# what's the best alternative to Internet Explorer? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 6, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003 "2003-09-06T22:53:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/21 "2003-09-07T10:28:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LordVor \* > Single best arguement in favor of Mozilla/Firebird:[flash click to view](http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/more-info.php/flashclick) This is most excellent, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/22 "2003-09-07T13:07:51Z")
I use Opera. The new version 7 betas that are out have a noticeable speed increase – I believe the rendering engine was re-written from scratch – as well as much better support for JavaScript and Flash. Many of Opera’s Java problems stem from some problem with the latest release of Sun Java. The previous version, bundled with Opera, works fine for me. It’s not a perfect browser (I dislike their implementation of bookmarking intensely) but out of the handful I’ve tried – IE, Netscape, Mozilla and Lynx (for fun) – it suits my needs best. It’s the only piece of shareware good enough that I’ve coughed up for the full (banner-free) version. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/23 "2003-09-07T13:19:57Z")
The latest version of the [Google toolbar](http://toolbar.google.com/) for IE has an excellent popup suppressor. ---
**Author:** ![peterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@peterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peterW)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/24 "2003-09-07T13:45:47Z")
You can try the variants that use IE’ engine. Essentially, a front end that provides tabbed browsing, pop up blocking, and other features. [Slimbrowser](http://www.slimbrowser.com) [Crazybrowser](http://www.crazybrowser.com/) [MyIE](http://www.myie2.com/) Personally, I use Slimbrowser. It provides tabbed browsing, pop up blocking and renders 99% of the websites out there correctly. Firebird is also a good browser, but I find slight problems with it that always make me switch back to an IE variant. ---
**Author:** ![leenmi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@leenmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leenmi)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/25 "2003-09-07T16:15:17Z")
Must jump in and vote for Opera. I never thought I would love a browser. I used to be happy using whichever browser was handy or available. Opera changed all that. Love, love, love my Opera browser. Blocks pop-ups, easily configured. Mouse gestures rock. (Just click the right mouse button and flick to the left - go back one page. Click and flick to the right - go forward one page. Click and flick up then down - reload page. Click and draw an “L”, close the page. I’ll stop now). I know Galeon has gestures too, and that other browseres incorporate the features in Opera, but Opera just wraps it all up better. Use what you like, but give Opera a shot. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/26 "2003-09-07T18:01:57Z")
I have found that the use of [Proxomitron](http://www.proxomitron.info/) kills pop ups quite nicely. When coupled with Opera, it blocks all the banner ads, except for the one which says “Buy Opera!” And, though I _haven’t_ attempted it yet, it seems to me that Opera would be fairly easy to hack to get rid of the banner entirely. ---
**Author:** ![dead0man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@dead0man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dead0man)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/27 "2003-09-07T19:02:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*The latest version of the [Google toolbar](http://toolbar.google.com/) for IE has an excellent popup suppressor. \*\* Yep, it works better than any other popblocker I’ve used. And you don’t have to learn a new browser and you get to support the under funded Microsoft corperation. ---
**Author:** ![dakravel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@dakravel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dakravel)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/28 "2003-09-07T19:15:47Z")
That’s what I forgot to mention, Opera’s mouse gestures kick \*ss. They’re really quite convenient, and, ummm…, useful, and, make me feel cool, and stuff. You should at least try out Opera to see what the mouse gestures are like. ---
**Author:** ![prisoner6655321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@prisoner6655321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prisoner6655321)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/29 "2003-09-07T20:26:55Z")
Do all of the other pop up “blockers” allow pop-ups that you request? Opera does. And the new beta version 7 series works better than ever. Test your pop-up suppression here: [http://www.dummysoftware.com/popupdummy\_testpage.html](http://www.dummysoftware.com/popupdummy_testpage.html) ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/30 "2003-09-07T20:46:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by prisoner6655321 \* > \*\*Do all of the other pop up “blockers” allow pop-ups that you request? Opera does. And the new beta version 7 series works better than ever. > > Test your pop-up suppression here: > [http://www.dummysoftware.com/popupdummy\_testpage.html](http://www.dummysoftware.com/popupdummy_testpage.html) \*\* Firebird lets you choose what sites to allow pop-ups from. Also, it allows pop-up s that you request as well. And its free without an annoying add at the top. ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/31 "2003-09-07T20:50:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by prisoner6655321 \* > \*\*Do all of the other pop up “blockers” allow pop-ups that you request? Opera does. And the new beta version 7 series works better than ever. > \*\* The latest mozilla has a button along the bottom of the window that you can click on to allow pop-ups from the current page. Another feature I’m finding I like is “auto-search”. Basically, you just start typing and it searches for the text that you type in the page. -lv ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/32 "2003-09-07T22:03:05Z")
Nuther vote for Opera-- totally customizable, and so versatile. I use a tabbed window setup and keyboard shortcuts for a site like the SDMB, but for casual browsing use the full screen mode (which is so much _fuller_ than IE’s egocentric “full screen”) and mouse gestures. Having the option to start from a variety of saved setups is fantastic, too. I have one for the SDMB fora and another for the daily papers I check. I’m sure that feature could be used more imaginatively. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/33 "2003-09-07T22:58:33Z")
I love Opera, but I’ve come across a few problems: 1. The news client is extremely weak. Most notably, there’s no easy way to control which messages it downloads, unless you want to download either all or none. 2. The mail client’s filters are weak. You can’t automatically delete messages that match, the best you can do is send them to the spam folder. OTOH, the built in spam filter does work pretty well most of the time. 3. When you type in a text field in a Flash applet, Opera intercepts the keys. If you want to type “apple”, it’ll toggle between normal view and print preview each time you push “P”. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/34 "2003-09-08T02:44:15Z")
One strike against Opera is its support for CSS is not as good. ---
**Author:** ![biqu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/35 "2003-09-08T03:48:06Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Urban Ranger_ > One strike against Opera is its support for CSS is not as good. One slashdot poster [begs to differ](http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=77542&threshold=1&commentsort=0&tid=99&mode=thread&pid=6894874#6895663). > [@](#): > > Opera == Standards – [the CTO of Opera](http://www.w3.org/People/howcome/) was one of the main people responsible for the CSS2 Spec. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/36 "2003-09-08T04:09:52Z")
If only Opera would build in wheel-click to open pages in other tabs. That’s my sticking point, the reason I’m still on Netscape 7. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/37 "2003-09-08T05:04:46Z")
Another vote for Mozilla. I’ve started using it and never went back. I loved tabbed browsing, awesome adblocking, and like Opera, it also has mouse gestures available. And, of course, Flash Click to View. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/38 "2003-09-08T05:25:40Z")
I downloaded that Flash Click to View because of you guys. Sweet, sweet bliss. ---
**Author:** ![Tommyturtle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Tommyturtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tommyturtle)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/39 "2003-09-08T06:19:47Z")
When I had dial up I liked Opera but with cable IE is what I like especially with all the plug-ins you can insert…spell check…zoom in and out on pictures and a million other things Oh yeah the Google bar to get rid of pop-ups ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003/40 "2003-09-08T08:10:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DougC \* > > - > - > - I prefer (for a PC) Mozilla to Netscape, but just because Mozilla seems to consistently run somewhat faster. Also I have noted that when I attemted to install some common plug-ins in Mozilla, they got installed into Netscape’s plugin folder instead, but then all you need to do is install both Netscape and Mozilla, install your plugins first in Netscape and then copy all the files from Netscape’s plugin folder into Mozilla’s. I don’t know what’s up with those two browsers, but they share a lot more than a plugin folder. If I have Netscape running, I can’t run Mozilla under the default profile, because it says that profile is in use. The same is true if Mozilla is running and you try to run Netscape. Of course, all the profile information like bookmarks is shared. So now I have two default profiles for when I want to run Mozilla too. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Urban Ranger \* > One strike against Opera is its support for CSS is not as good. I mess around with CSS a lot. There are certainly differences between Mozilla/Netscape and Opera when it comes to this. Neither one is 100% supportive. But it’s hard for me to say that one is better than the other. I would probably give a slight edge to Mozilla, but it really depends on the situation. (It could also be because Mozilla is typically more up-to-date, with new versions coming out all the time.) At any rate, they’re both about 1000 times better than IE. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-alternative-to-internet-explorer/200003.md?page=3)