In need of a browser for Windows 7

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Opera rarely gets any consideration in these types of discussions and I don't understand why. Opera is much better than Firefox. I haven't used Chrome to be able to compare, but I don't intend to because Opera does everything I want and more. But after using Firefox for a few years before finding Opera, I have lots of experience with both and Opera wins by miles.

You know what I don't get? How can you download a browser if you don't already have a browser to go online and download it with? Do you use FTP or something?

As I understand it, this is why Microsoft includes "Internet Explorer" with all Windows operating systems.

Addons such as Bing, and please do not drill me with questions here. I just know IE8 presumes a lot more than IE7, and I refuse anything from being forced upon me (even though I actually have no issue with Bing). And, I get a kick out of MS's update site telling me my computer is now at risk because I have told it to never again offer IE8 to me! It was actually one of the MS support folks who inadvertantly let me know he liked the idea (I had not yet considered or even known possible) of removing it from my XP a couple of weeks ago.



The last time I did the update and tried to run it my way, I could not keep it from scanning my system for audio and video files ... and then even after giving in and letting it go on way ahead of me, I could not find a menu bar anywhere in order to just go find something specific I wanted to play and play it. I am sure both of those programs are both great for and greatly loved by many people, but not me. All programs on my machine *must* allow me to decide exactly what they will do and when or they go, period. I have my ex's Vista machine sitting here beside me for a cleaning and tuneup at the moment, and I have so far managed to get its 77 running processes down to 50 ...

What a mess when developers do the deciding about what should do what and when.

I never knew DOS all that well, but I sure do miss my Commodores! Until being told exactly what to do, they and their operating systems did nothing other than keep an eye on the accumulator.

With only one computer available, that is a real dilemma unless one can get something on a disk or drive or whatever from someone else. And in my own experience, that is also a problem with legacy Windows. If you were to install either Windows 98 or 2000 on a machine today and you do not already have a copy of IE6 on hand, getting online and updating can be extremely difficult, if not impossible. But, neither can you go out and purchase (or even find) all the parts for many cars or trucks more than a few years old any more ... and attending matters like that gives us old guys something to do!

Need some disks for a Tandy notebook?!

I have some time to kill while waiting on a machine here, so I will go take a look!

After you install or configure IE8, it asks you which search engine you want to use, whether you want to turn on the phishing filter, and a few other options. If you don't want to have a debate, we don't have to, but I don't think the browser makes any unreasonable presumptions.

Agreed that WMP's media scouring function needs to be put under user control.

Like with WMP11, some folks might find it to be just fine. I just know I have never been able to go through and strip it down to something similar to IE7. I do not know all the differences or improvements made as IE6 and IE7 came along, but I do know IE8 and WMP11 only made things more difficult for me.

Are you a hobbyist (as I am) or do you work with systems professionally? Either way, I will pick your brain if I can!

Commodore computers are still alive and well at the following websites:
www.sleepingelephant.com/denial
www.lemon64.com
www.lemonamiga.com

You can also download emulators at the following links:
www.viceteam.org (VICE emulates PET, VIC-20, C64, C128 and Plus 4)
www.winuae.net (Amiga emulator -- you need a Kickstart Rom image to use UAE which can be quite difficult to find because they are still copyrighted -- I got mine on eBay for a few quid!)

If you ever feel an overwhelming need for the real thing, you can usually find the actual systems on eBay:
www.ebay.com

How is Chrome buggy? More than one person has said this now and I don't see where it's coming from. Chrome is one of the most stable browsers out there.

Chrome is buggy. The most obvious bug is the "Waiting for cache" bug where you try to access a link and it sits there hung, either for several seconds or indefinitely, "waiting" to access its own cache. That bug existed all the way from Chrome 1.0 to 4.0. I noticed sometime in the last several months it started being less of an issue, that may be through some automatic update. That's good because I had switched back to IE8 because of this. It's not completely fixed. I saw it for a few seconds accessing this page.

Another one that has stomped me a few times is http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=3543.

No software is stable. I've seen multiple people claim that WrongPlanet.net is stable, but I think it has a few serious bugs.

Well, if you can remember what the "differences" or "improvements" were I could probably comment on them. All I can say is that IE8 is the first reasonably clean version of IE from a technical perspective.

I'm a professional, but I do not work in a help desk.

Oh yes, I very well know! But, I sold off the last of my accumulation a few years ago -- people used to drop them off on my porch -- and I gave the last of my "Run" and others magazines to someone a couple of months ago.

My first-ever online experience was with one of my C-128s and 1200 baud at a private BB where only one person could get in at a time, and I was amazed over having to wait only a minute or so for the next screen to load!

I would not know enough to disagree, but neither would I want to do so. Personally, I prefer the as-I-perceive-it "sharpness" of IE7 in Win2k (kind of like a Harley Sportster) over any other combination, but that is just me. In comparison, Win7 feels more like a nice road bike or a ride in a Cadillac, but then my poor vision and general lack of experience with (or understanding of) IE8 make the controls seem mushy. So, I have this muti-boot setup with its options beginning at 98se and IE6 ... and now I might soon find out whether I like Opera!

Nothing is "mushy" to me on my nearly five year old laptop running Win7.

But then, if it were, I would replace it. As I mentioned previously, patience lies far outside the realm of my virtues.

Since I already have all the IEs and Firefox elsewhere, I just now put Opera here on my Win7 notebook and I am impressed! Like with Irfanview, Audacity, CCleaner and a few other free programs I enjoy. Opera installed in just a few seconds, did not require a reboot and seems to be well-configured just as it comes.