Topic: Firefox vs. Internet Explorer

In IE, they don't make the menu interface (file, edit, view...etc....) default anymore, so whenever I open it up on a library computer or something, it doesn't start off with it and I usually forget how to get it back.

I found IE very sluggish and slow, even with 8. Firefox is far faster, although the initial load is much longer.

I use Safari. I've used Internet Explorer before, but I've never used Firefox.

Same here. Besides, Firefox does run much faster, I don't think it's just your computer.

I only use IE when some sites ONLY allow this browser.

I use IE. Just downloaded Firefox to try it out last night because of this thread. No thanks.

I'm with @Clayfrd. Chrome is the best with most things, although Firefox is okay for the add-ons and stuff. Still, Internet Explorer is silly - thank goodness Windows 7 isn't going to come bundled with it in Europe, and this will hopefully let more people realise that there are better things out there.

Here's the long and short of it: Developers have to bend over backwards to provide you IE users with a web experience that is at least acceptable, sometimes even substandard to other browsers. Microsoft fails at meeting the standards and has even taken steps to ensure that IE compatible code will lock applications into IE.

Developers aren't very happy about this. There has been a bit of a silent revolt over the last year, and IE compatibility has been dropping. If you use IE, some websites may not work correctly (or at all). I'm sure many of you have attributed this to the websites. The website is not broken. It's your browser. It's broken on the inside.

For example, this game tests for certain features before attempting to run:

http://www.wiicade.com/playJSGame.aspx?gameID=1317&gameNa...

Microsoft could have added the standards-compliant features to make it work in IE8. Instead, they closed the bugs as "Closed (By Design)".

Don't support Microsoft's crapola. There are a dozen or so other browsers out there that are faster and don't suck. Chrome, Safari, Opera, FireFox are all popular browsers that support the standards far better than IE. OmniWeb, iCab, SeaMonkey, Epiphany, Galen, Camino, K-Meleon, and Konqueror are all acceptable solutions as well. Find a browser that suits your needs and style of browsing. As long as it's not IE, both you and the Internet at large will be happier.

@thewiirocks

Agreed. I'm so sick of including conditional stylesheets for all the s--t versions of IE that visitors might be using. Microsoft is losing the battle against standards, though, and they have thankfully been bending ever more gradually towards compliance with each new release.

Um... wrong. The World Wide Web Consortium authors the accepted standards for the web, and MS has had to be dragged kicking and screaming to adapt. The implementation of standards has had an immeasurable impact on the progress of the web, from XHTML to more advanced iterations of CSS, and cannot be ignored in the current web development environment, where your programmers will be building complex AJAX applications that would be crippled without some regularity in rendering engines.

Of course, Firefox isn't the only compliant or near-compliant browser out there; Opera is great for being so lightweight and resource-efficient, Safari is a very nice browser with a few tricks built in for clever integration with the OS, and then there's even Chrome, and more to follow.

highfive! yeah Chrome. slick and fast.

Firefox all the way! people who say there is no difference are uneducated.

Addons - So many useful applications, addons, skins. Limitless customability!!

Security - The amount of spyware I get is only a fraction of that which I got when I was using IE. Plus pop up and advert blocker = win.

Actually, ouenben, I think if you're educated enough - I prefer the term "experienced," myself so as to not sound too condescending - you know how to make IE work just fine. All sites I visit work well with IE. Not all sites I visit worked well with Firefox. For me, it just didn't make sense to lug two browsers around, using Firefox as default and loading up IE when the situation called for it when I could just retain IE as my default with 100% success. It's interesting to me how the trend is for FF users to bash IE, while IE users recognize FF as a competent browser that simply doesn't add value to their particualr case. Maybe I'm just uneducated.

@Vendetta

Just out of curiosity, could you name an example site that doesn't work for you in Firefox?

I wish I could, WW. I'd be happy to if I could remember. I was a HUGE Mozilla/Netscape fan back in the day, and remember being excited about the Firefox release. But I was let down by a few sites I frequented in those days, and simply pushed through with IE. I'm absolutely sure that Firefox is a fine browser now, and probably renders most if not all sites with aplomb comparable to IE. But I've had no problems with IE, have mastered its client-side idiosyncrasies, and run as sterile a computing environment as Windows is capable of, and therefore have no desire to switch to Firefox.

I believe your suggestion is correct, ie. you were an early adopter of Firefox but haven't seen it in action in its latest form. I can pretty much guarantee that you'd never hit a site today that doesn't work as well if not better on Firefox than on IE, but I can respect your decision to stick with IE for your current setup and needs.

Firefox has become everything it was supposed to not be: bloated and prone to errors. Internet Explorer has come a long way to fix the problems of previous versions. Most of the problems with both come from poor browsing habits.

Both have advantages and disadvantages, personally I prefer to avoid Microsoft products at home since I spend all day repairing them at work.

To me any browser is better than IE, at least all of those I have tried and FF is my preferred option, it has lots of customizations from adblockers, redirect removers as well as various other security features and cosmetic options too.

Its a matter of preference, i use firefox, i used to use safari, but decided to switch, im now debating whether to keep firefox over google chrome which is getting very good reviews despite being a fairly new browser. For now tho, i stick with firefox, and even though it has more features, doesnt mean IE isnt good or pratical, a lot of people don't even need the features that much, i barely use them myself, it is nice to say it has more security with firefox, but meh, if something bad is going to happen, its going to happen lol. Im really liking the work of google chrome tho, very impressive.

I operate on the presumption that we "experienced" users know what's best for ourselves, and the expectation of others' respect for our decisions is a given just as it is that we give it in return. So, respectfully, I don't post my opinions here of this or that in the hopes of getting anyone's respect, because this seems - with rare exceptions - like a very cool group of people that would happily give it by default.

You're right though, for my situation as an advanced user who's put in lots of time "mastering" IE, I'm just recouping the costs by sticking with it as a legacy broswer. I'm sure Firefox is a better choice for many, many people.

In this particular case, it sounds more like "stuck in a rut". There's a whole world of cool browsers that have appeared in the last year or two. Yet you're sticking with IE because years and years ago you tried FireFox and some sites that you can't remember didn't work.

Nevermind that all those sites have probably been updated by now (or are dead and buried), You're going to ignore a decade of progress because you had a poor experience with an early version of FireFox. Sound about right?

Sorry, I'm not nearly as diplomatic as WarioWoods.

You're right though, for my situation as an advanced user who's put in lots of time "mastering" IE, I'm just recouping the costs by sticking with it as a legacy broswer. I'm sure Firefox is a better choice for many, many people.

With all respect intended, please give another browser a try. (Pretty please?) It doesn't have to be FireFox. But I bet if you surf for a few days with something else (especially if you try some neat websites with features that IE doesn't support) you'll be just as happy, if not happier, with an alternative browser.

I'm ignoring a decade of proress? Ummmmm, yeah... no. You make it sound like I run Windows '98 and IE 5. I don't. I'm running on one machine a Beta of Windows 7 64-bit, two others wtih XP Pro SP3 (no Vista fan here), all with IE8. I also happen to drink Pasteurized milk.

Would I be just as happy if not happier if I switched? Probably, but I'd have to make changes to certian backup and synchronization routines I run among my machines. IE does everything I need it to do, so I'll keep it and be happy in my so-called "rut" of undisrupted productivity (and slacking off on gamers' message boards, too!) while haters, fanboys, and even people with valid reasons can use whatever browser they chose.