The Browser Dilemma: Firefox or Chrome?

[Wesley]

To many, Mozilla's Firefox has been the home to our browser needs for over six years. I myself used it all through college on a flash drive as a way to get around security features and later embraced it for my writing online and my work in general. Chrome in previous iterations didn't feel right to me and I always went back to the Fox because it offered everything I wanted. And then, somewhere along the line, things broke. With version 4.0 the speed was gone, replaced by a new interface that supported Aero Glass, breaking compatibility with the absolutely lovely personalisation options available. And all my download managers!

Moving on, I got tired at the way Mozilla began to accelerate Firefox releases. If it wasn't breaking my third-party add-ons, it was ruining the experience with ridiculous features like tab grouping and that garish button on the top-left. I eventually gave up with many of my add-ons, choosing only the ones I really needed and allowing others to fall by the wayside. As time got on, I got less and less interested in how Mozilla could find new ways to @%&$ with me and the way I had things so nicely set up to ensure maximum productivity. So it was with trepidation that I took the plunge to Chrome three months ago. Now I look back and wonder why I didn't do it sooner.

Linky

[D34thByCh01c3]

Been using Firefox for at least 8 years, I will admit Firefox has become RAM-hungry, but with 8GB of RAM you don't notice it. I've tried Chrome but there are not nearly as many addons as Firefox. My favourite feature is that Firefox has a master security code which is entered when you want to access your saved passwords, useful when your friends try to hack your Facebook account at LANs, if Chrome had this feature I might consider it.

[Wesley]

Yeah, the fox does win on the security count. So far I just change all my passwords every year. There's not nearly enough interest in my accounts to make them worth hacking into.

What about your add-ons, though? How do you get around the compatibility breaks between FF versions? I used to use the Add-on compatibility manager to force them, but as time went on it grew less and less of a reliable work-around.

[Squirly]

There's not nearly enough interest in my accounts to make them worth hacking into.

That's not really something the guy hacking your accounts will know until he's hacked them, though.

Anyway, I use the fox here at work because I need to do some work-related stuff that doesn't work on chrome. No idea why, but that's the long and short of it. At home, however, I use chrome. I just really really like it. It feels quicker. I've found online videos to load faster (though there's every chance that I'm just deluded) and the whole browser feels ... minimalist. There aren't a dozen buttons and useless things that interfere with what I'm trying to do which is just browse the damn internets. Add-ons aren't that well supported (yet) but I haven't had any major issues. I just use some basic ones anyway, like Adblock Plus.

Mind you, I can't really complain about firefox here. It's a good browser and with the new version it looks like they took a page out of chrome's book and give you a 'most visited sites' windows whenever you open a blank tab. Seems to be a bit broken though because mine lists nag.co.za twice as well as nag.co.za/forums which all seems a bit overkill for me.

[Toxxyc]

I used to swear by (shoot me) Internet Explorer for a few years, maintaining that it serves my needs and does what I want it to. Tried Chrome about two years back though and I haven't looked back since. It's simple, easy to use and fast. It's just so friendly, and I love it. I don't think I'll ever use anything else again.

The silent updates are a huge bonus as well.

[MonGooS]

I used firefox for a long time and loved it. But I tried Chrome about a year or two back, and ever since then I haven't looked back. Chrome does exactly what I need it to do, nothing more and nothing less. That's perfect for me.

I used to swear by (shoot me) Internet Explorer for a few years

Burn the heretic! Burn him I say!

In all honesty though, the recent IE isn't that bad. Its not as good as Chrome or FF, but its not the horrible mess it used to be.

[Zoop]

I used to swear by Firefox, but then all the millions and bazillions of updates started ****ing me off, so I decided to try out Chrome. The amazing browsing speeds Chrome gives me ensured I'd never go back to Firefox. Chrome makes Firefox look like bloatware.

Chrome's interface is also amazing. It has everything I need all in one place. No buttons I never use clogging up the interface.

[Squirly]

For me the new IE looks broken. I don't know if it's my screen resolution or what, but the tabs and title bar at the top seem disjointed and ... just wrong. Also, I'm trying to start it up as I type this and the very first thing it does is grey out the window and tell me it's "not responding". I haven't even done anything yet.

[Zoop]

Heh, Internet Explorer is only there for you to download Chrome or Firefox anyway. Main killing point for me is that I simply cannot get IE to use Google. It stays on Bing as its default search provider. It's annoying as ****, because all the university computers use only IE.

Bing is **** ugly and doesn't do its job half as well as Google.

[Wesley]

Heh, Internet Explorer is only there for you to download Chrome or Firefox anyway. Main killing point for me is that I simply cannot get IE to use Google. It stays on Bing as its default search provider. It's annoying as ****, because all the university computers use only IE.

Bing is **** ugly and doesn't do its job half as well as Google.

Run Opera off a flash drive ;-) Problem solved! Bing is butt-ugly here, I agree, but up in the US it works amazingly well, especially with Windows Phone.

As for IE9, its actually a very good browser. I just don't like the page loads issues, but for the rest it simply flies. Its probably one of the best GPU-accelerated browsers I've tried, barring Firefox. Although even the interface in FF13 is slower than Chrome's.

[McDangerous]

I'm in the same boat as most of you. I used to swear by FF, but since I switched to Chrome I've never looked back. It's definitely a faster browser, specifically its start-up time, which is basically non-existent even with a regular old HDD. It's also very clean and works perfectly out of the box, no extensions needed. Also, default Home Page is <3

I just have one problem with most modern browsers. I love working in full-screen, but I don't have access to my tabs then. Why don't they just do the whole scroll-in thing when your mouse hovers over the top section of your screen? They can just incorporate it into the little bar that pops up currently to let you know that you're working in full-screen mode.

[KalMaverick]

I used to swear by Firefox, but then all the millions and bazillions of updates started ****ing me off, so I decided to try out Chrome. The amazing browsing speeds Chrome gives me ensured I'd never go back to Firefox. Chrome makes Firefox look like bloatware.

Chrome's interface is also amazing. It has everything I need all in one place. No buttons I never use clogging up the interface.

I actually wanted to move from Firefox to Chrome but I can't get over the tabs in chrome, I like the traditional tabs just above the webpage.

[Aesir]

I still use firefox, I have not noticed that many updates besides the one the other day I can't even remember the last time. I tried Chrome on my friends pc a few months back and didn't like it, though from what I have read here I might give it another go.

Besides fox the only other browser I use is safari on my Ipad, don't like it either, can't really explain why it just irritates me.

[nukehead]

Also made the switch from Firefox to Chrome about 3 years ago. Faster. Plus when I work on a machine with Firefox I keep typing my Google searches into the URL bar and it doesn't work. You have to use the Google searchbar, I cannot get my head around this. It is such a small thing but it cuts my productivity down by half - having to search stuff twice every time.

I swear by Chrome.

[KalMaverick]

I think what Zoop was referring to was the updates post version 4 compared to the updates pre version 4.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Firefox

EDIT: Chrome does the same though as far as I know.

[Squirly]

I actually wanted to move from Firefox to Chrome but I can't get over the tabs in chrome, I like the traditional tabs just above the webpage.

Maybe I'm missing something, but how does chrome do anything differently?

[Wesley]

I just have one problem with most modern browsers. I love working in full-screen, but I don't have access to my tabs then. Why don't they just do the whole scroll-in thing when your mouse hovers over the top section of your screen? They can just incorporate it into the little bar that pops up currently to let you know that you're working in full-screen mode.

The workaround is hiding your taskbar and then maximising your browser so you keep the tabs and have extra screen space, but that's not the same as what you're aiming for. Maybe keyboard shortcuts would work for you, though.

[KalMaverick]

Plus when I work on a machine with Firefox I keep typing my Google searches into the URL bar and it doesn't work. You have to use the Google searchbar, I cannot get my head around this.

I don't know for how long it has been but that is not the case.

Maybe I'm missing something, but how does chrome do anything differently?

If you use Firefox and deselect "Tabs on top" you will know what I mean.

I like my tabs right above my webpages, not above my address bar.

[Zoop]

I think what Zoop was referring to was the updates post version 4 compared to the updates pre version 4.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Firefox

EDIT: Chrome does the same though as far as I know.

At one point, at least once a week I'd be stuck looking at an update bar for Firefox, which often took anywhere from 1-10 minutes to finish downloading the update, just for some useless feature I didn't even care about.

With Chrome, I've never had to wait before I could start using it. If it updates, it does so in the background, because I've ever seen it update, tbh.

It might sound trivial complaining about having to wait a few minutes once a week, but there was nothing as annoying as sitting there, waiting before you could use your browser. Especially if you wanted google something quickly.

[nukehead]

@ KalMaverick Oh really? Not on the machine I work on... Eh?