Best Browser

but please, don't tell it to me. Opera is not an alternative to FF.

Neo, you have to pay I'm afraid

Unless someone out there has a hack, crack or code

Opera is free today.

You read it correctly.

http://my.opera.com/community/party/reg.dml

Love it

Thanks Avenger

thanks avenger

You're welcome guys!

Ok, I've done some semi-extensive browser testing - IE, Firefox and Opera. All using the latest stable release, so no IE7 Beta2, no Deer Park (Firefox 1.5) and no Merlin (Opera 9).

In summary: Firefox. Just. Literally just because it's slightly better for what I want.

IE: it sucks, accept it, move on. ActiveX is unsafe, it renders pages wrong, no tabs. To those of you talking about coloured scroll bars - that's IE propietary code. Bad bad bad. To those of you who say other browsers "break" the pages you visit - that's because they were coded with IE in mind, using the wrong box model and stupid CSS. Just...ditch IE6. IE7 Beta has fixed most of the problems, so next year will be interesting as far as browser wars are concerned. Best thing is, now they're all reading off the same sheet as to how to render HTML elements, so now the winner will be the one with the best functionality. But for now, ditch IE.

Opera: Awesomeness. Now it's free, it's amazing. Downside is that all of the more powerful tweaks that users such as the clever lot on Bellazon like are hidden away. First thing you'll hate is the way ctrl+t is "Add Bookmark" rather than "New Tab". This can easily be changed. Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Shortcuts. Go to the Keyboard Setup section, and either edit Opera Standard, or duplicate it, rename it, then edit it. I changed ctrl+T to be a new tab, ctrl+B to be a new Bookmark, and ctrl+N to be a new page. Also, in Preferences > Advanced, go to History and change Check Documents to always. It means Opera always loads the latest version of a page - it's default setting loads from the cache, so for frequently update pages, it misses things. Customise your toolbar setup as well - I suggest that you make Page bar show "Only When Needed". Experiment with sessions and panels as well. Opera, on the whole, is actually a tad faster that Firefox, and on average I've found uses less RAM - your mileage may vary depending on your setup. Opera also feels more polished than Firefox, maybe because it was originally intended to be sold.

Firefox: Just wins out due to extensions. Go over to the Firefox thread to see some of the best tips and tweaks, but basically the fact that Opera used to be expensive rather than free gave FF an advantage. Hopefully Firefox 1.5 and 2 will build on what they've done so far. Extensions are the only noticeable advantage Firefox has - overall, there's not much to choose between Firefox and Opera in terms of out-of-the-box, but once you start customising...I know I've hyped Opera just now, but that's because it's underrated and a great program. You all know how great Firefox is, I just wanted a more objective look. It wins, just, so hopefully the competition will make it better than ever.

Mozilla: Firefox is better. Uses the same rendering engine (Gecko), so pages will look the same. Firefox is smaller, prettier, easier and more customisable. The Mozilla Suite is all bloat - better to get Firefox and Thunderbird and a few choice extensions. I didn't spend time with it like I did the others because I've used it before, and know it's not as goot. Look, here's how it went. Netscape gave out its source code for free. Mozilla was built. It was good. Then they made a new build of it called Firefox (originally called Phoenix, then Firebird), and it was, and still is, better.

Avant, Maxthon, Netscape etc - sorry, I have these but haven't really had time (or the inclination) to test them much.

I actually prefer the feel of Safari, but unfortunately, just a few of the forum features I need here and other places don't work on it, which is really a pain. For instance, it won't let me select text and then click the italic button to change things.

I just downloaded a Safari theme for Firefox 1.5. It's pretty nice, but only the Toolbar has the Safari look; none of the other icons (e.g. "Post Reply") have the sleek Safari look.

I'm happy with it. The bar and tabs are smaller, so more of the page is devoted to pictures.

opera: fastest

firefox: most customizable

internet explorer: most "compatible" (except for png transparency and some problems with css) but also the most insecure

my choice: firefox+ie (i don't like opera )

I'm back on Safari. It's just so fast, smooth, and nice looking that I can't justify not using it. Firefox 1.5 rocks, but I want speed.

i only use firefox with a lot extensions...i just love it <3

Back on Safari... again. Let's see if I can stick with it...

Geez. This thing does circles around Firefox 1.5.0.1!

Safari updated. I can no longer find any reason not to use it!

My default browser is firefox if some pages won't work on firefox i will use IE.

Did anybody try SeaMonkey (follower of the Mozilla Application Suite) already?

Does anyone here know if the Safari SIMBL plugin "AcidSearch" can slow the browser down?

I like what it offers for searching, but I don't use it often enough to warrant keeping it if slows me down.

Holy cow... Camino is even faster than Safari!

I use all three (FF, OP and IE). But FF is my default browser, and I used that one most. Right now I'm using OP.

uhh.. I use IE, and I hate Netscape - I don't know why