Chrome v. Firefox

[Lakai]

What in your opinion is the better browser?

I've been using Chrome for the first time today, and it's a lot faster than Firefox. I'm thinking of switching over to Chrome completely.

Chrome looks better than Firefox. It's design and layout make more sense.

Firefox has more extensions, but there aren't that many that I depend on. StumbleUpon is available for Chrome. There isn't much more that I need.

One downside that I see for Chrome is that I don't see how it protects my saved passwords. Firefox has an option to protect your passwords with a password.

Another downside is that it's too diligent when it comes to saving my history. I need to find ways to limit what Chrome remembers so that I won't have to constantly remember to clear my history.

What are your thoughts?

[Kyla]

I've had Chrome for several months now, and when I use Firefox on my mom's computer, it feels cluttered and clunky in comparison.

Chrome does have an option to not auto-fill specific searches, if you don't want someone else to have an idea of what you've been searching for. So if you want to stop it from auto-filling your favorite porn site as you start to type in the URL, it will act like you've never been to that site before.

I like the way the url bar functions as a google search, and how it keeps track of recently closed windows, so if you accidentally close a window or a tab, you can get it back.

The only add-on I use is ad-block, which Chrome has, so that's not an issue for me.

[ramel]

I've tried many browsers.

IE 6 in the early days.
Chrome
Chromium
Opera. My second favourite browser
Midori
Seamonkey

And a few others. But I always come back to Firefox. Yeah, it's a huge memory hog as time goes on, and it's not the fastest, but it's got the best addons out there. I just don't feel safe without my addons.

[BigT]

Exactly. Chrome may be faster, both in render time and definitely in startup time, but Firefox has the better extension support, and is therefore more usable.

The only time I use Chrome is when Firefox starts messing up. For instance, since they modified the plugins system, 3.6 has had crappy Flash support, with constant memory leaks from non-Youtube videos. So, if I needed to watch said videos, I pulled up Chrome. Fortunately, I stumbled upon the Firefox 4.0 beta, which is far enough along for my daily use, and most extension authors have provided at least a beta version to work with it.

And I don't think the extension support is something that's going to change. Firefox was built from the ground up to support extensions. With Chrome, extensions are basically being hacked in to work with a preexisting engine. An extension author often has to work around the limitations of Chrome, while the big problem with Firefox right now is actually adding limitations so poorly coded extensions can't break the browser. (And that's only in the beta.)

For me, the 4.0 beta is fast enough at rendering to be usable--it's only downside is its slow startup time. But I get around that by having Firefox start when Windows starts, and rarely if ever closing it.

[hogarth]

I prefer Chrome, but I don't use a whole lot of funky add-ons/extensions (just AdBlock and AutoPager which are both available for Chrome).

[mittu]

Originally Posted by Lakai

Another downside is that it's too diligent when it comes to saving my history. I need to find ways to limit what Chrome remembers so that I won't have to constantly remember to clear my history.

There is an extension for Chrome called Click&Clean which works in a similar way to Firefox's 'delete on browser close' function. You can customise which aspects of your history you want to be deleted when you close the browser. The only issue with it is that if you re-launch the browser before it has finished clearing the old session it tends to bugger things up.

I keep trying Chrome when they bring new versions out but for some reason I keep coming back to Firefox, I can't really put my finger on why exactly, maybe it's that stupid frowning face when the page crashes! On a side note IE9 is pretty cool.

[iamnotbatman]

I want to switch to Chrome, but only Firefox has the Search for text when I start typing option, which I cannot live without.

It continues to blow my mind that neither Chrome nor Safari include this seemingly trivial-to-implement option, despite many, many people asking for it.

[AClockworkMelon]

Originally Posted by iamnotbatman

I want to switch to Chrome, but only Firefox has the Search for text when I start typing option, which I cannot live without.

It continues to blow my mind that neither Chrome nor Safari include this seemingly trivial-to-implement option, despite many, many people asking for it.

Can you explain to me what this feature is? How is it different than using CTRL+F?

[Just Ed]

Originally Posted by Lakai

One downside that I see for Chrome is that I don't see how it protects my saved passwords. Firefox has an option to protect your passwords with a password.

Another downside is that it's too diligent when it comes to saving my history. I need to find ways to limit what Chrome remembers so that I won't have to constantly remember to clear my history.

For passwords, I'd recommend a password program like LastPass. For history, get CCleaner and run it on a schedule to clean whatever you like and also "Compact Databases", which speeds up either browser.

Originally Posted by hogarth

I prefer Chrome, but I don't use a whole lot of funky add-ons/extensions (just AdBlock and AutoPager which are both available for Chrome).

Same here; I was a long-time Firefox user, and experimented with a whole bunch of add-ons, but I never found very many to be especially useful. So for me, Chrome's increased screen space and speed work better. I have a few little add-ons in Chrome, but I don't hanker for anything I used to have in Firefox.

Originally Posted by AClockworkMelon

Can you explain to me what this feature is? How is it different than using CTRL+F?

I am not iamnotbatman, but if I may - the difference is Ctrl+F; in Firefox, you can set the option to begin searching the page you're on as soon as you start typing, so you don't have to hit Ctrl+F at all - simply start typing what you're looking for and the browser will highlight matches as you go.

[Mangetout]

So you're... Batman?

[saoirse]

Originally Posted by AClockworkMelon

Can you explain to me what this feature is? How is it different than using CTRL+F?

It's what happens when you use CRTL+F, and it's actually one of the things that bugs me about Firefox. Firefox starts searching for the text you type into the search box as soon as you type it. For example, if you're looking for "doper," it will find the first "d," then the first instance of "do," and on and on until you get to "doper." What I hate about it is that if you accidentally type "do[" it jams the process up. I would rather the browser wait until I click a button before it starts searching.

[Mangetout]

Different strokes, I guess, but the instant searching is something I find highly useful in Firefox - because (fat finger errors excepted) it should take you to the first instance of the sought term in the absolute minimum of keystrokes (for example, if you were looking for the word 'keystrokes' on this page, you only need type the first four letters in the search box in Firefox, and you're alreadt there)

Also, if you were searching for the word 'already', you'd have a fighting chance of finding it in this post, even though I spelt it 'alreadt'.

[Quimby]

I have used both and swear by Chrome. It is totally a personal preference though. Firefox always seemed like a Bizarro IE to me. Just different enough to be annoying to get used to so I never bothered (yes I know it is the greatest and most wonderful piece of software ever...I just didn't like it).

Chrome is so much faster and sleeker. If you are worried about how it saves history, it has Incognito Mode which doesn't save the history.

The only down side is once in a while I find a web site that doesn't work quite right on it but that is getting less and less common as the browser becomes more established.

[njtt]

There are a lot of Firefox extensions that I find useful. Three I really hate having to do without are Back to Close (highly recommended, especially with a mouse side button), Image Zoom, and Nuke Anything Enhanced (especially when combined with Flashblock).

Maybe it is just psychological, but Chrome somehow feels cold to me. I admit that Firefox (on my ancient system, anyway) takes way too long to start up, but I don't care about a few milliseconds either way in rendering speed.

Also, I agree with iamnotbatman on the text search issue.

[Mangetout]

On balance, I prefer FF, although I agree with criticisms about memory management, bloat, etc. In principle, I think Chrome sounds great - especially the sandboxing of each tab, but I just got horribly frustrated by the difficulty in customising the browser to fit me - in particular, blocking ads.

I realise that as the progeny of Google, it's not surprising that blocking ads wouldn't be so easy, but some bits of the internet are just unbearable (or downright unsafe) if their ad components are rendered. Maybe it's changed recently and this is now easier in Chrome, but they lost me at the start and I haven't been back to check. If Chrome was somehow able to use Firefox extensions, I'd be all over it like a rash.

[jz78817]

Originally Posted by saoirse

It's what happens when you use CRTL+F, and it's actually one of the things that bugs me about Firefox. Firefox starts searching for the text you type into the search box as soon as you type it. For example, if you're looking for "doper," it will find the first "d," then the first instance of "do," and on and on until you get to "doper." What I hate about it is that if you accidentally type "do[" it jams the process up. I would rather the browser wait until I click a button before it starts searching.

I don't know if it's a setting somewhere, but some time back the default behavior was set so that you had to lead off with a forward slash before it would start the "find as you type" searching.

I ended up switching to Chrome after seeing how much faster it was on my netbook. Firefox is slow as molasses in comparison.

[Ximenean]

I switched from Firefox to Chrome as my primary browser early last year. Since then I've had three or four malware attacks that got through the first line of defence, which never happened before. I suspect that Chrome/Webkit has more vulnerabilities than Firefox/Gecko and whatever IE uses as its engine. Some surveys I have seen back this impression up.

Haven't had any such problems since the last Chrome upgrade, but if it happens again I might go back to Firefox. It looks like FF v4 will incorporate some of the Chrome features that I like.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Does Chrome have a feature that syncs bookmarks across computers similar to Firefox's XMarks?


mmm

[ptr2void]

The Lazarus known as Xmarks has a Chrome extension.

[Least Original User Name Ever]

Originally Posted by Mangetout

On balance, I prefer FF, although I agree with criticisms about memory management, bloat, etc. In principle, I think Chrome sounds great - especially the sandboxing of each tab, but I just got horribly frustrated by the difficulty in customising the browser to fit me - in particular, blocking ads.

I realise that as the progeny of Google, it's not surprising that blocking ads wouldn't be so easy, but some bits of the internet are just unbearable (or downright unsafe) if their ad components are rendered. Maybe it's changed recently and this is now easier in Chrome, but they lost me at the start and I haven't been back to check. If Chrome was somehow able to use Firefox extensions, I'd be all over it like a rash.

Perhaps you should read this thread.

[Covered_In_Bees!]

I'm a Firefox user until Chrome gets a vBulletin Manager wannabe or the official thing or something that does the same thing. Gotta block all the trolls at a message board or two that I frequent dontcha know.

[Really Not All That Bright]

I like Chrome because it's "cleaner". I don't like to have a bunch of icons on my desktop and I don't like having a bunch of buttons on my browser. Plus, it's more intuitive, and leaves more screen space for non-browser stuff.

The downside to Chrome as far as I'm concerned is that occasionally you run into sites (mostly government sites and the like) that require IE or Firefox. So I keep those installed.

[mittu]

Originally Posted by Really Not All That Bright

The downside to Chrome as far as I'm concerned is that occasionally you run into sites (mostly government sites and the like) that require IE or Firefox. So I keep those installed.

If it is just a rendering problem there is a Chrome extension called IE Tab or something similar that causes the page to rendered as it would be in IE, without the need to actually open IE.

[Mangetout]

Originally Posted by Least Original User Name Ever

Perhaps you should read this thread.

I have already read it. What's your point?

[elmwood]

I keep coming back to Firefox too, even though Chrome seems faster, cleaner and more stable. For me, it's plugins where I haven't been able to find an equivalent on Chrome. I use the most recent Firefox 4 beta on both the PC and Mac, and it seems quite a bit faster and more stable than FF 3.

[Really Not All That Bright]

Originally Posted by mittu

If it is just a rendering problem there is a Chrome extension called IE Tab or something similar that causes the page to rendered as it would be in IE, without the need to actually open IE.

That would help for a couple but mostly it's sites that say "you must have FF or IE to access this site." Progressive.com, for example (although some of it works in Chrome).

[Trepa Mayfield]

Originally Posted by Really Not All That Bright

I like Chrome because it's "cleaner". I don't like to have a bunch of icons on my desktop and I don't like having a bunch of buttons on my browser. Plus, it's more intuitive, and leaves more screen space for non-browser stuff.

That's the exact reason why I don't use Chrome. Without buttons, I don't know where to click!

[guizot]

I switched to Chrome simply because every time I start up Firefox, I get a window called the "Error Console." Every time. And this is what it says:

Originally Posted by Firefox Error Console

Error: not well-formed
Source File: moz-nullprincipal:{5fbf5615-5f13-45ec-85a4-a287bf4f2a4b}
Line: 1, Column: 14484
Source Code..

Error: not well-formed
Source File: moz-nullprincipal:{9f1c6eda-1c5a-466b-9f5b-29522ba813b8}
Line: 1, Column: 14484
Source Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?><toolbar><toolbaritem id="yahoo-toolbar-main-container" maxheight="32" flex="2" style="margin-right:3px;margin-left:3px"><toolbaritem id="yahoo-toolbar-reqbtns" maxwidth="700" pack="begin" align="center"><toolbarbutton class="lightning-button" id="yahoo-toolbar-wlp" label="Welcome Page" yhash="{'id':'wlp','p':'wp2','pos':'yhoo','to':'-1','ultid':'wlp70'}" oncommand="yahooButtonHandler(event);" onclick="if(event.button == 1) yahooButtonHandler(event);"

and so on.....

(Obviously that information is not "well-formed," but what exactly am I supposed to do about it?)


I've reinstalled Firefox many times, and upgraded it. I've gone over the settings, and options, etc., but this window still comes up every time I launch the Firefox. I got just tired of closing it all the time.

However, I have to go back to Firefox for printing files, because the Chrome print options are just about zero.

[RealityChuck]

Right now, Chrome is my top browser. Fast and clean.

Opera is number 2.

Firefox is slow and clunky, especially starting up. I stopped using it as soon as I caught on to Chrome.

MSIE is mediocre, but is necessary for some MS-only web pages. Luckly, there are add-ins for Firefox and Chrome that let you use its rendering engine within the other browser.

Safari is the worst -- lack of features and a silly bookmark scheme designed just to be different and not to be better. It's only on the market because Apples ship with it.

[Mangetout]

Originally Posted by guizot

I switched to Chrome simply because every time I start up Firefox, I get a window called the "Error Console." Every time. And this is what it saysObviously that information is not "well-formed," but what exactly am I supposed to do about it?)


I've reinstalled Firefox many times, and upgraded it. I've gone over the settings, and options, etc., but this window still comes up every time I launch the Firefox. I got just tired of closing it all the time.

Probably a dumb question, but have you tried removing the Yahoo Toolbar? (I was going to say "...then reinstalling it", but thats a recommendation that sticks in my throat)

[guizot]

Originally Posted by Mangetout

Probably a dumb question, but have you tried removing the Yahoo Toolbar?..

Yes. Those weren't the only problems. It also has things like, "
Warning: Unknown property 'zoom'. Declaration dropped.
Source File: http://www.google.com/ig
Line: 3"
About 25 of them. This it also has: "
Warning: Error in parsing value for 'display'. Declaration dropped.
Source File: http://www.google.com/ig
Line: 0"

And so on. It's not just Yahoo. My version of Firefox just hates the whole world.

[Mangetout]

Blimey. Long shot: this isn't on a corporate machine that has some sort of permissions lockdown, is it?

[guizot]

Originally Posted by Mangetout

Blimey. Long shot: this isn't on a corporate machine that has some sort of permissions lockdown, is it?

No, it's a personal laptop. Moreover, at one time Firefox and this laptop had a beautiful relationship. Now it's all I can do to keep them from hurling insults at each other about parsing values, unknown properties and permission denied. It's brutal.

[Rigamarole]

Chrome, hands down. (reasons have already been stated in the thread - and the extension offerings are pretty damn good so that's not a valid reason to choose Firefox over Chrome)

Firefox is the backup browser for the occasional site that's not with the times and still hasn't added Chrome support (or for testing if you're a web dev / have to do tech support).

[fubbleskag]

guizot: The errors you're seeing in the Firefox Error Console are not abnormal; what is abnormal is if the Error Console is automatically popping up - it's not supposed to open unless you ask it to, either via the menu or hotkey combo (Ctrl-Shift-J). It's possible one of your extensions is somehow triggering this behaviour.

[BigT]

Originally Posted by Really Not All That Bright

That would help for a couple but mostly it's sites that say "you must have FF or IE to access this site." Progressive.com, for example (although some of it works in Chrome).

Those should work as well, as the IETab is actually using IE, and tells he website that it is IE (or, at least, it should.)

But if you are wanting a solution that doesn't involve using IE, I'd suggest reading this website. When Chrome finally adds an API that will allow extensions to do it, you can just use this extension, but, for now, you'll have to use the command line.

ETA: And that right there is an example of how their extension support still sucks, Rigamarole. There are multiple extensions that can do this in Firefox, and there has been support for it from day one.

[BigT]

Originally Posted by guizot

I switched to Chrome simply because every time I start up Firefox, I get a window called the "Error Console." Every time. And this is what it saysObviously that information is not "well-formed," but what exactly am I supposed to do about it?)


I've reinstalled Firefox many times, and upgraded it. I've gone over the settings, and options, etc., but this window still comes up every time I launch the Firefox. I got just tired of closing it all the time.

However, I have to go back to Firefox for printing files, because the Chrome print options are just about zero.

Reinstalling Firefox does next to nothing if you don't delete your settings. Did you try creating a new profile?

[guizot]

Originally Posted by BigT

Reinstalling Firefox does next to nothing if you don't delete your settings. Did you try creating a new profile?

I just did, and that seems to have solved the problem. Thanks, BigT!

[GusNSpot]

I can't even make my stuff readable without spell checking as I go. FF has the best of that IMO.

I'm old and need bigger resolutions and manny sites do not render well with Chrome et al. Still a lot of sites that are IE monsters and FF seems the best at rendering them for me. I don't like a lot of stuff open as I do not have a powerful machine and FF combines the best of what I need.

I have IE, FF, Chrome, K-Meleon, Oprah, AOHell, on this XP machine and Chrome, Seamonkey, FF on my Ubuntu Machine.

I try to use what is needed for a certain site if FF does not do the trick but pipe size and computer speed restrictions make all the nano second bench clocking you all are fussing over, a moot point for me and manny others out in the woods.

YMMV

[Least Original User Name Ever]

Originally Posted by Mangetout

I have already read it. What's your point?

There are Chrome add-ons galore being asked about and brought up.

[Crowbar of Irony +3]

I use Chrome for personal surfing. It's just less cluttered and feels faster.

For the record, I don't use many extensions.

However, for the purpose of debugging web-sites, I use Firefox.

[Morgenstern]

I like Chrome's incognito mode. It doesn't clutter your system by storing browser history that you end up deleting anyway.

[Mangetout]

Originally Posted by Least Original User Name Ever

There are Chrome add-ons galore being asked about and brought up.

Presumably something made you think I missed that?

[chromaticity]

I used to be a FF supporter till recently.
I tried Safari for a bit, before changing over to Chrome.
Chrome is faster and sleeker. I don't like the font rendering, but it was easily remedied.

[gladtobeblazed]

So I decided to give Chrome a chance, once again. I haven't tried it since its initial release. I don't like it. Where the hell is the bookmarks button? I have to open a new tab before I can get to them. And how do I switch the search engine after typing in the address bar? Opera has a search bar that can let me easily switch search engines. Hell, I have multiple search bars in Opera, just to save me a second or two to search my most used sites. I don't like Chrome, it doesn't feel like a complete web browser to me.

[Patty O'Furniture]

There is a bookmarks bar.

And why would you need to switch search engines?

[gladtobeblazed]

Originally Posted by Patty O'Furniture

There is a bookmarks bar.

And why would you need to switch search engines?

I have to open a new tab to get to my bookmarks. That annoys me.

I am constantly searching things on Youtube and Imdb and Wikipedia, and many other sites. Being able to easily switch between them in my search bar is convenient for me. In fact, I find myself searching Wikipedia and Youtube so often, I just gave them their own search bars in Opera. I didn't see any way to do that with Chrome.

[enalzi]

Originally Posted by gladtobeblazed

I am constantly searching things on Youtube and Imdb and Wikipedia, and many other sites. Being able to easily switch between them in my search bar is convenient for me. In fact, I find myself searching Wikipedia and Youtube so often, I just gave them their own search bars in Opera. I didn't see any way to do that with Chrome.

This is my biggest hurdle to switching to Chrome. I'm a fan of simplified designed, but I LIKE the separate search bar. For example, I see a movie on TV, and with just a few clicks I can easily switch between searching for information on Wikipedia and IMDB, clips on YouTube, check and see if it's on Netflix, if not I can check Amazon, or maybe a few pirating sites, etc.

Are there any extensions to add the search box (with multiple search options) to Chrome? Any search I try only leads me to changing Firefox search to be more like Chrome.

Also, I can't seem to get it to import my Firefox passwords.

[Inner Stickler]

Originally Posted by gladtobeblazed

I have to open a new tab to get to my bookmarks. That annoys me.

I am constantly searching things on Youtube and Imdb and Wikipedia, and many other sites. Being able to easily switch between them in my search bar is convenient for me. In fact, I find myself searching Wikipedia and Youtube so often, I just gave them their own search bars in Opera. I didn't see any way to do that with Chrome.

The browser bar is right below the omnibar and stores the links that I use so often that I saved them there. On the right it says Other Bookmarks. I click that and I get the links I've bookmarked and saved just in the bookmarks file. No opening a ne tab necessary.

Site specific searching? Easy peasy. Say I want to search for something on youtube and youtube only. I start typing youtube and by the time I've hit Y, on the right of the omnibar it says Press TAB to search Youtube Video Search. It only works, though, if you've already searched for something via the site's own search function. But you only have to do that once and you can search just one site from the omnibar. Because Chrome is awesome, like that.

[gladtobeblazed]

Originally Posted by Inner Stickler

The browser bar is right below the omnibar and stores the links that I use so often that I saved them there. On the right it says Other Bookmarks. I click that and I get the links I've bookmarked and saved just in the bookmarks file. No opening a ne tab necessary.

Site specific searching? Easy peasy. Say I want to search for something on youtube and youtube only. I start typing youtube and by the time I've hit Y, on the right of the omnibar it says Press TAB to search Youtube Video Search. It only works, though, if you've already searched for something via the site's own search function. But you only have to do that once and you can search just one site from the omnibar. Because Chrome is awesome, like that.

OK, I see I have to enable it to always show bookmarks bar.

As for searching. I see what you said works for youtube. Typing in "y" shows "Search Youtube" at the bottom of the address bar. But it doesn't seem to work for The Straight Dope or other forums I visit. I can add SDMB's search into Opera's search bar.

I will say that Chrome does seem to render web pages a little bit faster than Opera.