# What Browser Are You Using? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423 "2010-01-25T21:20:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/1 "2010-01-25T21:20:58Z")
Google just released a official new version of Chrome 4.0 and I’ve updated my PC accordingly. With this new update Chrome now supports extensions (AdBlock!!) and a bookmark sync which will mirror your bookmarks across any PC you use when you log in with your Gmail account. I have been a Firefox user for a long time and while it’s no longer as clean or fast as it once was my complaints are very few. I also have IE 8 installed but it very rarely gets any use, it’s mostly just for very rare compatibility issues and for the occasional guest user who happens to want to use it. A few weeks back I got my hands on a new Sony Vaio laptop and it came with IE 8 and Chrome installed and I didn’t want to bother installing Firefox since it was a shared PC. As a result I started using Chrome more frequently and getting comfortable with it. I still stuck with Firefox on my desktop since the lack of AdBlock on the laptop was a shortcoming, so I suppose I was a browser bigamist for a stretch there. Now that Chrome has AdBlock and other extensions I see little reason to stick with Firefox. I’m probably going to give Chrome a try as my full time browser of choice. We’ll see if it sticks. \*Note: Yes, I realize that this poll has been done to death around here but the browser landscape is constantly changing and with this reasonably significant upgrade to Chrome I figured it was worth revisiting. If it serves as an excuse to inform folks of the new Chrome version available and an avenue to discuss and compare browsers then it’s served a valid purpose. \* ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/2 "2010-01-25T21:21:19Z")
IE ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/3 "2010-01-25T21:24:16Z")
Opera ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/4 "2010-01-25T21:28:10Z")
Several months back I abandoned Safari, which had been getting waaaaay slow, for Firefox. Now Firefox is slow, too. I’m suspicious both of them fuck with the OS X Finder. Or maybe I just surf too damn much. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/5 "2010-01-25T21:28:55Z")
Firefox, unless I’m on my iPhone, in which case, I use Mobile Safari or whatever it is that’s built in there. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/6 "2010-01-25T21:30:46Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Several months back I abandoned Safari, which had been getting waaaaay slow, for Firefox. > > Now Firefox is slow, too. > > I’m suspicious both of them fuck with the OS X Finder. Or maybe I just surf too damn much. :rolleyes: Couldn’t possibly have anything to do with OS X of course. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/7 "2010-01-25T21:31:11Z")
Firefox 2.x because the version of AdBlock I like isn’t compatible with 3.x (or wasn’t when I tried 3.x however many months ago). ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/8 "2010-01-25T21:31:40Z")
Newest version of Firefox at home. Explorer 7 at work (NOT by choice). I’ll have to update my google chrome. I’m a big fan of adblock. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/9 "2010-01-25T21:32:50Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Couldn’t possibly have anything to do with OS X of course. 😉 Fuck with OS X, my good sir, and you fuck with _me_. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/10 "2010-01-25T21:45:26Z")
In order to promote more discussion I thought I’d mention what I like best about Chrome and why I’m at least temporarily ditching Firefox for it. The biggest plus for me is how little screen real estate it takes up. On my 4:3 desktop monitor I was never really bothered by the size of the browser at the top and bottom of pages, but on a 16:9 laptop screen it became a lot more cumbersome. I really like the way the Chrome compromises on the status bar on the bottom by hiding it the majority of the time but popping up a minimal version of it when you hover over a link or load a page. I also love that they did away with the Menu Bar at the top, this isn’t revolutionary since IE actually came up with this first (to much negative response oddly enough) but the implementation here just feels better. Another plus is the use of the New Tab screen in the way it displays bookmarks and recently visited/closed tabs. It’s very handy and another nice compromise to hide the persistent Bookmarks Bar on FF and IE. I do occasionally miss having a bookmarks button on an existing tab though since I don’t always need a new tab. That should probably be a custom option, though an extension could fix it. I will miss the Firefox option to delete the last hour, 2 hours or 4 hours of your browsing history. It was handy. 😉 Chrome lets you delete just the last day’s history, not allowing you to crop any more discretely. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/11 "2010-01-25T21:57:23Z")
I tried Chrome. Didn’t care for it but maybe it’ll improve. I am so pleased with Firefox I don’t really see any reason to change. I don’t notice any speed issues at all, and if I need something I can only get with IE it has this handy little plug-in to open a page in IE without the hideousness of IE. My favorite part of FF is Kidzui. There’s a K on the menu and that’s all it takes to set my little girl up for her computer time. She has all sorts of kids’ sites to enjoy without worrying about her accidentally clicking on something bad. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/12 "2010-01-25T22:21:12Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > I tried Chrome. Didn’t care for it but maybe it’ll improve. I am so pleased with Firefox I don’t really see any reason to change. I don’t notice any speed issues at all, and if I need something I can only get with IE it has this handy little plug-in to open a page in IE without the hideousness of IE. IE Tab exists on Chrome 4.0 as well, it and AdBlock are the only 2 extensions I have installed thus far. ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/13 "2010-01-25T22:24:14Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Several months back I abandoned Safari, which had been getting waaaaay slow, for Firefox. > > Now Firefox is slow, too. > > I’m suspicious both of them fuck with the OS X Finder. Or maybe I just surf too damn much. :rolleyes: I have both and have used Firefox a few times, but I find it absolutely no different from Safari. I don’t know why I gravitate toward Safari except that I’m more familiar with its avatar or logo or whatever on my desktop and so click on it automatically. Seriously, what’s so great about Firefox? I don’t see any difference at all. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/14 "2010-01-25T22:25:16Z")
I was one of the last Netscape holdouts… then I was a regular IE user up until about two months ago, when my company moved their corporate standard to Firefox. So far I’m happy with Firefox. I’d used it for a bit way way back, don’t remember why I ended up using Netscape more than Firefox back then. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/15 "2010-01-25T22:39:43Z")
I’ve heard lots of good things about Chrome, particularly that it consumes far less memory than other browsers. I stick with Firefox because of the addons. I love adblock and flashblock and I feel like I can’t function without Snaplinks. I love the way Delicious integrates with FF too. If there were a Snaplinks equivalent on Chrome, I’d give it a shot. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/16 "2010-01-25T22:41:11Z")
> [@kapri](#): > > I have both and have used Firefox a few times, but I find it absolutely no different from Safari. I don’t know why I gravitate toward Safari except that I’m more familiar with its avatar or logo or whatever on my desktop and so click on it automatically. > > Seriously, what’s so great about Firefox? I don’t see any difference at all. Well, to put into terms you probably understand, what’s so great about the iPhone? It’s almost exactly the same thing as the Droid, Nexus One and Palm Pre, hardly any difference at all. Well… except for _Apps_. iPhone has tons of great apps because it was first to market. Firefox has a ton of plug-ins because it was first to market. Everything else is largely aesthetics, which to be fair is a perfectly reasonable yardstick. There are some functionality and compatibility differences between the browsers (and smartphones/mobile OSes) but those really only affect a small percentage of users. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/17 "2010-01-25T22:44:17Z")
> [@Chopper9760](#): > > I’ve heard lots of good things about Chrome, particularly that it consumes far less memory than other browsers. > > I stick with Firefox because of the addons. I love adblock and flashblock and I feel like I can’t function without Snaplinks. I love the way Delicious integrates with FF too. > > If there were a Snaplinks equivalent on Chrome, I’d give it a shot. It [exists](http://lifehacker.com/5441474/linky-opens-multiple-links-in-google-chrome). ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/18 "2010-01-25T23:00:17Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > The biggest plus for me is how little screen real estate it takes up. On my 4:3 desktop monitor I was never really bothered by the size of the browser at the top and bottom of pages, but on a 16:9 laptop screen it became a lot more cumbersome. I really like the way the Chrome compromises on the status bar on the bottom by hiding it the majority of the time but popping up a minimal version of it when you hover over a link or load a page. I also love that they did away with the Menu Bar at the top, this isn’t revolutionary since IE actually came up with this first (to much negative response oddly enough) but the implementation here just feels better. You do know you can customize Firefox, right? [This](http://www.suppersready.net/pictures/firefox.jpg) is how I have it set up, for example. Very little wasted space. I don’t even remember how the default looks, though; I just remember getting rid of a bunch of stuff - but I think the top part was at least twice as large. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/19 "2010-01-25T23:01:53Z")
Seamonkey rules! ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423/20 "2010-01-25T23:07:30Z")
Never used any of the main choices as my standard browser. Current everyday browser is Demeter. Before that I used Shiira. (Demeter and Shiira are both webkit-based browsers). Before Shiira, I used iCab. Before iCab, we’re going so far back that I was using Netscape Navigator 4.0 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-browser-are-you-using/526423.md?page=2)