Browsers - pros, cons, etc....

[covet]

...I still use Netscape Navigator, which has been obsolete for at least 3 years. It has an integrated mailbox as part of the browser, and that contains tends of thousands of emails. A decade's worth. I don't want to lose them and i don't know how to move them to another program.

I usually have firefox running too, for secondary browsing.

[Fjorab_Teke]

Yeah, my main gripe with IE is its sheer popular usage makes it the main target for scummies. It's been my main one on and off, and it may be that way again sometime. But for now it's Firefox, and I miss my Neopets toolbar. I might switch back again. I had Chrome as my default browser for a week, but it just doesn't have enough features yet. I hadn't realized until I missed it how much I used autofill in forms, especially on Neopets.

[Joey]

I'm on FF3 here and 2 on my laptop. It's just what I'm used to, as long as it works the way I want it to I'm not inclined to change, and no one else should be either. It's amazing how crazy some people get over what browser you use...

[Slugawoo]

I've always used IE. I haven't tried Chrome, and I only use FF when I need the rikaichan or unplug add ons for something, which is almost never.

And despite all that "IE sucks" crap, I have never had a security issue with it. Ever. Yeah, you might get a trojen or whatever if you surf free porn sites and whatnot, but that's not really what I'd call an issue with the browser. ;P

But yeah. I love IE. I hate it when people tell me to switch to FF. (Damn you to hell, Subeta. >:[) FF goes super slow in comparison. At least on my computers.

[Seerow]

I used IE up until about a year ago when I switched from a pc to a mac. Turns out the latest addition of IE compatible with macs is like IE3.
I mainly use FF now, though I have Safari as a backup browser for my neo sides and such. I don't like Safari much though, I hate the way it loads pages as compared to FF.
I have Chrome installed on the windows side of my mac, as well as FF. Chrome is pretty nifty, but the lack of autofill keeps me going back to FF as my browser of choice. That, and the fact that I can't click on more then one item in my inventory without having to reload the page. Get that issue in Safari too.

[Alecko]

I currently use FF, for no other reason than habit. I downloaded it onto my laptop a couple of years ago to just see what it was like, but switched back to IE (which I'd used previously for years) after nothing stuck out. Then in the summer, when back home and using my parents laptop, IE fucked up completely. Still don't know what was wrong, but it was chucking out errors every page and the only way to stop it was to exit out. Managed to downloaded FF to see if it would work alright until my parents got the laptop looked at and it was fine. Faster than IE as well, so I switched to using it on my laptop, which had also developed a problem with loading graphic-intense ads in IE, in that it would lock up briefly (Neo was fantastic in this case). My laptop has since deteriorated so the differences between IE and FF are minimal right now, though. -_-

I might try Chrome when I can use my laptop again. Being able to shut down problem tabs sounds like a god-send in its own right. That and finally look into add-ons for FF.

[Tom]

I use Firefox for adblock and cannot see myself thinking about changing browsers until another browser offers such capabilities. I love not seeing ads.

[Aqua]

I'll use whatever browser isn't crap and does what I want it to. Right now I use mainly Safari, but I use Shiira for a few things as well (such as oekaki as it craps out on Safari because I have an OS X hack of jtablet).

[Mayhem]

I guess whatever recent update FF3 had really screwed things up - when I loaded my browser up, I got a blank page, no bookmarks, and my forward/back buttons weren't working. WTF? Even my bookmark backups were okay ... it's just the browsers that was heavily screwed. The support forums are full of complaints, so I downgraded back to the last v2 and took a loss to most of my bookmarks... but hopefully my MozBackup has all that saved for me.

Is anyone else having that problem with FF3? I can't live without my random extensions so moving to another browser is just completely not an option for me unless all versions completely bork.

Aside from Firefox, I have IE and Opera for handling multiple logins at the same time when I need to, which isn't too tremendously often.

[Fjorab_Teke]

Fjorab, what do you mean about a "bookmarks toolbar"? I have quick links in my IE toolbar (my email, NC, Subeta, LJ...) and Derek has folders in his toolbar. Either right-click on the toolbar and select the favorites toolbar, or go to View > Toolbars and turn on... either the links bar or the favorites bar, depending on your version. If that's what you mean, anyway. I think alt-c brings up a favorites tab, too. Depending on your version.

I can't get it to do what you're saying, not just have a "Links" pulldown stuck way over to the right. I'd love my toolbar to have my daily links divided into folders on a toolbar section (I guess what you're saying Derek's has) into "Email," "Social," "Forums," and "Games" like I have managed to do nicely on Chrome and Firefox. There are 4 very chunky and ugly toolbar rows (not even counting the optional tabbing) that refuse to be arranged into anything space-efficient. Even the things that CAN be arranged neatly all go haywire when a smaller window is brought up (like for instance by Neopets functions)...locking them is pointless. I think I'm done with IE just because it refuses to play nice. Firefox isn't playing nice either, but that's just the "oh this might not be safe so you can't even TELL me you want it nyah" issue I'm having with Neopets' toolbar.

[AngharadTy]

What version of IE do you have? I can do a step-by-step easily if you want me to. =)

[thelonetiel]

Or if you use the 64-bit Vista, use the 64-bit IE for that--it runs in its own sandbox, so that's actually as safe as you can get.

The thing about the 64-bit is that, as far as I'm aware, there is no flash plugin yet. Which is nice for many sites, since the only ads that show up are simple graphic ones, but Neopets is so incredibly reliant on Flash these days that surfing there is near impossible. Except for the oldest ones, maps are useless. Even the pound navigation is Flash, I had to manually insert a URL to get to the select-a-pet screen.

Which probably means that I should use the IE 64-bit for everything but Neopets, but that would totally mess up my browsing habits.


I use Firefox myself. Various reasons, like I find customization easier. Then again, I switched back when IE6 was a monstrous browser and I haven't found anything about IE7 nice enough to go back.

EDIT: Actually, I did remember one reason I hate using IE. The page clicking annoys me to no end. I got rid of it by muting all Windows sounds, but that is sometimes inconvenient and I'd rather have a more reliable option, if anyone knows how to better remove it.

[AngharadTy]

I forgot to mention about the Flash thing because basically, for us, it's just an adblocker. ;) The only time it's a problem is for using youtube, and then we just open the 32-bit one. And hey, that's not really IE's fault. Flash needs to get itself up to date.

I hate any unnecessary sounds on my computer--I only want to hear my music and my errors. I do not understand shows like CSI where they have someone typing and every single key goes "bink!" and every time they click it's "ding!" and ugh. So, um, I don't know if you can just turn off IE's sounds, but I think you can turn off only navigation sounds--which also affects folder navigation.

[Fjorab_Teke]

The IE I have is 7.0.5730.13 specifically. Is that workable?

[AngharadTy]

Gosh, mine on my laptop ends in .11 and I just updated it a few days ago. Yeah, IE's totally slow to put out fixes. *shakes fist at subeta news* ;)

If you right-click on the top, you can turn bars on and off. I have my address bar (okay, I don't think you can turn that one off), and my Menu Bar is unchecked (I hit alt to uncover it--I rarely need to use any menu but the bookmark dropdown). If you uncheck the menu one, it saves some space. Make sure Links is checked and Lock the Toolbars is unchecked. On the tabs bar, you can click on the dotted vertical and drag it left or right to expand or contract it; I have it showing only my home page button. You can save a little more space, too, if you go through the right-click menu and choose Selective Text or Only Icons under the Customize Command Bar option. You can even add or remove some of the buttons, under that option.

That's just to minimize some of the space. I think Lock the Toolbar can mess with your own edits.

If the Links toolbar is showing, then go to your bookmarks. Ctrl-b to bring up the entire thing. Mine has a Links folder on top, and then various bookmarks I've saved myself, including some folders (like Webcomics, hee). If you want a bookmark you've made to show up on the toolbar, drag it into the folder named Links. If you want a folder to show up in your toolbar, drag that into the Links folder.

The Neopets-little-windows and the like (I mean, clicking on an item in your inventory, and such?) are always stripped down browser windows, but they shouldn't affect the toolbar layout of your main window.