Your web browser choice

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Felt like posting a pointless poll and this one is at least not on the first page.

There you go. Which browser(s) are you using/preferring and on what basis? I'm a Mozilla guy (SeaMonkey), for its ease of use, moddability, tabbed-browsing, security (only Nsis Media spyware somehow managed to penetrate it so far ) and more reasons I can't recollect ATM. However, I'm also using its cousin Firefox to ease the load. That one is for...ehm...educational purposes.
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[Whacker]

Started using Mozilla about... 4-5 years ago or so? Switched to Firefox when that came out, so I use it and Thunderbird now.

IE wasn't too terrible around version 5 IMO, it was probably one of the better browsers at the time, but that's not saying much. I never liked Opera, though some of my friends swear by it. /shrug

[Mikeus Caesar]

Opera all the way. It's so unpopular that spyware that causes pop-ups doesn't work with it, plus it looks nice.

[drone]

Used to use Mozilla, now onto Firefox. Still use Mozilla Composer for general html editing, but I had to move on to Firefox for browsing. AdBlock FTW!

[Charge]

O _ P _ E _ R _ A
though never had used mozilla/firefox . Who voted Gah?? Don't use any?

[Husar]

Opera.

I've got a copy of firefox and one of IE 7 installed as well, but never really use them, I just like the layout, security and possibilities of Opera without the need to install seperate addons for everything.

[Mouzafphaerre]

Used to use Mozilla, now onto Firefox. Still use Mozilla Composer for general html editing, but I had to move on to Firefox for browsing. AdBlock FTW!

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Adblock, as well as other extensions, works with SeaMonkey perfectly, FWIW. I have it installed on both SM and FF.
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[Viking]

I use IE because I dont jump on bandwagons.

[Pannonian]

I use IE because I dont jump on bandwagons.

Isn't IE the biggest browser bandwagon there has ever been?

[Lemur]

[Beirut]

Does this mean I'm a shmoo because i use IE?

[Xiahou]

Everyone seen this?

Btw, I chose Firefox.

[Beirut]

Everyone seen this?

It blocks IE as well.

[shlin28]

Firefox = Da Bestz

[Husar]

It blocks IE as well.

No, he linked to the site that informs you about a block. If you get redirected to that page from another website, then your browser is probably blocked.

And I have to say they do have a point, most ads don't bother me anyway, only those really invasive ones that obstruct your page view and are hard to get rid of.

[Pannonian]

I get the Firefox page with Opera as well, plus a big purple block in the top right that blocks most of the text.

[caravel]

No, he linked to the site that informs you about a block. If you get redirected to that page from another website, then your browser is probably blocked.

And I have to say they do have a point, most ads don't bother me anyway, only those really invasive ones that obstruct your page view and are hard to get rid of.

I have to politely disagree Husar, I am strongly convinced that they have no point whatsoever. Firstly there's this:

"Accessing the content while blocking the ads, therefore would be no less than stealing. Millions of hard working people are being robbed of their time and effort by this type of software."

Then this:

"Demographics have shown that not only are FireFox users a somewhat small percentage of the internet, they actually are even smaller in terms of online spending, therefore blocking FireFox seems to have only minimal financial drawbacks"

So, millions of hard workers are being robbed of their efforts, yet demographics show that in terms of online spending firefox users are too small a userbase to matter anyway. So if this is the case, what are they worried about?

Is this a joke?

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Firefox, AdBlock +, NoScript, IE Tab and Download Status Bar.

The combination can't really be beaten, both from the usability and the security point of view. Nowadays I simply can't return to IE and, on occasions when I am forced to use it, I find some of it features rather awkward and/or underdeveloped. I did try SeaMonkey recently, thinking that it may be easier to have e-mail and browsing capabilities in one application, but found it to be a little more unfriendly to the user when compared with Firefox/Thunderbird. Its appearance also was almost a clone of one of the old Netscape browsers - call me eye-candy obsessed, but when compared with the more attractive GUIs nowadays it feels a little ugly.

Before Firefox though, I was an IE 5/IE 6 user, although this mainly was out my ignorance of anything better. Quite a few years back I tried Opera (early thousands) but I disliked the banner ads which displayed at the top of the screen, so quickly returned to IE.

Even earlier (mid to late 90s) I used Netscape. Although I was loyal to the earlier versions (v2, v3 and v4), the early versions of Netscape 6 and their crash prone nature drove me to IE (at the time v5.5).

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Everyone seen this?

What insolence! The shamelessly say ad-blocking is theft! Who the are they to implant their ads inside my browser window anyway?
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[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Recently, the creator of AdBlock+ responded to the criticism addressed in the "Why Firefox is blocked website". You can find his comments here.

[Husar]

So, millions of hard workers are being robbed of their efforts, yet demographics show that in terms of online spending firefox users are too small a userbase to matter anyway. So if this is the case, what are they worried about?

Is this a joke?

It's probably a bit like going to an amusement park and telling the guy at the entrance that you'd like to get in for free since you're unlikely to use any of their attractions anyway.
Some ads are paid for on a pay-per-view basis IIRC so if you'll never see it, the webpage owner won't get his money from the advertising company, whether you'd click it or not is irrelevant in that case.

I agree that spyware is bad, but if it just says "hello, buy my product please" somewhere on the right side instead of displaying just a white box, what's so much worse?

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Btw, AdBlock doesn't, by default, block professionally made decent ads such as those of Google. But you can customize it to remove anything that you're uncontent with from your sight, not necessarily ads.
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[Viking]

Isn't IE the biggest browser bandwagon there has ever been?

No, because 98% of the IE users does not know what a web browser is.

[Xiahou]

So, millions of hard workers are being robbed of their efforts, yet demographics show that in terms of online spending firefox users are too small a userbase to matter anyway. So if this is the case, what are they worried about?

I got a kick out of that too.

It's probably a bit like going to an amusement park and telling the guy at the entrance that you'd like to get in for free since you're unlikely to use any of their attractions anyway.

Interestingly, most amusement parks I've been to recently don't charge admission. You only pay for rides or food, ect.

Regardless, I don't waste time blocking inconspicuous ads- only the obnoxious ads are worth blocking. Also, I say that any site that wants to should be free to block Firefox. If they don't want me viewing their content, I don't want to see it either.

[CountArach]

Firefox for just over a month now.

[naut]

Firefox with the same set up as Omanes, but I also browse from inside SongBird too, which is really convenient.

[pevergreen]

IE 7 all the way!

Firefox is too slow.

Plus, I have never got a virus from IE and, no pop ups ever, thanks to inbuilt pop-up-blocker.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Firefox is too slow.

Hmm, sorry to disagree pevergreen, but, for me at least, IE 7 is relatively slow compared to Firefox.

Apple recently performed some tests with their own browser, Safari. They tested its performance vs IE 7, Firefox and Opera. You can find the results here.

Unsurprisingly Safari won overall, while Firefox was, on average second. Opera was third, while IE came marginally last.

Plus, I have never got a virus from IE...

IE, although it never delivered me a virus, always provided me with spyware. This assortment mostly consisted of tracking cookies, although a few key loggers hacked in once or twice.

When I began using Firefox, the number of tracking cookies detected weekly dropped from about thirty to five. After using AdBlock +, this further dropped to one/two. Now, with NoScript installed, no cookies have turned up whatsoever.

Despite this, IE is, undoubtedly, more vulnerable to dodgy ActiveX controls and scripts. Not because it has more security holes, although it may, but because it is the most used browser. As you may expect, malware targets it for this reason. This effect is amplified, since IE gains security updates much less frequently that the majority of other browsers.

...and, no pop ups ever, thanks to inbuilt pop-up-blocker.

Firefox has a pop-up blocker which, to me, seems to be much more effective than IEs - although IE prevents most pop-ups nice and easily, a few manage to navigate around it.

[naut]

Anybody tried the Safari for Windows? It's pretty fast, but bloody ugly.

[TevashSzat]

I myself am using an IE atm mainly because I always end up having to reformat/replace my harddrive due to various frustrating circumstances every 6-9months so I have become too lazy to get Firefox.