# Which browser should I choose? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-browser-should-i-choose/211483 "2003-11-05T03:48:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-browser-should-i-choose/211483/21 "2003-11-07T04:03:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by whatami \* > \*\*How do I get the extensions? Are they just out there and I need to look for them and they just install like any self-extracting program? \*\* [http://texturizer.net/firebird/extensions/](http://texturizer.net/firebird/extensions/) And yes, they will “install” and end up under your options menu. You can get all the details from that link. ---
**Author:** ![whatami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85f322/32.png) [@whatami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatami)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-browser-should-i-choose/211483/22 "2003-11-07T05:14:19Z")
Thanks everyone! I’ve been cruising around for a few hours and love it so far. I haven’t yet had a chance to check out the extensions, but I really appreciate the link **KidCharlemagne**! I think this is gonna be the winner for now. Unless I see something on Opera that really sticks out at me I don’t see a reason to buy it (or pay to remove the ads anyway). ---
**Author:** ![whatami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85f322/32.png) [@whatami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatami)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-browser-should-i-choose/211483/23 "2003-11-07T05:15:40Z")
Oh yeah, one of the things that’s really nice is the Google search bar on the top right. Is there a way to make the search open in a new window? ---
**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:** [November 7, 2003, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-browser-should-i-choose/211483/24 "2003-11-07T06:05:07Z")
I have not used Opera before, but a lot of people I respect swear by it. I use both Moz and Moz Firebird myself, they are both excellent. A main reason is I use \*nix boxes all the time and having one client is greatt. The Moz Foundation is also working on Thunderbird, a standalone mail client. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-browser-should-i-choose/211483/25 "2003-11-07T06:25:18Z")
Another vote for Opera for all of the reasons mentioned above. Plus I’ll add another reason, the “hide certain-sized elements” style-sheet which blocks tons of banner ads with just one click. Although now you guys have me intrigued about Firebird… ---
**Author:** ![peterW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bb73d2/32.png) [@peterW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peterW)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-browser-should-i-choose/211483/26 "2003-11-07T07:12:08Z")
I’ve tried almost every browser for Windows and I can offer a little bit of my experiences with the ones I’ve tried. 1. Mozilla/Firebird - I preferred Firebird to the Mozilla browser because I didn’t need the composer, email, chat clients that it bundles with it. Firebird also has support for extensions and has better toolbar customization (this may have changed with recent Mozilla releases). Some of the nice features of Firebird have been mentioned already like tabbed browsing, popup blocking, and extensions. What I didn’t like about it were: (a) it was a little slower than IE, mainly going back to the previous page (b) some web sites do not render properly. eg. some of ESPN’s football pages © switching away from Firebird and then switching back to it after a while causes a delay. I am unsure why (paged out?) but I notice a delay when going back to Firebird. 2. Slimbrowser/MyIE/Crazy Browser/Avant Browser - All front ends to Internet Explorer, providing tabbed browsing and pop up blocking. Of the bunch, I liked MyIE the best. It has great ad blocking features and some nice features like autoreload of tabs(Firebird has this as well). It also supports plugins like Firebird. One of the best was the dictionary plugin where you right click a word and it will look it up for you at [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com). It comes in handy quite often. 3. Haven’t tried Opera. Putting up with ads in a browser doesn’t interest me, especially when so many good alternatives are out. The one I use currently use is the plain old IE with the Google toolbar. IE has the greatest compatibility with webpages, it’s fast, and I use the keyboard shortcuts to emulate tabbed browsing. The Google toolbar blocks popups in IE and it has some great features like highlighting of search items. The things I wish they would fix in IE is the way that the links in the toolbar are handled. Luckily, you can try all the browsers out for yourself to see which one you prefer. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-browser-should-i-choose/211483/27 "2003-11-07T11:51:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by whatami \* > \*\*Oh yeah, one of the things that’s really nice is the Google search bar on the top right. Is there a way to make the search open in a new window? \*\* I’ve actually gotten rid of that bar and added the “Google” Toolbar. Not the real thing, but a mock up. For the best answers on all things Firebird check out this forum: [http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewforum.php?f=7](http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewforum.php?f=7) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-browser-should-i-choose/211483.md?page=1)