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Internet Browsers

  • Lucky
    • 5420 posts
    April 1, 2009 8:36 AM PDT

    As you may or may not know there are some new web browsers out that are showing some REAL potential.  We are no longer stuck with using IE 7 (Microsoft's Internet Explorer).

     

    I am going to preferance this post by telling you I am definitely not one of those "use anything but Microsoft guys".  I have been involved with computers for over 30 years, large scale computer repair, programmer, CTO of a very large internet advertising company...plus of course my current job - CycleFish.  Since the inception of the internet I have always been pro Microsoft, both for developing websites and browsing them with the latest version of Internet Explorer.

     

    However that is quickly changing!  I am constantly downloading all of the latest web browsers to test all of our websites on to ensure everyone has a good experience on our sites.  And for the first time in my career I can say that I am more impressed with any and all of the top players except for Microsoft.  I do say that with some resorvation though, because I am just now evaluating IE 8 and it is looking pretty good so far.

     

    As for my choices and opinions on the top two competitors...

     

    FireFox - Very Good - Improves the speed of all web pages that you visit by cutting out all the worthless ad on that Microsoft includes in IE.  The graffic rendering is it's only short comming.  When you view pages in FireFox you will notice that the text characters show a little more pixelation and not as clean as those on Safari.  The program is free to download and installs in about 5 minutes.  It is NOT invasive by changing preferances on your computer or even setting itself as your primary browser, unless you selet that.  And if for any reason you do not like it, the uninstall option completely removes it from your computer, leaving no trace.  During install it prompts you to import all of your existing Favorites & History.  FireFox can be downloaded here... http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ie.html

     

    Apple Safari - OUTSTANDING - Improves the speed of all web pages that you visit. It may be slightly slower, on a PC than FireFox, but the OUTSTANDING graphics far outwiegh that.  The graffic rendering is the best I have seen in any browser. The text characters almost jump off the screen they are so crisp.  They even went as far to improve the look of text input boxes and dropdown boxes on webpages. The program is free to download and installs in about 3 minutes.  It is NOT invasive by changing preferances on your computer or even setting itself as your primary browser, unless you selet that.  And if for any reason you do not like it, the uninstall option completely removes it from your computer, leaving no trace.  During install it prompts you to import all of your existing Favorites & History.  Apple Safari can be downloaded here... http://www.apple.com/safari/

     

    Overall they are both an improvement over IE.  I am personally using FireFox.

     

    google Chrome - Just a quick mention on this one.  I love some of the new feature they have and once they fix some major bugs, it could be a competitor.  But for right now there are WAY TO MANY bugs! 

  • Deleted Member
    • 39 posts
    April 1, 2009 11:03 AM PDT

    Check out this website:

     

    http://browsershots.org/

     

    This site has listed, from what I can tell, every concievable browser in use and it sorted by platform i.e. Windows, Mac.  This will just give everyone an idea of whats out there.

     

    Also, Lucky, if you haven't used this before, you can check any page on your site using any version of any browser for free.  You can only do so many querys per day with the free account but it's great for working on the fly.

     

    BTW, Every time I've ever had a problem with the site not displaying properly, it's always in Internet Explorer.  Things were showing up fine in browsers I've never heard but were totally jacked around in IE.

     

    I was late on the bandwagon to use Firefox but I think it really is better.  I mainly use Microsoft products, but Firefox is faster, less evasive, more customizable, has better interface and is less prone to have display issues than IE.  My $.02

  • Coley
    April 3, 2009 12:49 AM PDT
    Lucky, Oil I know but computers, thats a different tale. My question to you is if I were to change to firefox, does it change what I use for email, ie. internet explorer?
  • Lucky
    • 5420 posts
    April 3, 2009 2:13 AM PDT
    Coley,

    No it doesn't change what you are currently using for email. It replaces internet explorer, but leaves all other default programs the same. Plus it doesn't even make itself your default internet browser (unless you select to do that). So you can try it out, if all works ok for you, keep it. If you are not happy, which I doubt very seriously, just click uninstall.

    ~Lucky
  • Lucky
    • 5420 posts
    April 3, 2009 11:21 AM PDT

    I just noticed another really cool feature in FireFox...It has a built in spell checker!  Anything you enter on any website...forms, forum posts, comments, blogs...anything, is spelled checked in real time.  Misspelled words are underlined as soon as you type them!!!

  • Deleted Member
    • 39 posts
    April 4, 2009 12:45 AM PDT

    Iz taht what thoze red lins are for?

     

    The feature I'm always using is Ctrl-F , Which is a built in search of any website your visiting.  It's great for long sites with a lot of text, just type in what your looking for and it highlights the words for you.

  • Lucky
    • 5420 posts
    July 17, 2009 4:32 AM PDT
    Ok, I have had some time to evaluate Microsoft's latest browser - IE8 (Internet Explorer 8) and I must say they have made some improvements. Most of the problems you saw from newer websites using the latest features are gone, and the speed of displaying pages has improved slightly. But after going back and forth between IE8 and FireFox, I have to say FireFox is still the best. Especially now that they have released version 3.5. I swear it will make every website you visit load almost twice as fast!

    If you haven't tried FireFox for browsing the web yet, I recommend you do so. It will take a little getting used to some of the buttons being in different places, and a couple of other small things, but once you get used to it, I am sure you will love it.

    The FireFox browser is completely Free and will cause no problems on your computer. And if by any chance you don't like it better (which I doubt), you can completely remove it with one click!


    FireFox can be downloaded here...     http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ie.html style="font-size: small;">

    If you are already using FireFox and do not have the latest version, go to the same link above and upgrade now!  To see what version you are running, start FireFox, click Help, and then click About Mozilla FireFox.
  • RexTheRoadDog
    • Moderator
    • 19067 posts
    July 17, 2009 7:00 AM PDT
    Will Fire Fox do multiple pages yet? That is why I stay with IE 8.
  • Lucky
    • 5420 posts
    July 17, 2009 7:33 AM PDT
    Oh yeah, I haven't found anything that IE does that is not in the latest version of FF. The tab feature is much more robust and flexible in FF than in IE.
  • DebraJo
    • Moderator
    • 1516 posts
    July 17, 2009 8:14 AM PDT
    I actually use Firefox as well. I like it better than IE. One thing I noticed that Firefox does, is that it will save your tabs. So if you want to restart in the exact same place even at multiple web sites at once, it will save your tabs and reopen them the next time you start Firefox.
  • RexTheRoadDog
    • Moderator
    • 19067 posts
    July 17, 2009 8:55 AM PDT
    Lucky wrote...
    Oh yeah, I haven't found anything that IE does that is not in the latest version of FF. The tab feature is much more robust and flexible in FF than in IE.

    OK I will check it out soon.
  • CycleFishAdmin
    • 1 posts
    July 17, 2009 10:37 AM PDT
    debrajo62 wrote...
    I actually use Firefox as well. I like it better than IE. One thing I noticed that Firefox does, is that it will save your tabs. So if you want to restart in the exact same place even at multiple web sites at once, it will save your tabs and reopen them the next time you start Firefox.
    DebraJo, Did you also know if you have your bookmarks organized in folders (sub-folders) you can right click the bookmark folder and select open all in tabs.  This comes in very handy if you have projects or tasks that require the same 3 or 4 sites to be open every time.
  • DebraJo
    • Moderator
    • 1516 posts
    July 17, 2009 2:20 PM PDT
    CycleFishAdmin wrote...
    debrajo62 wrote...
    I actually use Firefox as well. I like it better than IE. One thing I noticed that Firefox does, is that it will save your tabs. So if you want to restart in the exact same place even at multiple web sites at once, it will save your tabs and reopen them the next time you start Firefox.
    DebraJo, Did you also know if you have your bookmarks organized in folders (sub-folders) you can right click the bookmark folder and select open all in tabs.  This comes in very handy if you have projects or tasks that require the same 3 or 4 sites to be open every time.
    That's a great tip, I never thought to try that. Thanks
  • Deleted Member
    • 39 posts
    July 17, 2009 5:15 PM PDT
    Thanks for the tip, I didn't realize 3.5 was out yet.  Cool!

    Another trick I just found a few weeks ago is you can add a new tab just my double clicking next to your open tabs.  Lets say you have two tabs open, double click where the third tab would be and it opens one up there.
  • Lucky
    • 5420 posts
    July 17, 2009 5:40 PM PDT
    CycleRidge wrote...
    Thanks for the tip, I didn't realize 3.5 was out yet.  Cool!

    Another trick I just found a few weeks ago is you can add a new tab just my double clicking next to your open tabs.  Lets say you have two tabs open, double click where the third tab would be and it opens one up there.
    Frank, on the old ver of FF you could only do that if you aleady had more than one tab open, otherwise you had to use control T or right click.  On 3.5 there is actually a plus sign (+) to the right of the right most tab to open the next tab.
  • Deleted Member
    • 39 posts
    July 18, 2009 4:07 AM PDT
    It's much faster loading sites, and the plus sign by the tabs is perfect!
  • DebraJo
    • Moderator
    • 1516 posts
    November 4, 2009 12:47 PM PST
    I have been using FireFox for sometime now, I still have to run IE at the office. I tried IE8 at home and I got so mad at it I uninstalled it.
    The one thing that I really like about FF is that I can close it and save all the sites that I have open to open again when I restart it.
    What I find a little strange is that the pages do not refresh when I reopen them. Here on Cyclefish, the same posts will still show with the same amount of lapse time showing. That seems a little weird. I guess it has something to do with Cache.
    Hopefully they will fix that in an update soon.
  • AzRider
    • 834 posts
    January 26, 2010 6:54 AM PST
    Thanks for the tip. I actually never had any problems with Internet Explorer, but I am just a casual web surfer and don't do anything that technical.

    After reading this I decided to give FireFox a try...Wow what a difference!!!!!!! Everything loads faster and looks better. Even just starting the program is faster.
  • Deleted Member
    January 26, 2010 7:21 AM PST
    I like my etchasketch browser. just black n grey and when I get mad and shake it I can start over.
  • Deleted Member
    • 1040 posts
    January 26, 2010 7:35 AM PST
    Damn Lucky...Thanks man!! just loaded FF and the afterburners kicked in...Yeeeeeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaw!!
  • Dyna
    • 513 posts
    January 26, 2010 7:36 AM PST
    hambone wrote...
    I like my etchasketch browser. just black n grey and when I get mad and shake it I can start over.


    LOL...I just got this mental image of you not liking something on the net and shaking the monitor to get rid of it


    I use google chrome because I spell for sh!t and it helps me make myself understid, understode,   understood!  

  • backinblack
    January 26, 2010 7:51 AM PST
    I've been using FF browser for a few years now and wouldn't trade it for any other I've checked out.Each new version is even better than the previous one it replaces.Extremely fast and never crashes.
  • Deleted Member
    • 1040 posts
    January 26, 2010 10:08 AM PST
    Go's to show ya what I know about this stuff...I'm just happier than a pig in shit with the FF...Thanks again Lucky
  • Deleted Member
    • 190 posts
    January 26, 2010 12:05 PM PST
    damn all. i cant even contribute to this conversation cuz its all computwer gibbe3rish to me..i jjust barely got my G.D.E...lolall i know is where to plug in the lectrical socket n i cant even do that without burning the garage down...thank god i got you all to explain this all to me...lol
  • Deleted Member
    September 8, 2010 11:14 AM PDT
    I have been using the Fire Fox browser since I first read this a year ago, and love it! I have NEVER had a problem with it getting hung up and it is much faster than Internet Explorer.