Browsers

[Richard]

which 'browser' do you use and are you happy with it ?

I use Fireyfoxey from Mozilla but I don't know why, it just seems ok !!

are there any pro's and cons?

[Geoff]

For work I use Firefox as it's best for web development with some great tools available for webmasters. Downside is it has a habit of crashing on a dual monitor PC.

For everyday browsing I would recommend Chrome.

Out of interest I will have a look at the 1066 site stats and see which is most popular at the moment. Back in a mo!

[Geoff]

Okay, here's the top 10 percentages over the last 30 days - out of about 40,000 visitors so a fairly good representation...

1. Safari (32.93%)
2. Chrome (27.01%)
3. Internet Explorer (21.16%)
4. Android Browser (8.82%)
5. Firefox (7.35%)
6. Amazon Silk (1.20%)
7. BlackBerry (0.57%)
8. Opera (0.29%)
9. Safari (in-app) (0.25%)
10. Opera Mini (0.15%)

[Derek Jempson]

I have used Internet Explorer from version 4 onwards. Version 6 was a bit of a disaster (I was doing web development at that time and knew how cussed it could be), The present incarnation to me seems sleek and fast and screen clutter can be reduced to a minimum. However, since IE no longer commands the top spot, developers seem to be less fussy about making sure that their creations perform correctly in IE and I am noticing increasingly that certain features on some sites simply don't work in IE, which is a real pain because I then have to switch to Firefox in mid-flow. My only objection to Firefox is one of aesthetics - it simply doesn't look as good as Internet Explorer. I have never used Chrome, so can't comment on that one.

[moonjiver]

This is interesting stuff. When I was using internet cafes for a while, some of them were using Firefox which I was told was much faster. Since then, other players are around and I am surprised to see Firefox only being used by 7% of people here.

On my laptop, about to be hooked up to internet, should I stick with Internet Explorer or at some stage think about switching? If I.E. nowadays is better, it's probably ok for most normal users, I won't be building websites!

Chrome is the Google one - is it significantly better than its rivals?

[Derek Jempson]

On my laptop, about to be hooked up to internet, should I stick with Internet Explorer or at some stage think about switching?

If Internet Explorer is your default browser, I would stick with that unless you begin to experience issues.

[Richard]

interesting that people can also access this website via mobiles using various browsers.
Is this correct, can mobiles use them as freely ?

I did not know how many varieties there are out there, which must be a royal pain in the proverbial for web-developers who have to make sure there creations can work across all browsers and using whatever operating systems they sit on.

[Geoff]

You're right there Richard, it can be a right pain in the arse. Every web browser has a slightly different take on how to render a web page. We live in hope of standardisation, but such is life eh?

Regarding how many different browsers there are, that's only the top ten. There were 27 different browsers listed in total.

[moonjiver]

I checked what browser my small HTC phone uses - Android, version Webkit 533.1. There are countless versions just of the Android browser apparently ..

I am quite amazed how well most websites are displayed on a small 3" or so screen. I use the internet a lot, can interact well with sites. If I want to save important info from a site, there are various tricks - one is just copying text into a draft email. Print it some time later when I'm on a computer!!

[Richard]

what I find slightly irritating about Firefoxy is that the page freezes and I get a blue circle whilst the page fades somewhat.
This may last just few seconds or it can occur very frequently, so that I am unable to continue normally.
I have tried restoring firey to its original settings and this works for a while but then the same events occur.

It is not clear what is causing the problem.