Which web browser do you use?

Which web browser do you mainly use?

  • Safari

    Votes: 341 44.0%
  • Firefox

    Votes: 214 27.6%
  • Chrome

    Votes: 198 25.5%
  • Opera

    Votes: 15 1.9%
  • Camino

    Votes: 5 0.6%
  • Other

    Votes: 2 0.3%

  • Total voters
    775
Status
Not open for further replies.

CrimsonRequiem


Retired Staff
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
6,003
Reaction score
125
Points
63
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 2.3 Ghz 4GB RAM 860 GB SSD, iMac 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 32GB RAM, Fusion Drive 1TB
Firefox mostly, though it tends to get slow, and for video it's terrible. Lag every 2 seconds EVEN IF THE VIDEO IS FULLY LOADED.

So for video I use Opera, or Safari.

I mostly like Firefox for its ability to recover every tab....wait...can't all browsers do that now?

Well the video lagging is partly true, however that only happens when I have 5 or more programs running, and when I haven't restarted my MB in 5+ months.
 
Joined
May 26, 2010
Messages
73
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
CANADA
Your Mac's Specs
Apple MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.26 13" (Uni/Late 09) 8GB RAM 120GB SSD Boot up 500 GB 7200RPM HDD
Used to be an FF user for the longest time but just switched to opera yesterday and must say, after importing bookmarks and passwords etc. I am pleasantly surprised. I think I'm staying permanently. One thing I noticed though, google images load the old way, is there a way to switch back?
 
E

EightmanVT

Guest
Ever since I switched to Mac - all of a couple of weeks ago - I've primarily used Safari. I had to switch to Chrome for some activities because Safari doesn't support selective pop-up blocking. Im anti-Firefox - but just downloaded the latest beta since a reference manager program I want to use - only works with Firefox. Unless I'm blown away by the speed and memory management of the new FF, I'll be dividing my time strictly between Safari and Chrome.
 
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Messages
886
Reaction score
33
Points
28
Location
DohaLondonVegas
Your Mac's Specs
MacBookPro 11,2 <--DAW!!!
I went from being a long time safari user to firefox. Had problems with safari with watching videos (java enabled) to still getting pop-ups even though the box for"block pop-ups" is checked.
 
Joined
Feb 22, 2011
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
Netherlands
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro mid 2010. I7 - 8GB - 500GB @ 7200 RPM - 17Inch
Mostly im using Google Chrom with the Tiesto skin ;)
Besides that, im using Safari sometime.
 
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Messages
886
Reaction score
33
Points
28
Location
DohaLondonVegas
Your Mac's Specs
MacBookPro 11,2 <--DAW!!!
I went from being a long time safari user to firefox. Had problems with safari with watching videos (java enabled) to still getting pop-ups even though the box for"block pop-ups" is checked.

Fixed the problem by going 32bit. Now I'm back to using Safari again . :D
 
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Messages
296
Reaction score
5
Points
18
I mainly use Chrome, but I also enjoy behaving like a browser hipster and using obscure apps like Shiira or Turboweb.
 
OP
schweb
Joined
Oct 27, 2002
Messages
13,172
Reaction score
348
Points
83
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro | LED Cinema Display | iPhone 4 | iPad 2
I've gone back to Safari from Chrome. The latest releases of Chrome seem slower and more bloated. Not to mention, I really don't like Google's anti H.264 attitude. :)
 
Joined
Aug 15, 2010
Messages
104
Reaction score
2
Points
18
Pretty excited for the new Safari, but right now I'm mainly a Chrome user. I did use Safari, but once you get used to the Omnibar it's hard to go back.

That said, Safari is (in general) much better-looking, so once it gets a speed boost I might switch back to it.
 
OP
schweb
Joined
Oct 27, 2002
Messages
13,172
Reaction score
348
Points
83
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro | LED Cinema Display | iPhone 4 | iPad 2
Pretty excited for the new Safari, but right now I'm mainly a Chrome user. I did use Safari, but once you get used to the Omnibar it's hard to go back.

That said, Safari is (in general) much better-looking, so once it gets a speed boost I might switch back to it.

I actually find the current version of Safari is faster and responsive on my Mac than the latest Chrome beta I was using.
 
Joined
Aug 15, 2010
Messages
104
Reaction score
2
Points
18
Hmm. I don't use the Beta releases of Chrome, so maybe that's it. It just seems like Chrome launches and loads webpages more quickly; Safari does better with Quicktime though (for obvious reasons).
 

vansmith

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
19,924
Reaction score
559
Points
113
Location
Queensland
Your Mac's Specs
Mini (2014, 2018, 2020), MBA (2020), iPad Pro (2018), iPhone 13 Pro Max, Watch (S6)
The issue with Safari is the release cycle, especially when compared to Chrome. Chrome generally performs better because there are more frequent updates (every six weeks). Safari 5 for instance, came out, IIRC, one day before the one year anniversary of the Safari 4 release.
 
OP
schweb
Joined
Oct 27, 2002
Messages
13,172
Reaction score
348
Points
83
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro | LED Cinema Display | iPhone 4 | iPad 2
The issue with Safari is the release cycle, especially when compared to Chrome. Chrome generally performs better because there are more frequent updates (every six weeks). Safari 5 for instance, came out, IIRC, one day before the one year anniversary of the Safari 4 release.

Well that's going on the assumption that frequent updates always equals better and that's not always the case. Especially as Google continues to add bloat features into Chrome it its later releases.

Releasing for the sake of having a quick release cycle isn't really that great. It's not as if you need a 6-week release cycle to make the web work. :)
 

vansmith

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
19,924
Reaction score
559
Points
113
Location
Queensland
Your Mac's Specs
Mini (2014, 2018, 2020), MBA (2020), iPad Pro (2018), iPhone 13 Pro Max, Watch (S6)
Very true. That said, with rapid development of standards, one year between releases is far too long. This is part of the reason that Mozilla is trying to release four major versions of Firefox in 2011 (although, knowing the glacial speed of development at Mozilla, I doubt that).

In my experience, Chrome has always been rock solid, much like Safari. In fact, I run the dev version and can count the number of times it's crashed on one hand. As for the bloat, perhaps that is a subjective comment. I would say that Google is at least adding features to Chrome. I was extremely underwhelmed at the release of Safari 5. This feeling becomes obvious when you remember that Safari Reader was a major feature when, at least for me, it's not really all that useful or impressive. And, on the Safari features page, why is Java support and a downloads window listed? It's not as if that's impressive or unique.

One thing I will give Safari is the impressive PDF support which is far more impressive than Chrome's. That, and web archive support. That's the one feature I really wish Google would implement.

To each their own though. I have nothing against Safari and respect it as a quality browser. It just seems as if everything I want out of a browser is in Chrome.
 
OP
schweb
Joined
Oct 27, 2002
Messages
13,172
Reaction score
348
Points
83
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro | LED Cinema Display | iPhone 4 | iPad 2
I guess it's all subjective as to what features you want the browser to have. Personally I don't necessarily expect the features to all be built into the browser, nor do I rally want them in there. I'd rather that they focus on building a rock solid browser to do what it's meant to do which can then be extended with plugins or extensions.

Google was there, but I feel it's started to stray in some of the later builds.

As for releases, it's a little misleading to say Safari didn't have a release between 4.0 and 5.0. Apple does release minor releases for Safari a few times a year. Google may release more often, and they increment the major version number each time, but you can't really call them major releases in the traditional sense.

As for the rapid development of standards, that's not really accurate either. HTML 5 is still not a standard, and no where near being ratified a standard. What does Chrome support that's in actual usage for example that Safari 5 does not? Which website does Chrome work on that Safari doesn't?

Again, rapid iteration in the web browser space, especially on the pace Google has decided to take with Chrome I think is just a long-term invitation for feature creep, bloat, and poor decision making. I've been using Chrome for a long time and I will say I've been noticing a big difference in performance and quality since they moved to the 6 week release cycle.

There has to be a sweet spot between Microsoft's pace and Google's.
 

vansmith

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
19,924
Reaction score
559
Points
113
Location
Queensland
Your Mac's Specs
Mini (2014, 2018, 2020), MBA (2020), iPad Pro (2018), iPhone 13 Pro Max, Watch (S6)
I agree with the "basic and add on" approach but the Safari extension ecosystem pales in comparison to the Chrome one (both of which are minuscule compared to the Firefox one). Google has tended to build more into the browser lately but from where I sit, the browser is still fairly nimble especially when compared to the pile of bloat that is Firefox.

Yes, Safari releases minor updates over the course of the development cycle but they are primarily bug fixes. Chrome releases are both bug fixes and feature releases. If some new feature is developed for Safari, you'd have to wait considerably longer to get it compared to a Chrome user.

Yes, the HTML 5 standard is years away from completion but that doesn't mean that developers aren't using it on their page. The very fact that it has entered the lexicon online and so pervasively is evidence enough of the demand for support now. As for an example, I can't provide one not knowing enough about either the standard or what each browser supports. Regardless, the accelerated schedule will ensure that Chrome will likely include support before Safari. This is all speculation though.

Rapid release cycles aren't necessarily indicative of feature creep or bloat. I don't think this is the case with Chrome but again, this is a subjective call. As long as we believe that our respective browsers of choice are both better than Firefox, I'm good. ;)
 
OP
schweb
Joined
Oct 27, 2002
Messages
13,172
Reaction score
348
Points
83
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Your Mac's Specs
MacBook Pro | LED Cinema Display | iPhone 4 | iPad 2
I As long as we believe that our respective browsers of choice are both better than Firefox, I'm good. ;)

Heck, I'd almost go so far to say that IE 8 and 9 are better than Firefox at this point. :)
 
Joined
Mar 5, 2011
Messages
7
Reaction score
1
Points
3
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook 4,1; Snow Leopard
I recently discovered that Opera is a completely superior browser. I was a loyal Chrome user, but their last update seemed to screw YouTube play up.
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2009
Messages
315
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Location
Ontario, Canada
I recently switched to FF and so far quite like it. No complaints yet. Was using Safari before that.
 
Joined
May 26, 2010
Messages
73
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
CANADA
Your Mac's Specs
Apple MacBook "Core 2 Duo" 2.26 13" (Uni/Late 09) 8GB RAM 120GB SSD Boot up 500 GB 7200RPM HDD
Heck, I'd almost go so far to say that IE 8 and 9 are better than Firefox at this point. :)

HAHAHAHAHA
why all the hating on firefox? I've been a long time firefox user and while I recently tried opera I couldn't quite get used to it. While FF is far from perfect I definitely would prefer it above chrome. not so sure about safari though.
I'm just trying out the beta release of FF 4.0 and must say I'm quite pleased honestly.
:p
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top