This may not be 'lounge-worthy,' but I wasn't sure where else to post this...
Some of you may have seen my previous poll of CSS vs tables. It provided a TON of information for me to go by, and now I'm out to seek the advantages of other interntet browsers! Can anyone help me define the different features?
For now, I'm using Internet Explorer 6.0 (the devil of all browsers, to some). So far, it has suited all my needs in it's flexibility to be customized and just the basic easy-to-use stuff..
I know it doesn't support a lot of stuff (sometimes provided an entertaining view of a website), but it has been fine to me thus far, and now I'm curious to know; which is better? Some might say it's personal preference, but I'd like to hear all opinions (minus the arguments) about any and all browsers.
I hear Firefox (same as Mozilla or not?) has a built-in pop-up blocker... That's nice and all, but with this AOL toolbar added on, I get a lot of features including my email at the touch of a button. Also, I get to add skins to Internet Explorer; is any of this available in the other browsers? Ok, that's just minor stuff, so what about support? Which browser supports the most stuff?
I'm open to hear all sides! Even anyone defending IE!
Edit: I misspelt "King" in the poll--just ignore my attempts to rush this before I go! Sorry!
First of all, I can't imagine why somebody would support use of IE, especially with the knowledge of more, better browsers available.
Second, I'm an avid firefox user. I've used opera and firefox.
I personally like firefox more, for various reasons; but like I previously noted, anything is better than IE.
Firefox is an incredibly customizable browser. It has extensions available which allow you to add the exact features you want, and only the features you want.
Firefox is standards compliant, unlike IE. It displays code properly for the most part, and it supports CSS1, 2 and some of CSS3. IE barely supports CSS1 and 2.
Firefox does indeed have a built in popup blocker, but no toolbar is necessary. And like I said, there are tons and tons of extensions available. Almost anything you can imagine.
Here are some advantages it has over IE:
Tabbed browsing - allows you to have multiple sites open in one browser window. This makes browsing loads easier, and decreases the RAM used.
Speed - the speed is noticably faster than IE.
Customization - Tons of themes and extensions available.
Security - Once I started using firefox I got absolutely no spyware. There is no activex. The department of homeland security has even reccomended the use of a browser other than IE.
Now with all of that being said, alot of this applies for Opera also. If you were to ask my opinoin, I would say go with firefox. But an opera user may tell you different.
there are still reasons to use IE - I just visited a major website - http://www.parcelforce.com - and their layout does not render in any form that lends to making the content readable.
Okay, so using IE because other people didn't design their site properly is not a good reason - but it is still necessary.
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Firefox even has a "view in IE extension", exactly for poorly designed websites. Then again, if a website doesn't look right in all popular browsers it's not worth visiting, IMO.
Originally posted by nilsmo Also, I consider it very important to use open-source quality software.
why?
Eveyone seems to be on this open source kick, when it's not really that great a reason.
What does using Open Source do for the industry? Nothing really. Until a company starts building their share of the industry, there's still no real threat to Microsoft.
I would rather pay $10 for a browser like Firefox than download one for free - that way someone else is actually getting some of that market.
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Open source is good, it allows more people to get their say in and it just makes it better and better.
It's not necessarily a threat, but it is making microsoft think more about their outlook on internet explorer. I've read recently that they are putting more effort into making it a better browser.
Now what 'better' means, i'm not too sure.
Also, look at opera. It's a free browser but they have ads. Unless you pay for the browser you still have ads.
Because of this mozilla has a much larger user-base.
it seems like with every upgrade IE is just more vulnerable to addons and spyware you don't want. Almost every computer I've seen where people use IE all the time, there are bookmarks they didn't put there, and toolbars they don't want. Not to mention just starting up IE in some cases leads to about 3 popups.
First and foremost, thanks for all the posts! I'm getting the hint that Firefox is the way to go, but I'd like to wait for a few more opinions first...
Quote:
Originally posted by bendman it seems like with every upgrade IE is just more vulnerable to addons and spyware you don't want. Almost every computer I've seen where people use IE all the time, there are bookmarks they didn't put there, and toolbars they don't want. Not to mention just starting up IE in some cases leads to about 3 popups.
Hmm--I've never had those problems. Where there was a toolbar, a downloaded program was to blaim. Any pop-ups have always been from viruses downloaded in emails; I've never had any problems with IE itself, but I could just be a number in the majority...
Anyway, is Firefox free or does it cost money like Opera? I guess I wouldn't mind paying, but if there were no ads to begin with, I'd probably go download the free version right now!
Just as a last-minute input on Netscape: This laptop came with both Interent Explorer and Netscape. I haven't gotten use to Netscape, but whenever I use it, the hard drive makes some kind of noise whenever loading a page. I can't describe it (maybe a tiny, high-pitched low sound??), but it drives me nuts! If anyone knows what I'm talking about, could you explain this?
Josh also said it's basically the same as Firefox. Are all the features available in Firefox also available in Netscape? If so, I'm having a hard time finding them..
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