Recommended reading

QOTD: Which Browser Do You Use and Why?

News
By , published

With so many choices out there, what draws you to a particular browser?

With today's launch of Firefox 3.5, we now have updated versions of four of the major browsers. You've got Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3.5, Safari 4 and Chrome 2. What we want to know is, who is using what and why.

Jane: I'm using all of them but IE8. I use Opera on my phone, Chrome on my PC and Safari 4 on my Mac. It's one big, happy, multicultural browser family in the McEntegart house. If you pushed me to say which was better, I'd probably have to say Firefox. I just downloaded Chrome last week so I haven't had enough time to play with it and as a mobile browser, Opera and I aren't exactly the best of friends. I'm ashamed to say I haven't used Internet Explorer since 2006 so I don't know what IE8 has to offer and I'm pretty sure I don't care. I'm happy with what I have.

Marcus: I, on the other hand, have been using Internet Explorer 8 thanks to its inclusion in Windows 7 RC. Yes, I'm using it because it was bundled with the OS, but currently its integration with Windows 7's Aero Peek feature makes it the best choice until the other browsers can claim the same. Aside from that, Chrome 2 gets the nod on netbooks thanks to its miserly use of menu space, which maximizes the viewing area on resolution constrained screens. Overall though, my main browser of choice regardless of platform is Firefox 3.5. I've been using 3.5 throughout its beta and RC builds since it supported multitouch gestures on the new unibody MacBook trackpads. Firefox's wide array of plugins has also made it also much more than just a browser, but an all-around internet tool that does away with the need for separate Twitter or even IRC clients.

Tuan: I've been using Minefield for the most part. Minefield is the nightly builds of Firefox, but tweaked. I also recently tried out the final version of Apple's Safari 4. Interestingly enough, Safari 4 is way faster on Snow Leopard than it is on Leopard. For the longest time though, I can always rely on Firefox. I honestly have not tried Chrome, but have tried IE8 and it seems that Microsoft has made good progress on its browser. On my Linux box, if I really need to grab or look up something, I'll use Lynx, a comand-line based browser.

The question of the day is: Why do you use the browser you're using now?

159 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Raidur
    Firefox with NoScript. Haven't had a single trace of spyware/malware/virus since I started using it with NoScript about 18 months ago.
    Reply
  • xc0mmiex
    Firefox... no unnecessary bs without the complications of the anorexic chrome.
    Reply
  • Raidur
    Oh yeah why, because I like stability, customizability, and proper security when I'm on the web.
    Reply
  • seboj
    Firefox on PC.
    Iris on phone.
    Reply
  • frozenlead
    Firefox on PC, because of all my nice addons, which no other browser really has. Chrome's addons are pretty complicated, and I don't have time to figure them out.

    Opera on my phone and PDA and such...because it's free, and it's pretty nice. On the slow side, though...and it kind of annoys me you have to add www's in front of everything. But, it's better than mobile IE.
    Reply
  • gosefroba
    i mix of firefox 3.5 and chrome 2. chrome if i want to jump on facebook or check email, but firefox for everything else got to have my plug-ins
    Reply
  • kevin1212
    Ie8 on the desktop, dont really care which one i use, so default is enough for me... they all do the same job, give or take a bit, a very little bit. Chrome on my piece of shit notebook, the one good thing about chrome is that it uses very little resources.
    Reply
  • ervinshiznit
    Firefox for its customizability
    Reply
  • icepick314
    i REALLY liked IE8's feature but it's slow compared to Firefox 3.5...

    if Firefox 3.5 can bring Aero Peek into Windows 7, then i would be one happy nerd...for now, using Windows 7 RC, only first tab shows up when there are multiple tabs open...
    Reply
  • mcnuggetofdeath
    Firefox 3.5

    Used to use the alpha for 3.6 along with the alpha of Opera 10. The former didnt work with Greasemonkey, and the latter's need for an adblock.ini was irritating when it came to updating it even if the use of a style sheet made having to do so less frequent.
    Reply