Ditched Firefox
Discussion
For quite some time now, I have used Firefox as my default browser. Generally speaking, I always liked the flexibility of it, and it was always quite stable, and very customisable.
However, I have found that lately, for some reason, it is not as stable as it used to be, and bugs have started appearing. A lad at work has also noticed Firefox not working so well for him of late too. I've tried reinstalling it, but it made no difference.
What bugs have I encountered? Well, random crashes for one. Also, if you download lots of files, and leave them in the downloads window, eventually, it slows to a crawl. I have encountered pages which make the browser very unresponsive, and also when right-clicking on some items, the menu doesn't appear (the shadow of menu appears, though). Finally, to top it all off, on some sites, for some reason, if you try to save an image, you end up with a file that is only several hundreds bytes in size, and when trying to open, you get the message that it is corrupt.
Enough was enough.
I'm now trying out Opera 10.10.
This is a browser I have tried several times in the past, and have always dumped for various reasons - unstable, fails to render some sites correctly, etc...
However, I've been using this one for several hours now, and it seems quite stable indeed. Also, it has many of the features of Firefox extensions already included. And I don't get the issues on the same sites as Firefox. To top it all off, it actually seems markedly faster in use than Firefox too (but Opera was always a fast browser).
I did try Chrome too, but I also had issues with that - again, unstable, and difficult to customise... well not hugely difficult, but a lot more hassle than I could be bothered with, just to get basic functionality. Shame as I really like the interface.
I suppose theres Safari, I've not tried it, but I suspect it may be a little like itunes in the respect that it only really comes into its own on an Apple machine, in other words, not running all that well on a windows box.
So, has anyone else noticed any issues with Firefox, and has anyone dumped it in favour of a different browser. And if you have, which browser do you use, and why?
However, I have found that lately, for some reason, it is not as stable as it used to be, and bugs have started appearing. A lad at work has also noticed Firefox not working so well for him of late too. I've tried reinstalling it, but it made no difference.
What bugs have I encountered? Well, random crashes for one. Also, if you download lots of files, and leave them in the downloads window, eventually, it slows to a crawl. I have encountered pages which make the browser very unresponsive, and also when right-clicking on some items, the menu doesn't appear (the shadow of menu appears, though). Finally, to top it all off, on some sites, for some reason, if you try to save an image, you end up with a file that is only several hundreds bytes in size, and when trying to open, you get the message that it is corrupt.
Enough was enough.
I'm now trying out Opera 10.10.
This is a browser I have tried several times in the past, and have always dumped for various reasons - unstable, fails to render some sites correctly, etc...
However, I've been using this one for several hours now, and it seems quite stable indeed. Also, it has many of the features of Firefox extensions already included. And I don't get the issues on the same sites as Firefox. To top it all off, it actually seems markedly faster in use than Firefox too (but Opera was always a fast browser).
I did try Chrome too, but I also had issues with that - again, unstable, and difficult to customise... well not hugely difficult, but a lot more hassle than I could be bothered with, just to get basic functionality. Shame as I really like the interface.
I suppose theres Safari, I've not tried it, but I suspect it may be a little like itunes in the respect that it only really comes into its own on an Apple machine, in other words, not running all that well on a windows box.
So, has anyone else noticed any issues with Firefox, and has anyone dumped it in favour of a different browser. And if you have, which browser do you use, and why?
grumbledoak said:
These days, on a PC I cannot see any reason not to use IE.
And, yes, I'm an IT 'pro' and I've been a web monkey for several of those years, all through the Netscape/IE 'wars' and since. But, times have changed. MS, as ever, have got it good enough in the end.
Oddly enough, I've always been reluctant to use Internet Explorer... I too am an "IT Pro", and have found in the past that IE6 and IE7 were fairly badly slated for security. That said, I do like the interface of IE7 onwards, but I always find it a little less "snappy" feeling than Opera and Chrome, although its much the same as Firefox for me. It does load a lot quicker.And, yes, I'm an IT 'pro' and I've been a web monkey for several of those years, all through the Netscape/IE 'wars' and since. But, times have changed. MS, as ever, have got it good enough in the end.
The bundled software with W7 is a big improvement on the past, but as always, most things can be done better with other free software, IMHO.
Kinky said:
Spooky 
Only 20 minutes ago I've decided to dump FF; and have just moved to Chrome.
But that said, I'll have another go at Opera. The last version I played with was about 2 years ago (v8 IIRC).
Well, whilst you are experimenting, I'd give Opera a go, as it is quite good. The only thing I don't like about it, is the default skin, which is incredibly bland, but thats easily fixed.Only 20 minutes ago I've decided to dump FF; and have just moved to Chrome.
But that said, I'll have another go at Opera. The last version I played with was about 2 years ago (v8 IIRC).
I think Chrome is the best looking browser out there, but I'm afraid I found it a little bit like the "Linux" of the browser world, it needed too much fiddling to get it how I wanted it, and it has a kind of a "beta" feel to it (which it is, of course). I don't think its ready for the big time, but it will get there. Not for me though, I'm afraid, for much the same reasons as grumbledoak uses IE8 I should think.
grumbledoak said:
These days, on a PC I cannot see any reason not to use IE.
And, yes, I'm an IT 'pro' and I've been a web monkey for several of those years, all through the Netscape/IE 'wars' and since. But, times have changed. MS, as ever, have got it good enough in the end.
I disagree. IE on my work laptop (XP pro sp2) is quite a decent spec (well it was 2/3 years ago And, yes, I'm an IT 'pro' and I've been a web monkey for several of those years, all through the Netscape/IE 'wars' and since. But, times have changed. MS, as ever, have got it good enough in the end.
), stable and quick machine. However IE 8 freezes intermittently, slow loading some sites for no obvious reason.Firefox NEVER freezes on my laptop and runs ok all the time.
The only shortcoming I have with Firefox is that my mobileme account won't sync bookmarks with it (not a big deal and more an Apple thing as they won't support FF).
Last 2 weeks I tried living with IE but it just doesn't cut it.
Just set up my new laptop this week and have switched to Chrome as my main browser (from Firefox), it just feels faster and the interface is just right for quick and easy browsing. The only slight worry is that I am beginning to feel like I have sold my soul to Google (just got an Android phone, do lots of development work with Google Web Toolkit, use them for my email etc.)
Bob
Bob
james_gt3rs said:
If you're having problems with Firefox and Chrome have you thought that it might be a problem with your PC? Firefox has fun fine for years for me.
I very much doubt that, its very recently been rebuilt with Windows 7, everything else runs fine, the machine never crashes or has any other issues.Perhaps you have not been on a site that causes problems, certainly for 90% of sites I visited, there was never a problem, but for the ones that weren't, it was a right pain.
I never really had problems with Chrome per se, it was mainly the fact that it required too much tinkering to get it to do what I wanted it to do. For example, I wanted mouse gestures. I then found out that I had to install a different version of Chrome to use plugins, so I did. Then it was some kind of file that downloaded, and I wasn't too sure what to do with it. Not only that, but the plugins that did install automatically, didn't always work (just didn't do anything, despite Chrome saying they were there).
Out of the box, I found Chrome very basic, but thats why it runs fast.
Opera out of the box supports mouse gestures, which I couldn't do without. It also has very handy tools such as the Speed Dial, which I like, fit to width, easy zooming, magic wand for logging into sites with a single click, I could go on and on... now I know you can probably get its rivals to do all this, but Opera does it all out of the box, which for someone like me who can't be arsed to fiddle around constantly, is great.
The only thing left to do is find a half decent adblocker for Opera. That was for me, the one killer feature of Firefox...
Dracoro said:
grumbledoak said:
These days, on a PC I cannot see any reason not to use IE.
And, yes, I'm an IT 'pro' and I've been a web monkey for several of those years, all through the Netscape/IE 'wars' and since. But, times have changed. MS, as ever, have got it good enough in the end.
I disagree. IE on my work laptop (XP pro sp2) is quite a decent spec (well it was 2/3 years ago And, yes, I'm an IT 'pro' and I've been a web monkey for several of those years, all through the Netscape/IE 'wars' and since. But, times have changed. MS, as ever, have got it good enough in the end.
), stable and quick machine. However IE 8 freezes intermittently, slow loading some sites for no obvious reason.Firefox NEVER freezes on my laptop and runs ok all the time.
The only shortcoming I have with Firefox is that my mobileme account won't sync bookmarks with it (not a big deal and more an Apple thing as they won't support FF).
Last 2 weeks I tried living with IE but it just doesn't cut it.
james_gt3rs said:
If you're having problems with Firefox and Chrome have you thought that it might be a problem with your PC? Firefox has fun fine for years for me.
Thats my thinking too. Sure, Firefox has got a bit bloated over the years (now using Chrome with Adblocker ) but I can't remember the last time it crashed or displayed buggy behaviour. In fact most web browsers I've tried over the past year (Opera/Chrome/Firefox/IE8/Maxthon) on the whole have been pretty stable.I'm not having problems with Firefox. But I do also have IE (64bit), Opera, Chrome and Safari. If I get bored. Usually because there is always a website that doesn't load properly or the necessary Flash doesn't work and I have to view it on another browser.
I think any instability you might have FF will most likely be with an add-on.
I think any instability you might have FF will most likely be with an add-on.
FourWheelDrift said:
I'm not having problems with Firefox. But I do also have IE (64bit), Opera, Chrome and Safari. If I get bored. Usually because there is always a website that doesn't load properly or the necessary Flash doesn't work and I have to view it on another browser.
I think any instability you might have FF will most likely be with an add-on.
TBH, it doesnt crash that often, just occasionally, it was the other bugs that actually irritated me more!I think any instability you might have FF will most likely be with an add-on.
I suspected add-ons as causing problems, so when I reinstalled I did so without any add-ons and ran it like that and the issues still occurred.
I suppose its POSSIBLE that there may be an issue with my machine i.e. the Firefox profile folder, or any registry entries, for example, but I did try and get rid of it properly.
Nevertheless, I am quite liking Opera right now.
ETA: I did hear a rumour that Firefox is more buggy on Windows 7 64-bit than on the other operating systems. I don't know whether thats true, but its a possibility I suppose.
Edited by pbirkett on Saturday 30th January 14:32
I've used Opera since way back when you had to pay for it. Even back then it was better ergonomically than even the current firefox versions. 10.10 is a really very good browser. I have to use Firefox at work and it's an absolute mystery as to how they cam make the tab ordering behaviour so unintuitive.
The one thing I wish opera had is an equivalent of AdBlock.
The one thing I wish opera had is an equivalent of AdBlock.
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff