Which web browser do you use in Vista?

[SiliconValley]

I've been using firefox, about to switch to vista. I'm a bit sick of Vista. Should I go back to IE, keep using firefox or is there a 3rd alternative?

[Lord_Malone]

I had problems with Firefox on my older machine with XP, but the latest version is running very smooth with Vista on my new machine. IE7 pales in comparison really. Nice security features, but it can get a tad annoying. Everything about Firefox is that much better.

[Boozer]

IE7

ive never had the need to use anything else

[Catweazle]

IE7

Under Vista there's now no real reason to use an alternative, other than personal preference about the interface. With security settings configured at defaults and Defender running I've not had a single intrusion.

And personal preference? It's only a bloody browser to use for reading web pages, for goodness sake!

[SiliconValley]

IE7

Under Vista there's now no real reason to use an alternative, other than personal preference about the interface. With security settings configured at defaults and Defender running I've not had a single intrusion.

And personal preference? It's only a bloody browser to use for reading web pages, for goodness sake!

What is Defender?

[Catweazle]

Windows Defender. Anti-spyware thingy. I've got no AdAware, Spybot or the like on this PC. Nothing has come in to be nabbed.

[djnes]

IE7

ive never had the need to use anything else

Same. It works, it's there, it has the features I want.

[evilmedic]

Opera 9.10.....IE 7 isn't exactly stable and crashes quite abit.

[kurt454]

Firefox 2.0.0.2 for me. I love No-script and Adblock Plus.

[mket]

I had problems with Firefox on my older machine with XP, but the latest version is running very smooth with Vista on my new machine. IE7 pales in comparison really. Nice security features, but it can get a tad annoying. Everything about Firefox is that much better.


Really? Do you have a list? Im not aware of anything that 'pales'. The only thng that FF has I prefer is its find/highlight feature.

[celwin]

Firefox. IE7 takes up too much damn memory (upwards of 250 megs with 6 tabs).

[Gatticus]

I'm using IE7 in Vista but I usually use FireFox. I actually prefer Opera but the noscript plugin for FF makes it a must have, IMO. I'm liking IE7 in Vista and it is faster than FF under XP. Opera has the best download manager of all browsers and it is the fastest full featured browser.

[digital_exhaust]

I had been using Firefox, but I'm really starting to like IE7... and have been playing around with the Avant browser a bit..

[l3ender]

Firefox 2.0 for me. I have so many extensions that make browsing so much easier, which gives FF the huge advantage over IE7.

Anything I need to do in IE7 I can do in FF

[Tzzird]

I use IE on vista for the most part. I have problems with this online class I'm taking however. Whenever I need to type in an entry into a textbox, the textbox won't show on IE, but it does on firefox. I didn't have this problem with XP.

Since I'm able to type in hardforum boxes just fine, could it possibly be an issue with an uninstalled java thingy?

[bbz_Ghost]

Avant ftw, always... It's what vanilla IE should be.

[general]

I used Firefox when I played around with Vista. I'm not a sheep and don't blindly use whatever browser MS tells me to use. Firefox's security reputation is far greater than that of Microsoft. I also go with best of breed applications for things like firewall, anti-spyware, etc. Why settle for the bundled applications when there are better alternatives?

[ne0-reloaded]

firefox. adblock plus, ietab, and noscript, and google toolbar is all i need. i hate ff20 tho, tabbed browser preferences extension doesn't work right on it

[Catweazle]

I'm not a sheep and don't blindly use ...

Why settle for the bundled applications when there are better alternatives?

Oh piffle! That's just an exercise in elitism for the sake of elitism. Why chase better when the provided is perfectly adequate?

I have been thoroughly road-testing what was provided, at default settings. The only addition I've made is a freeware AV app. I've been delving into the seediest areas of the internet I can find, and following only the simple principle of "Don't accept prompts to download and install unless I know damned well they're from reputable software publishers'.

I've run some pretty damned good detection tools afterwards. There have been ZERO intrusions. There's no real need to cling to outdated and unwarranted principles.



By the way. Extensions can now be obtained for IE as well as for Firefox, if people like using them to enhance their browsing experience.

[jimmyb]

Why chase better when the provided is perfectly adequate?
That's a silly question. Because better is, in fact, better. There couldn't be a better reason than that.

I'm not commenting on browsers in particular here. Just the sillyness of the question in general.

[bbz_Ghost]

I love hearing the "extensions" side of these debates/discussions. Avant does most everything the other browsers can do with the proper extensions installed and it does all that stuff natively.

It really is worth checking out sometime, and I don't mean a 15 minute cursory "glance" at it then brushing it aside, I mean really using it for a few days and setting it up the way you want it to be - something the other browsers really seem to have issues with for a variety of reasons.

[Catweazle]

That's a silly question. Because better is, in fact, better. There couldn't be a better reason than that.

I'm not commenting on browsers in particular here. Just the sillyness of the question in general.


Okay, I'll rephrase it:

Why chase 'better', when the provided is perfectly adequate?

You'll notice there that I'm querying whether or not an actual improvement is gained. I mentioned earlier that preference for the user interface is valid reason to adopt an alternative. I'm querying the concept that 'better' really relates to protection or other such benefits any more!

It's sorta like the 'defrag' debate. Some people choose alternatives to get that '100% defrag', thinking it is 'better', when in actual fact there is zero real-world performance benefit to be gained from having large file fragments contiguous. The difference is only in reported measurements, and in the mindset of the user.

[digital_exhaust]

It really is worth checking out sometime, and I don't mean a 15 minute cursory "glance" at it then brushing it aside

I will second this. I installed Avant last week after reading about it in another thread.... and after becoming more and more frustrated with Firefox, and IE7, for me, is just..well, I don't like it.

I haven't used Avant enough to make up mind 100% reather it's going to be my new browser of choice yet or not, as I've been switching back and forth between the three to see which one I like best, but I will say it's a really nice browser.

[bbz_Ghost]

Mouse rockers ftw!!!

Anytime I use a browser that doesn't support this just makes me wanna puke... so I have Avant as my primary browser and Opera for the backup - and since I'm in Xubuntu right now, it's most definitely Opera. :p

Beryl ROCKS... just had to say it, man this is so cool... :)

</off_topic>

[jimmyb]

Okay, I'll rephrase it:

Why chase 'better', when the provided is perfectly adequate?

You'll notice there that I'm querying whether or not an actual improvement is gained. I mentioned earlier that preference for the user interface is valid reason to adopt an alternative. I'm querying the concept that 'better' really relates to protection or other such benefits any more!

Yeah I can agree with that. There are lot of things people do with no perceivable improvements. In these cases it's questionable whether or not the alternative is better.

Now to answer the original question posed, I use Firefox. This is primarily because I'm quite familiar with it, in large part due to the fact that I am frequently working on Unix systems. Also, I use two extension that I wouldn't want to give up: adblock and switchproxy. I must admit I just googled for IE alternatives for these extensions and they do seem to be available, however I can't comment on the comparative functionality with respect to the set up I am using now.

It's something that I might look into, if I encountered an abundance of free time, but like you said, "Why chase 'better', when the provided is perfectly adequate?". :)

[Catweazle]

Precisely, jimmyb :D

I've actually switched over to IE for personal use basically because I had to trial it, have it installed with Vista anyway, and now can't be bothered installing the Firefox which was my previous browser.

As a matter of fact, after extensively trialling Vista there is quite a heap of software I'll now discontinue using, because included Vista features are perfectly adequate for tasks I need to regularly perform.

Same principle :)


I will say, though, that I had FF 2.0 on a review machine at one stage, and endorse the comment made earlier about IE loading pages more quickly. That was my experience too.

[TechLarry]

FireFox 2.0.0.2

[Sabrewulf165]

ALERT: E-peni have hijacked this thread :rolleyes:

[l3ender]

firefox. adblock plus, ietab, and noscript, and google toolbar is all i need. i hate ff20 tho, tabbed browser preferences extension doesn't work right on it

I'm not sure what exactly that extension (the incompatible one) does, but give Tab Mix Plus a try. It's great.