate Epiphany are the same who translate GNOME so you get unsurpassed consistency.

At least that's my experience actually working on translations.

[urbandryad]

It sucks that I can't install Epiphany from my repositories without installing Firefox. I uninstalled both browsers (including yelp, which I never use anyway) and installed mozilla-browser and mozilla-psm (which you need for securely accessing emails).

I find Mozilla is fast, efficient, and just very pleasing to the eyes. It also came with a complimentary webcomic link, which is fun. XD

[Lovechild]

It sucks that I can't install Epiphany from my repositories without installing Firefox. I uninstalled both browsers (including yelp, which I never use anyway) and installed mozilla-browser and mozilla-psm (which you need for securely accessing emails).

I find Mozilla is fast, efficient, and just very pleasing to the eyes. It also came with a complimentary webcomic link, which is fun. XD

What we need is XULRunner which is basically the gecko engine seperated out. The way things should be..

I suggest voting for that for Edgy Eft.

[bruce89]

What we need is XULRunner which is basically the gecko engine seperated out. The way things should be..

I suggest voting for that for Edgy Eft.
I will.

[catlett]

It sucks that I can't install Epiphany from my repositories without installing Firefox. I uninstalled both browsers (including yelp, which I never use anyway) and installed mozilla-browser and mozilla-psm (which you need for securely accessing emails).

I find Mozilla is fast, efficient, and just very pleasing to the eyes. It also came with a complimentary webcomic link, which is fun. XD
How do you like Seamonkey?

[dosed150]

ive used firefox since i had windows but when i reinstalled ubuntu it was suddenly really slow so now i use opera

[ronlybonly]

Thanks for clearing things up for me. I just grabbed Epiphany from the repos., and I am using it now.

[jimcooncat]

Looks as if Epiphany extensions are easy to make if you're a Python buff. Does anyone know of any repositories of third party extensions for it? I'd really like to find a "Download Them All" type extension.

Also, I've found that Bookmarklets give you a lot of functionality. Just drag and drop to the Bookmarks Toolbar.

http://www.squarefree.com/bookmarklets/

[msimplay]

I like Epiphany but whats with the weird Bookmarks.
I wouldn't mind using the browser if it just allowed me to set the bookmarks the way I want them instead of how the developers decide we should follow their visions of searching for bookmarks

Hence Firefox remains my browser

[Corbelius]

Epiphany, stop.

[krazyd]

Epiphany for sure. It uses Gecko to render pages anyway, and features tighter integration with the GNOME DE (some cool stuff coming up in 2.16!)
It therefore offers a better overall experience for new users, while people who want the extensibility or 'killer plugin x' of firefox are no doubt savvy enough to install it themselves.

[aysiu]

Epiphany for sure. It uses Gecko to render pages anyway, and features tighter integration with the GNOME DE (some cool stuff coming up in 2.16!)
It therefore offers a better overall experience for new users, while people who want the extensibility or 'killer plugin x' of firefox are no doubt savvy enough to install it themselves.
Basically, this could end up being a rehash of this thread (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=93219), but I think it's quite the other way around from what you're saying.

Most people are ex-Windows users who used to use Firefox on Windows and would not be savvy enough to install it themselves. They'd download the .tar.gz from Mozilla (instead of using Synaptic or aptitude) and post here saying, "Now what do I do?"

On the contrary, most people are quite satisfied with Firefox being the default, and those who need Gnome integration are the ones who are no doubt savvy enough to install Epiphany themselves.

[cord]

I "like" firefox better and I use it in windows, but it is very slow in linux compared to windows and compared to epiphany.
The startup time is slow and the tab switch time is also quite noticable compared to windows.

My system is quite high end and I have already done the regular browsing optimizations in linux.

[aysiu]

I "like" firefox better and I use it in windows, but it is very slow in linux compared to windows and compared to epiphany.
The startup time is slow and the tab switch time is also quite noticable compared to windows.

My system is quite high end and I have already done the regular browsing optimizations in linux.
I'm sure what's happening is really happening to you, but I can assure you not everyone here shares that experience. I know I don't. Firefox is the same speed for me on Ubuntu and Windows.

[krazyd]

Most people are ex-Windows users who used to use Firefox on Windows and would not be savvy enough to install it themselves. They'd download the .tar.gz from Mozilla (instead of using Synaptic or aptitude) and post here saying, "Now what do I do?"

On the contrary, most people are quite satisfied with Firefox being the default, and those who need Gnome integration are the ones who are no doubt savvy enough to install Epiphany themselves.
That's true and I guess it's the flip side to the coin. I just feel that for someone who's making the effort to change operating system, changing browser (to one that's not all that different) is no big deal. The integration is important in maintaining a cohesive feel to the desktop too.

[cord]

Well I am sure in linux there are a million different factors that can contribute, such as possibly running xgl.compiz etc... but firefox behaves badly there.

Once I figure out how to take screen captured videos in linux I may even post a comparison :P

[Luggy]

In the battle between Firefox vs Epiphany, Firefox wins.

Why?
Usablity.

Firefox has many more extensions, and extensions make the user expirence that much better.

Epiphany is fast but when I can't block ads or have better mouse gestures it becomes much more awkward to use. All the speed in the world can't make an application nice to use.

[banjobacon]

In the battle between Firefox vs Epiphany, Firefox wins.

Why?
Usablity.

Firefox has many more extensions, and extensions make the user expirence that much better.

Epiphany is fast but when I can't block ads or have better mouse gestures it becomes much more awkward to use. All the speed in the world can't make an application nice to use.

Extensions give Firefox more functionality, which doesn't necessarily increase or decrease usability.

(I think.)

[mrgnash]

Konqueror > both of those. :p

Now that my unneeded statement is done with, I never liked epiphany. It seemed slower for me (I know someone's going to attack me for that, but I haven't played with epiphany in a good year, and when I tried it, it was slow for me.) , and didn't have firefox's extensions.

But I stick with Konqueror because it's damn fast and it has adblock, which is the only extension I ever use on firefox.

I agree. Not to mention the fact that Konqueror has much better CSS3 support.

Too bad it looks like crap, and integrates poorly with the Gnome Desktop (yes, I know that it's not meant to). Otherwise, I'd use it myself.

[siimo]

packages like epiphany and gnome's yelp still require firefox even in edgy :|
http://packages.ubuntu.com/edgy/gnome/yelp
http://packages.ubuntu.com/edgy/gnome/epiphany-browser

thumbs down!

have the developers not looked at debian testing and unstable? It uses a modular libxul now for embedded gecko engine in programs. I think its the same for gecko-sharp as well which is needed by monodevelop.

[GhostDawg]

I guess I like Firefox better because I use it the most, with all my distros and windows at work. But I do like Epiphany and need to use it more when using Gnome desktop.

Thnx.

[goatflyer]

I hope they keep Firefox as the default browser. After first having some experience with OSS using OOo and Firefox in a Windows environment, it was good to see "old friends" when I first installed Ubuntu.

http://www.google.com/trends?q=internet+explorer%2C+epiphany%2C+firefox&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all

Notice that Firefox has more buzz than IE...

[Warbo]

I like Epiphany because 1) it's bookmark system is way easier to use then Firefox's, 2) it's bookmarks and Google search come up in the deskbar (I am not sure if Firefox's do, actually) 3) it downloads AND opens things by default (I don't count /tmp as having been downloaded) 4) it doesn't try to manage my whole life (I despise plugins and I don't like extensions, unless they allow me to make less use of the browser, eg. YouTube video downloaders which let me use MPlayer, because MPlayer is a movie player and Epiphany isn't) 5) tab management is much simpler and more logical. Originally I thought Epiphany's close button on tabs really made Epiphany better than Firefox. Later on I found the red X on the far right of Firefox, so it became less amazing (I see that as a usability issue, since I didn't even realise it was there). I think Firefox 2 is going to use close buttons on each tab like Epiphany does, but to me this seems like Epiphany has "won" that debate. Also Firefox got the same tab dragging as Epiphany in 1.5. 6) Epiphany seems more "ruthless" when you tell it to disregard websites' formatting (I use a light-on-dark theme, so many badly made websites like eBay and Yahoo! display invisible text when left to their own devices)

The main problem with Epiphany is that the address bar doesn't grab the keyboard when a new window/tab is made

[Yossarian]

I use Firefox, as my bookmarks are already setup. Also, there are several extensions I like:

1) Coloured tabs: fun for the whole fambly
2) Full screen homestar
3) Scriptblock. Does this even matter with anything other than Windows?
4) Nice themes.

Gnome is good too. It's really fast and simple. I could probably do with it, as anything with tabs is OK.

I also like Opera, but that's off topic.