AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera or Firefox

creb · 2013-04-02, 20:56

I use Chrome, but that's largely out of habit (and being so tightly wed to the Google ecosystem; I started using Chrome when it first came out, and its initial simplicity was a real difference compared to the bloat of the rest of the browsers back then).

I'm not much for extensions other than an adblocking one. A css extension is nice, but I could live without it.

Objectively, I wouldn't have any issues with using IE 10 on Windows 8, but there does not appear to be any free adblocking addons (just a paid one). It's certainly fast, and I prefer the way it renders fonts over Chrome.

That said, Chrome is still the only browser that doesn't waste space with the generic Windows title bar. While I like how IE 10 gives you the option to put your tabs inline with the address bar (the address bar is so much wasted space on any decent sized monitor), the space it saves is lost by having a title bar at the top of the window).

I know Safari, in one of its betas, tried to do away with the title bar, and there was so much gnashing of teeth they brought it back. Haven't used Safari in years, so no idea what the state of it is now. Imo, there's no purpose to a title bar for a web browser, but Google appears to be the only people that believe that.

I've never found much use for Firefox, even in its heyday, mainly because I don't really care about extensions, and back in the IE 7 days, there was a free adblocking addon, so I never bothered with Firefox, and only switched from IE when Chrome came out as a beta.

Opera was always too gimmicky for me, as again, I don't require all the bloat these browsers seem to think people want (and, hey, maybe people do want all the gimmicks and I'm a weirdo). That said, I do use Opera Mini on my smartphone, but only because it has proxy servers built into it directly, allowing you to bypass your corporate/etc firewall with no hassle. I think the purpose had to do with compression, not to bypass corporate firewalls, but it's the firewall bypassing that makes it my smartphone browser of choice, even if I'd like to use Chrome instead. I guess I have blind faith that Opera isn't skimming my personal info for nefarious purposes when doing so.

About the only thing I wish Chrome had that it doesn't is the ability to render font the way IE 10 does, and perhaps a more jazzy new tab page, ala Safari's/Opera's. There are extensions for Chrome that try to "prettify" the new tab page, but I find them all lacking in one way or another as they all try to add functionality to the New Tab page, rather than simply making it "pretty". I don't need more functionality.

Which brings me back to IE 10. A free adblocker would likely make it far less likely that people switch away, as I imagine, discounting "geeks", that's the main reason "normal" people would bother going through the effort of switching.

2013-04-02, 20:56	Link #297
creb Hiding Under Your Bed Join Date: May 2008	I use Chrome, but that's largely out of habit (and being so tightly wed to the Google ecosystem; I started using Chrome when it first came out, and its initial simplicity was a real difference compared to the bloat of the rest of the browsers back then). I'm not much for extensions other than an adblocking one. A css extension is nice, but I could live without it. Objectively, I wouldn't have any issues with using IE 10 on Windows 8, but there does not appear to be any free adblocking addons (just a paid one). It's certainly fast, and I prefer the way it renders fonts over Chrome. That said, Chrome is still the only browser that doesn't waste space with the generic Windows title bar. While I like how IE 10 gives you the option to put your tabs inline with the address bar (the address bar is so much wasted space on any decent sized monitor), the space it saves is lost by having a title bar at the top of the window). I know Safari, in one of its betas, tried to do away with the title bar, and there was so much gnashing of teeth they brought it back. Haven't used Safari in years, so no idea what the state of it is now. Imo, there's no purpose to a title bar for a web browser, but Google appears to be the only people that believe that. I've never found much use for Firefox, even in its heyday, mainly because I don't really care about extensions, and back in the IE 7 days, there was a free adblocking addon, so I never bothered with Firefox, and only switched from IE when Chrome came out as a beta. Opera was always too gimmicky for me, as again, I don't require all the bloat these browsers seem to think people want (and, hey, maybe people do want all the gimmicks and I'm a weirdo). That said, I do use Opera Mini on my smartphone, but only because it has proxy servers built into it directly, allowing you to bypass your corporate/etc firewall with no hassle. I think the purpose had to do with compression, not to bypass corporate firewalls, but it's the firewall bypassing that makes it my smartphone browser of choice, even if I'd like to use Chrome instead. I guess I have blind faith that Opera isn't skimming my personal info for nefarious purposes when doing so. About the only thing I wish Chrome had that it doesn't is the ability to render font the way IE 10 does, and perhaps a more jazzy new tab page, ala Safari's/Opera's. There are extensions for Chrome that try to "prettify" the new tab page, but I find them all lacking in one way or another as they all try to add functionality to the New Tab page, rather than simply making it "pretty". I don't need more functionality. Which brings me back to IE 10. A free adblocker would likely make it far less likely that people switch away, as I imagine, discounting "geeks", that's the main reason "normal" people would bother going through the effort of switching. __________________ http://myanimelist.net/animelist/creb http://myanimelist.net/mangalist/creb It feels like years since they've been updated, btw. Also, cake. Last edited by creb; 2013-04-02 at 21:12.