Which Internet Browser should I use?

Plekhanov · Post by **Plekhanov** » 2004-07-06 10:49am

What with the government warnings and all it’s finally getting through to me that being firewalled and virus killered up isn’t enough and I’m going to have to make the move to a not so flawed browser microsoft’s, so the big question is which one should I pick?

For my pc’s (running W2K and XP) I’m looking for a good all round browser for the reasonably competent user, I also informally manage 5 PCs belonging to close friends and family all of whom are tragically (and frustratingly) technically inept so I’m also looking for an IE explorer alternative that will need an absolute minimum of painstaking retraining (and moronic technical help type phone calls that really try my patience) for my nearest and dearest.

So just I recap I need recommendations for:

1. A good, secure browser for your average vaguely competent Windows OS user

2. An incredibly easy to use, secure browser for your run of the mill otherwise intelligent person who turns into dribbling imbecile when confronting a computer.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2004-07-06 11:00am

i´ve been using mozilla for quite a while now and i´m more than satisfied with it.
it´s not more difficult than MS IE, it´s safer and it´s actually a lot more comfortable because it´s got an integrated pop up blocker and even more important it´s got tabs.

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2004-07-06 11:04am

Opera. Pretty easy to use, nifty mouse gestures, tab browsing, lots of skins and a invincible pop-up murderer. And of course security that doesn't suck.

Daltonator · Post by **Daltonator** » 2004-07-06 11:31am

Firefox is light, powerful and durable, and you can make it look like IE.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2004-07-06 12:04pm

Firefox. You can also get mouse gesture support for it if you want.

Faqa · Post by **Faqa** » 2004-07-06 12:35pm

Is there any great security difference between all the non-IE's(I'm on Opera. Really cool)? Seems to me that qualifier is enough. Non-IE users're still, what, 5% of total browsers? Why bother breaching a bunch of seperate browsers to hit 5% percent of users when you can breach a crappy one to hit 95%?

Anyone want to jump in and yell at me about how stupid I am?

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2004-07-06 12:35pm

Mozilla and Firefox are good, although Moz is a wee bit flaky at times. Considering what IE can do to your whole damn computer when* it crashes or gets hacked, I'd say that's quite more than a fair trade...

* Why did I say 'When' and not 'If'? Because with IE, that WILL happen no matter what. While you're at it, dump Outbreak and Outbreak Excess for Eudora or Mozilla mail. Not only will you feel better, you won't be participating in or aiding/abetting virus activity.

sketerpot · Post by **sketerpot** » 2004-07-06 12:48pm

If you go with Firefox (which I highly recommend), be sure to check out the extensions. I recommend Adblock and All-in-one gestures.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2004-07-06 02:25pm

For older computers, theres k-meleon, which is based on Mozilla, without the bloated XUL interface. Rather lacking in features though.

CrimsonRaine · Post by **CrimsonRaine** » 2004-07-06 03:15pm

Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:Mozilla and Firefox are good, although Moz is a wee bit flaky at times. Considering what IE can do to your whole damn computer when* it crashes or gets hacked, I'd say that's quite more than a fair trade...

* Why did I say 'When' and not 'If'? Because with IE, that WILL happen no matter what. While you're at it, dump Outbreak and Outbreak Excess for Eudora or Mozilla mail. Not only will you feel better, you won't be participating in or aiding/abetting virus activity.

I think it's Mozilla that has major issues with Java, for some reason. Since I need to use Java to access the system that I schedule for classes with, I got Firebird (need to upgrade to Firefox) instead.

Raine

Laird · Post by **Laird** » 2004-07-06 03:18pm

Firefox

2000AD · Post by **2000AD** » 2004-07-06 04:08pm

Just downloaded Mozilla Firefox and am quite pleased. There's some minor differences from IE but nothing major, so it's still easy to use. It does seem to be a little bit slower in loading up images such as the smileys and the thread status pics, but if i'm getting a lot more security then i'm ok with that.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2004-07-06 04:09pm

Either Opera or Firefox.

Firefox has the advantage of being free, which is nice, but it's quite a basic job, if you want a decent browser only for no money, then get that..

Opera gives you more power over the interface out of the box, gives you more power over the sites you're viewing (stripping out formatting and style sheets quickly and easily and appying your own etc. if you find a fugly or eye-fucking site), has a well integrated mail client, the panel bar takes up a minimal amount of screen area but lets you immediately see the time remaining on your transfers, your unread mails, access to your history and contacts, and the note system (why copy things into a notepad file when doing research when you can have it on hand and it also exists as a hyperlink to the source)

And that's not to mention the fact that you don't have to piss about installing extra features like mouse gesturing.

You do have to pay to take the ads away, but it's well worth it.

You could go for Mozilla, but I don't particularly like its' interface and it's not as malleable as Firefox or Opera.

beyond hope · Post by **beyond hope** » 2004-07-06 04:15pm

WTF is a mouse gesture anyways?

*clueless*

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2004-07-06 04:26pm

Browser functions that can be done by specifically clicking or holding down mouse buttons and/or moving the mouse in a specific direction.

More info here

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2004-07-06 04:31pm

Vendetta wrote:Either Opera or Firefox.

Firefox has the advantage of being free, which is nice, but it's quite a basic job, if you want a decent browser only for no money, then get that..

Opera gives you more power over the interface out of the box, gives you more power over the sites you're viewing (stripping out formatting and style sheets quickly and easily and appying your own etc. if you find a fugly or eye-fucking site), has a well integrated mail client, the panel bar takes up a minimal amount of screen area but lets you immediately see the time remaining on your transfers, your unread mails, access to your history and contacts, and the note system (why copy things into a notepad file when doing research when you can have it on hand and it also exists as a hyperlink to the source)

And that's not to mention the fact that you don't have to piss about installing extra features like mouse gesturing.

You do have to pay to take the ads away, but it's well worth it.

You could go for Mozilla, but I don't particularly like its' interface and it's not as malleable as Firefox or Opera.

That's what extensions are for. One useful one is the one that lets you edit CSS on the fly and see results immediately. Rather amusing to edit the CSS for microsoft.com

(I didn't do that but someone else did for kicks).

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-07-06 05:12pm

Definitely go with opera. i just started playing about with it and i'm liking it already.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2004-07-06 05:23pm

Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:Browser functions that can be done by specifically clicking or holding down mouse buttons and/or moving the mouse in a specific direction.

More info here

Wow, and I thought I was lazy, you people can't be bothered to move the mouse an inch to the back buttom? I see no reason to not use IE.

sketerpot · Post by **sketerpot** » 2004-07-06 05:39pm

InnocentBystander wrote:Wow, and I thought I was lazy, you people can't be bothered to move the mouse an inch to the back buttom? I see no reason to not use IE.

I see several. For example, my IE start page is a sleazy porn site. I didn't set it to that. It does this sort of thing periodically, despite my best efforts with antivirus, windows update, and ad-aware. For another thing, I hate popup windows. I hate them! I like tabbed browsing, which I can do with Firefox, and which I can't live without. I like having the Adblock and nuke-anything extensions, which are really cool. I enjoy having a browser that can correctly render certain pages. I like the ability to put everything---menus, URL bar, everything---in one bar at the top. I like having my homepage set to a group of tabs that all open at once, and being able to bookmark groups of pages. I hate ActiveX.

Is that good enough for you, or would you prefer to make some more comments about people being lazy?

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-07-06 05:46pm

InnocentBystander wrote:
Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:Browser functions that can be done by specifically clicking or holding down mouse buttons and/or moving the mouse in a specific direction.

More info here
Wow, and I thought I was lazy, you people can't be bothered to move the mouse an inch to the back buttom? I see no reason to not use IE.

aside from all of IEs numerous security holes and foibles you mean?

2000AD · Post by **2000AD** » 2004-07-06 06:08pm

SO is Mozilla more secure because it doesn't have any of IE's securioty problems? Does it have any problems of it's own?

EDIT: also, since it appears to block pop-ups, how dop i view the pop-ups i want to see, such as PM notices.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2004-07-06 06:41pm

InnocentBystander wrote:
Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:Browser functions that can be done by specifically clicking or holding down mouse buttons and/or moving the mouse in a specific direction.

More info here
Wow, and I thought I was lazy, you people can't be bothered to move the mouse an inch to the back buttom? I see no reason to not use IE.

Hmm... so you don't switch from IE because you are lazy. Pot calling the kettle black.

Also:
http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?t=48517

Oh, and http://slate.msn.com/id/2103152/

Microsoft's own publication recommends Firefox. Now that's sad.

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2004-07-06 06:42pm

InnocentBystander wrote:
Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:Browser functions that can be done by specifically clicking or holding down mouse buttons and/or moving the mouse in a specific direction.

More info here
Wow, and I thought I was lazy, you people can't be bothered to move the mouse an inch to the back buttom? I see no reason to not use IE.

Except the fucking terrible security that allows viruses and tons of spyware, lack of tabbed browsing (you don't appreciate this until you've tried it) or a pop up blocker?

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2004-07-06 06:43pm

We already know he's a moron who fails to realize why someone would use a computer other than to play games.

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2004-07-06 06:43pm

2000AD wrote:EDIT: also, since it appears to block pop-ups, how dop i view the pop-ups i want to see, such as PM notices.

I believe Firefox gives you the ability to allow specified sites to show you pop-ups.