# Firefox v. Chrome... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 16, 2014, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635 "2014-09-16T09:52:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/1 "2014-09-16T09:52:20Z")
So I’ve posted in the past about how running Firefox on this Macbook Pro of mine often spikes the CPU usage every few seconds over 100% after just three days of normal use (not to mention using over 2 GB of real memory and over one GB of inactive memory), even with 8 GB of RAM. So I decided to at least download Chrome to check it out. It was only then I discovered that it didn’t have any protection for my saved passwords, something complained about way back in 2010. But apparently that wasn’t regarded as a priority. And that’s just a surface thing; I have no idea what other quirks and differences will pop up as I use it. So now I have to decide between eliminating the CPU spikes (possibly) and security concerns (possibly). Any opinions on this matter, or on the two browsers in general? ---
**Author:** ![Recusant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@Recusant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recusant)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/2 "2014-09-16T12:05:44Z")
I’m not in a position to comment on the most recent iterations of Firefox, as I jumped ship after Mozilla decided to become Google, jr, but if you want its functionality without its resource consumption, you might want to give Pale Moon a look. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/3 "2014-09-16T12:45:18Z")
This is most likely a dumb question but is Safari an option ? Miss DrumBum has a 17" MacBook Pro w/ 8G of memory at school and has not had any complaints about Firefox or Safari. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/4 "2014-09-17T00:35:46Z")
> [@Recusant](#): > > I’m not in a position to comment on the most recent iterations of Firefox, as I jumped ship after Mozilla decided to become Google, jr, but if you want its functionality without its resource consumption, you might want to give Pale Moon a look. Pale Moon is Windows only. > [@DrumBum](#): > > This is most likely a dumb question but is Safari an option ? Not a dumb question at all. It IS an option; I’m just not sure how good an option it is. Perhaps I should’ve brought it into the discussion. As for your Mrs., she may use fewer tabs than I do? ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/5 "2014-09-17T01:02:22Z")
I hate Chrome. I mostly hate FF now too, but I hate it slightly less and have been using it for so long that I have it really customized to my liking in a way that I can’t do with Chrome (and really, I can’t do in FF either without a shit ton of add-ons and every update is a chance I won’t be able to do it anymore). I get usage spikes with FF, but not as bad. The memory leak (which users notice but Mozilla doesn’t seem to acknowledge) is a slow leak. Chrome, on the other hand, cranks itself up and never backs down until I close it or it crashes. It hogs too much of my system even if I have just simple tabs open. It took me like 5 clicks to bookmark something yesterday. Blech. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/6 "2014-09-17T02:57:35Z")
You know, Firefox vs Chrome is one of those eternal holy wars that you’ll never get an unbiased answer to. Just try them both, maybe on alternate days for a week, and see which one suits your fancy more. As for the security issue, really, local password encryption is more a feel-good measure than an actual security device. It’s somewhat better if you use a master password to lock the other ones, but 1) that’s a hassle and 2) there are Chrome addons that can do the same thing. But in the end, any rogue program that can access your computer to that degree can already do worse things, like log your passwords directly or steal your cookies. IMO it shouldn’t be a high priority for Chrome because it does very little to protect users versus dealing with actual network/bug-based threats, which Firefox is [generally worse at](http://www.extremetech.com/computing/178587-firefox-is-still-the-least-secure-web-browser-falls-to-four-zero-day-exploits-at-pwn2own) protecting against, though not by a significant margin. All the big players are relatively safe, and all are still imperfect and hackable, today. TL;DR: I wouldn’t use local password security as a useful criterion to judge the differences between browsers. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/7 "2014-09-17T05:00:27Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > I get usage spikes with FF, but not as bad. The memory leak (which users notice but Mozilla doesn’t seem to acknowledge) is a slow leak. Chrome, on the other hand, cranks itself up and never backs down until I close it or it crashes. It hogs too much of my system even if I have just simple tabs open. It took me like 5 clicks to bookmark something yesterday. Blech. This may be a key factor, here. If it’s not going to be any better with CPU usage, then there’s no real reason to switch at all. Maybe I should experiment with Chrome for about the time it usually takes me to get unbearable in Firefox (6 days or so) and see how it feels. > [@Reply](#): > > It’s somewhat better if you use a master password to lock the other ones, but 1) that’s a hassle and 2) there are Chrome addons that can do the same thing. I do, actually, and don’t find it a huge hassle. But (2) is a point to ponder. Maybe I just need to quit the browser more often. _shrugs_ If it’ll save me money and bother upgrading RAM with my next computer, I may have to get into the habit anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/8 "2014-09-17T05:18:38Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > So I’ve posted in the past about how running Firefox on this Macbook Pro of mine often spikes the CPU usage every few seconds over 100% after just three days of normal use (not to mention using over 2 GB of real memory and over one GB of inactive memory), even with 8 GB of RAM. > > So now I have to decide between eliminating the CPU spikes (possibly) This hits you every day. > [@](#): > > and security concerns (possibly). This hits you … who knows how often? Has your PC ever been hacked externally? Go with Chrome. Really. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/9 "2014-09-17T12:27:31Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Pale Moon is Windows only. > > Not a dumb question at all. It IS an option; I’m just not sure how good an option it is. Perhaps I should’ve brought it into the discussion. > > As for your Mrs., she may use fewer tabs than I do? I checked in with Miss Drumbum and she said that a typical session is 3-4 tabs open. The big resource drain for her laptop is probably Final Cut Pro ( video editing tool ) and FaceTime. … and homework. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/10 "2014-10-04T09:58:18Z")
I just removed Chrome earlier today because it picked up a nasty parasite (“unicoupons”) which it absolutely refused to get rid of. When I tried to download it again, it failed to download at all while putting a bunch of unwanted crap on my computer which took me several minutes to get rid of (and this after clicking Decline on _everything_). I’m a Firefox man now. Never planned it that way, and I’ve never had any brand loyalty whatsoever; I just use what works. From my experience, Firefox is simply more stable and less problematic, particularly with far-off slimeballs installing garbage on my computer without my consent. (It’s happened, but much less frequently, and it’s a lot easier to clean up the mess when it does.) The ideal, IMO (and if you know anything about me this won’t come as a surprise), would actually be a browser I had to pay for and came on a CD. A program completely on hard-coded physical media and with no financial incentive to cram in a bunch of 3rd party flotsam would definitely give me peace of mind. Barring that, though, I’m sticking with Firefox. Disclaimer: I don’t own a laptop, so I’m unaware of any power use issues. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/11 "2014-10-05T00:51:53Z")
I, um…I’ve actually migrated from Chrome to Internet Explorer. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/12 "2014-10-05T01:42:56Z")
I have never noticed any significant performance issues with Firefox. I have tried Chrome, and I do not like its user interface, which seems to much less customizable than that of Firefox. For some idiotic reason the _default_ UI of Firefox now looks much like Chrome, but it is quite easy to set it back so that you have a menu bar again, and tabs below the toolbar, which I like. So far as I am aware, this sort of thing can’t be done with Chrome. (If it can be, it is not obvious, and I am not interested in wasting ,y time to figure out how.) The most important factor, for me, however, is the Firefox sidebar, which I find very useful, for using and handling both for bookmarks and history, and which seems to have no equivalent in Chrome. I also do not like Google controlling too many aspects of my online life. The company has become frighteningly powerful and unaccountable. I realize they now effectively own Firefox too, now, but at least their control there remains somewhat indirect. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/13 "2014-10-05T15:27:35Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Maybe I just need to quit the browser more often. _shrugs_ If it’ll save me money and bother upgrading RAM with my next computer, I may have to get into the habit anyway. I install a [restart extension](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/restartless-restart/) and restart it every day or so. All your tabs are still there when you come back. The only real inconvenience is how slow Firefox is to actually close. meaning it’s best to restart when you are leaving. But I’m not sure that will be much of a problem for you, if you have the memory. The delay is that Firefox swaps all its memory back in to do a bunch of tasks on shutdown, including saving settings (useful, but should be done earlier) and garbage collecting (which is absolutely moronic.) There’s a but on fixing it, but it’s stalled out for other concerns. If you have enough memory that Firefox doesn’t have to swap things back in, restarting should be fast. Though I will say that Flash is probably the biggest reason I have to restart. It’s what seems to be poorly designed. I don’t get spikes or slowdowns unless I’ve watched a lot of Flash videos. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/14 "2014-10-05T15:30:11Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I, um…I’ve actually migrated from Chrome to Internet Explorer. That’s an option for people who don’t really need extensions of any kind. That’s where IE fails. Extensions have to essentially be full programs. It is pretty fast, though, if you use the latest version. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/15 "2014-10-06T13:05:51Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That’s an option for people who don’t really need extensions of any kind. That’s where IE fails. Extensions have to essentially be full programs. > > It is pretty fast, though, if you use the latest version. Yeah, I don’t use any extensions whatsoever, so it’s never come up for me. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/16 "2014-10-06T13:12:28Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That’s an option for people who don’t really need extensions of any kind. That’s where IE fails. Extensions have to essentially be full programs. Question: What kind of extensions are people using? ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/17 "2014-10-06T13:37:10Z")
The biggest one for most people is Adblock plus - Blocks ads For me personally, I additionally use (in firefox) Firebug (for web development) Https everywhere No script (I set it to block 3rd party scripts by default, not all scripts) Ghostery Right to click (fixes sites that disable/screw with right clicking) Show the image Nosquint Video Download Helper Better Privacy Flashblock Tamper Data The Add-on bar (revisited), to add back the add-on bar as the whole “put everything on top” fails hard with as many extensions as I run. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/18 "2014-10-06T13:47:43Z")
> [@jacobsta811](#): > > The biggest one for most people is > Adblock plus - Blocks ads Now I’m confused. Because AdBlock is now available for Internet Explorer. And, FWIW, I’ve had better luck getting RealPlayer’s Downloader to work with IE than with Chrome. Is that not an extension? ---
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/19 "2014-10-06T15:48:59Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Now I’m confused. Because AdBlock is now available for Internet Explorer… Looked it up, you are right, they released a version of Adblock plus for internet explorer a little more than a year ago. Some limitations vs firefox/chrome versions, and on the technical side it likely isn’t as well integrated to the browser/can’t do quite as much. Chrome has that problem to a lesser extent too though, firefox lets extensions do more, more easily than the other browsers. [http://www.7tutorials.com/did-you-know-there-adblock-plus-internet-explorer](http://www.7tutorials.com/did-you-know-there-adblock-plus-internet-explorer) I believe that realplayer download, etc are “plug-ins” like adobe flash - basically an entirely separate program rather than something that integrates with the existing browser. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635/20 "2014-10-09T03:21:39Z")
One problem I have with Chrome is that, try as I might to go through the motions of saving passwords, they never actually seem to be saved. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-v-chrome/698635.md?page=2)