My Browser Choice
22 Feb
A few months ago, I decided that my old browser standby (Firefox) could use some review. When I began using it, it was the best alternative for the beast that is Internet Explorer. Since my recent switch over to the Mac, I haven’t really explored other alternatives. “Because it’s what I’ve always used” is no excuse for a preference, so I set out in search of my preferred browser.
Safari
As the native browser on the Mac, this was the first browser I decided to try.
The initial thing I noticed was the Top Sites. I think this is one of my favorite features of Safari. All of my frequently visited sites sit at the edge of my fingertips ready to click on. No more typing in a url or going back to the bookmarks for a frequently viewed page.
The developer tools, which required a Terminal command to activate, were comparable to Firebug, which was a huge benefit when I discovered it for Firefox.
The favicons are next to invisible in Safari. Alt text doesn’t seem to appear when you hover over images.
The strangest thing to me, however, was the difference in the way plugins are treated between Safari and Firefox. Most of the worthwhile plugins for Safari seem to be monetized. While there’s nothing wrong with this per say, it’s a large divergence from the Firefox community.
The nail in the coffin for Safari, was the lack of preferences. An alarming amount of links open up in a new window rather than in a new tab. I couldn’t find the way to change this (if there is a way). My options were to deal with the new window nonsense or to click on every link holding down the command key. Lovely… Next!
Opera
Opera, sadly, didn’t even rank. It seems to render closer to IE than any other browser. The support for it isn’t great, the community is okay but a little understated, and it doesn’t have much of a market to speak of.
I do enjoy another option out on the market, but I don’t believe that Opera is for me. It offers speed, but the only browser it outperforms hands-down is Internet Explorer, which hasn’t been in the running for a long time.
The accessibility features Opera offers is also impressive, but that’s also not something I require.
Chrome
Chrome had some serious promise. When I started using this application, it lacked support for extensions (Chrome’s plugins), which kept it a lot leaner than every other browser I used.
The feel of Chrome is similar to the name. It’s sleek, well finished, and streamlined.
There were still a few problems, despite the awesome feel of the whole application. For one, in the version I had there was no easy way to manage your bookmarks. The entire interface for that was lacking and empty. Also, the developer tools are a bit strange. For some reason, they feel a little slow and unresponsive.
Between a Top Sites section and the preferences for opening new tabs, this was a beautiful choice. I’d all settled down to use Chrome as my primary browser, when the unthinkable happened: it broke. Whenever an Ajax call was made, the JavaScript on the website would bug out and I’d get to see the lovely “Aww, snap!” error message.
Fine… back to square one.
The Result
Fast Dial, The Solution!
Oddly enough, I’m back where I started.
Firefox is still my weapon of choice when it comes to the web. What I came away with was a new-found love for the stability that Firefox has usually offered me. There was only one feature that kept worming its way into my wish-list. FF already had the dev tools and all of the plugins required, but it does not have the Top Sites.
The final solution was a plugin called Fast Dial. It allows me to have the Top Sites on Firefox for the new tab page. All that research for a plugin.
Safari’s dev tools are also tucked away under preferences/advanced, right at the bottom
I find myself hopping between browsers a lot. My bookmarks are all on Delicious, so I don’t fuss about with offline bookmarks etc very much. I hop between Safari and Chrome a lot these days.
If anyone asked me to recommend a browser, at the moment I would probably say to go for Chrome, due to it’s “closest to seamless” cross-platform experience that it offers, + its webkit rendering engine.
You should try Opera again when it releases the new 10.50 version. It will be the fastest browser on the market with a strong dispute with Chrome/Safari.
What I like most about Opera is their attitude towards web standards. They are always there complaining about Microsoft and pushing standards forward.
The new version will support some html5 elements (like video, die flash!) and css3 goodies such as the most antecipated rounded corner radius.
I also love the “social” stuff, like you myopera account that syncs your bookmarks, notes, the unite bundle etc etc. I could go on, I got really used to this browser now.
Really, try again with the new version. I know I sounded like a salesman but this browser totally got me
@Adam
I would have kept on with Chrome if it hadn’t mysteriously busted on me.
Any particular reason for your preferences? Just general usefulness or is it a feature that really kills it for you?
—-
@Marco
I’ll give it another poke, but I’m still not so sure.
Firefox already offers support for many CSS3 goodies.
I don’t actually use any of the social stuff on any browser. I’m not even all that attached to Xmarks (which is the only bookmarking syncing I use).
I am actually using 4 browsers open at the same time, and I am thinking of the fifth
it would be Netscape!
I had to deal with design issues and this is why!
I like the new releases of Opera as well, my number one is Firefox of course, then Chrome, Opera and IE is at the end of the list!
Safari’s dev tools are also tucked away under preferences/advanced, right at the bottom
I find myself hopping between browsers a lot. My bookmarks are all on Delicious, so I don’t fuss about with offline bookmarks etc very much. I hop between Safari and Chrome a lot these days.
If anyone asked me to recommend a browser, at the moment I would probably say to go for Chrome, due to it’s “closest to seamless” cross-platform experience that it offers, + its webkit rendering engine.