What is your browser?

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i wonder how many other people follow this. i do.

Usually Firefox, but sometimes I use Pale Moon since that's the browser that comes with Puppy Linux.

My default browser is Google Chrome. I wish it wasn't on account of its snooping potential, but it's just so reliable and efficient. I also occasionally use Firefox and Qupzilla. Tried Opera's VPN thingie recently, but couldn't connect with many websites, including WP.

When I started using PCs many years ago, I used an earlier version of IE with my Windows OS. Some years ago I switched to Linux Ubuntu for a while. I think I was using Firefox with that OS. Then I switched to Windows 7 OS, and a relative put several browsers on my PC for me to try. Besides the IE it came with, he gave me Firefox, SeaMonkey, and Chrome. When I added the Comodo security bundle of apps, that came with their browser, but I've never bothered to use it. On this PC, I've also never used the IE, as I didn't like it when I used it before. I started off using firefox on this PC until they made some changes that caused problems on my PC. I switched to SeaMonkey for a while, then switched back to Firefox after they went thru a few upgrades. A few months ago, I started having problems with Firefox again, so I switched to using Chrome. I made sure to go into Settings to configure things to my taste, as you can't expect any browser or OS to suit you without some tweaking. I also went into the Chrome web store to install useful extensions/apps. All my tweaks paid off, as my Chrome is doing what I want it to do, with little fuss. I tend to leave the PC, and the browser on all the time, but every few days, I do turn them off, and then on again to clear out the garbage that builds up. That definitely makes a difference in performance.

The same relative who stocked the other browsers on my PC recently recommended that I try one called, I think, Waterfox, which is related to firefox. I looked into it, but I think it's too new yet, and I don't want to be a guinea pig for it, so I will wait on that. The Chrome is working fine for now, so I am okay as I am.

I looked into Win 10 when it came out, and a relative who switched from 7 to 10 without putting them in separate partions, so he could save the old OS, is now very miserable that he switched to 10. My own research on it also leads me to be less than thrilled with it, so I have not switched from 7. What I will probably do is wait until Win 7 is too out of date, then switch to a Linux OS again, but I will probably keep 7 in a partition for a while after that.

I also have a laptop that came with Win 8, but it malfunctioned, and I couldn't figure out how to fix it. A relative good with computers tried to fix it, and had to get rid of the OS. He put a Linux OS in it instead, so now it runs good, but I still can't use it yet, as the relative who fixed it loaned my laptop to another relative, whose desktop PC died. Since my own desktop unit is working fine, I'm okay without the laptop, but it will be nice to eventually have it back, so I can use it in other rooms in my house. The desktop unit isn't portable.

For those who don't want to be spied on by your computer:

-Install good security software
-Use ad blockers
-Go into the settings section of your computer and browser to configure things so your computer and browser are more secure, and so you are less exposed to tracking.
-White list favored web sites, and block ones you don't like.
-Switch to a more secure search engine like StartPage, which is also called Ixquick.

I am not a computer geek, but it constantly amazes me that more people don't take the time to go into Settings on their computers and browsers to make them more secure, and to reduce tracking. I also can't understand why so many people think they have to stick with the Google search engine, even though they don't like how it tracks them. There are dozens, perhaps even hundreds of search engines out there, and a few of them are definitely better than Google, including StartPage.com. You will also be more secure with security software, and ad blockers, so why are so many people content to complain, without actually doing anything about it? I am pretty ignorant where computers are concerned but at least I make an effort to make things run well, and to my taste.

Now able to access WP and log in using Opera VPN. Interesting.

I mainly use Pale Moon. It's a fork of Firefox that's designed to be faster and less memory intensive. With the NoScript addon that can block unnecessary ads and scripts, I can even browse comfortably on my old 2001 desktop that has a Pentium 4 and 512 MB of RAM. Firefox does run on that machine, but it crawls and takes a long time to start.

I've been using, for over a week now, Opera and I must say I'm satisfied with it. Used to use Chrome and Firefox and both had their own disadvantages and both were ram suckers.

Google Chrome...

It's about to be deleted.

Chrome. I haven't used Firefox in ages - I forgot it existed. I don't even remember why I stopped using it.

Netscape used to be my favorite.

For years and years, I used to be an Internet Explorer guy, but nowadays, I'm using Mozilla Firefox.

Chrome. All the way.

Currently I’m using Opera, since it has Opera Turbo to ease browsing with varying connection speeds.

My breakdown:

Firefox-- Grade A-: has major memory issues, but aside from that is very stable. 95%+ of the sites you visit will render correctly. Firefox also likes to include 'advanced features'-- these are options that the WC3 (the internet standards group) hasn't officially placed in the spec yet. Sometimes these features never make it, and even if they do it's generally a few years before websites actually start using them. Point being these features amount to bloat.

Safari-- Grade B: being a windows/linux person this is the one I'm least familiar with, but on a virtual machine running Mac OS X El Capitan it seems to run fairly stable. With Safari 90%+ sites will render correctly but if the site you're visiting doesn't use vendor specific (browser specific) prefixes you will see rendering issues. Safari has very little bloat.

Opera-- Grade B: has some stability issues, i.e. crashing when it shouldn't. 95%+ sites will render correctly. Although I haven't experienced this, I have heard of people having problems with video sites such as hulu and netflix. Opera also has little bloat and runs similar to my experiences on Safari, albeit with some crashing.

IE9/10/11-- F: completely out of date for starters, 80% of sites will render, but not necessarily correctly. Developers and designers have to jump through hoops and fellate Bill Gates to get things to work proper. Due to this IE can be unstable and on many sites unusable. IE can also be a memory hog depending on how dependent the site is on javascript. If you're running pre-10 Windows will not allow you to uninstall it or I'd recommend that and then burning the drive it was installed on, shooting it multiple times, and then drowning it in the Marianas Trench-- just to make sure it's gone.

Edge-- B: Windows new foray into the browser market is a substantial upgrade over IE, but it still has rendering issues, 85%+ sites will render correctly. The main problem with Edge is that it was hastily rolled out, and lacks many of the modern features (html5, ecma6) websites are now using. It's hard to say how much bloat it has, kind of irrelevant actually since just like IE, you can't uninstall it.

Chrome-- A+: Renders 95%+ of websites correctly. Supports about every feature, albeit that can be bloat if you don't visit websites that use those features. Insider tip: Chrome has the best development tools around, most modern web apps are tested in Chrome during development, and spot tested on the other browsers before release. This virtually guarantees you'll see what the designers and developers intended if you use chrome. That said, there can be bloat and memory issues, on top of Google's aggressive collection of your data.

I personally use Chrome for the reasons stated above, although I do spot testing on all of them. One thing I'd add: don't turn off javascript. It was feasible in the past, but it's virtually a requirement anymore, since a majority of sites are now using async javascript to deliver content updates without having to refresh the page (i.e.-- press f5 and wait for the entire page to reload). This saves bandwidth, energy, and time.

-- how's that for my first post here in like 8 months?

"Spied on by your [own] computer" is a key concept in all of this, and that is the bottom line in relation to operating systems even more than to browsers. Windows 10 is nothing greater (and certainly no better) than Windows 7 with all kinds of social connections and lots of tracking (demographics and/or whatever else) added to it, and I once spent a couple of weeks taming it -- removing and/or disabling all sorts of things -- to make it child-friendly and -safe (as I perceive things) for my grandchildren. Somewhere during all of that I happened to find a small utility that can disable Edge, and I will try to find that again.

Firefox on Windows and the Android OS