what is your favorite web browser?

What is your favorite web browser?

  • Internet Explorer 6

    Votes: 2 2.2%
  • Internet explorer 7

    Votes: 15 16.1%
  • Firefox 3

    Votes: 43 46.2%
  • Internet explorer 8(beta)

    Votes: 4 4.3%
  • GoogleChrome(beta)

    Votes: 14 15.1%
  • AOL/Opera/Netscape/MSN

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Safari

    Votes: 12 12.9%
  • Other

    Votes: 2 2.2%
  • Huh?!

    Votes: 1 1.1%

  • Total voters
    93

sambrinar

Well-Known Member
That's because IE let's you be lazy and sloppy when writing your code :)

Ever notice how some pages wont print correctly with IE? Yeah classic example :)

Al I have no idea what you are talking about (code)... LOL!! I am lucky I can turn the computer on and find what I am looking for. Never noticed bad printing of pages.
 

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Brenda some pages you go to if you hit "Print" it will only print about 75% of the page and just CUT the right hand side off. It's not on every page but on the ones that are written "sloppy". Usually if you do "Print Preview" (Under the FILE menu) you'll see how much IE is cutting off.
 

thearnley

Member
FIREFOX RULES!

I was always a IE user until a year ago when I switched to mac. Now I'm a militant mac user and I'll NEVER go back to Windows! It's SO nice to have a computer that actually works! Doesn't crash several times a day, don't have to update my virus software twice a day and.... oh I've got 2 apps running - CRASH! However, I don't care for Apple's Safari. FireFox is much better!
 

chipmunkofdoom2

Well-Known Member
Chip I quit doing the "Leg-Work" for Uncle Bill several years ago. He puts out more "Beta-Junk" than you can shake a stick at. I think it cuts costs by letting users find all the bugs & break it instead of doing the work in the lab. I'm ALL for Beta testing but MS pushes (and crosses) the standards on true BETA more than any other company. :)

Haha, I didn't mean to start any wars.. I was just stating a simple fact. I have problems with Apple software on my XP computer. That doesn't mean I hate Apple or Steve Jobs, I just have problems with Apple software running on my computer. Let me give you a little background about myself. I'm probably the most apathetic person on the face of this planet. The only things I really care about are my aquarium and my motorcycle. Being so apathetic, I'm not extremely passionate about anything and I can't stand people who are fanatics (like hardcore Microsoft or Apple zealots). I don't officially do beta testing for MS, but I just happened to stumble upon a copy of Windows 7 prebeta somewhere along my travels online :D

Even then, I'm not super excited about it.. it was interesting to look at. Another useful bit of info about myself is that I game entirely on my PC. I have no Xbox 360, PS3 or even PS2 for that matter. PC gaming might be a luxury for some, but it's a necessity for me. Really if you're looking for the most cost effective, headache-free path to do that, Windows is the only way to go. Especially since my college distributed free COAs of XP and Vista to all the CS majors, I didn't even pay for it.

All the Linux users out there will probably chime in now and say "But chipmunk, you can game on Linux too! What about Wine??!". Actually, that's not entirely accurate. If you're proficient with Linux, YOU can game on it because YOU know your way around. I however do not. What is more efficient for me, using XP, which takes about an hour to install and then I can throw any game on there I want? Or installing Linux, trying to get all my drivers and Wine installed (difficult if you're not at home in the "bash"), trying to troubleshoot any games that won't run (almost impossible if you're not proficient in command line), and then finally when I get it working playing it on an emulated environment, which will never run as efficiently as playing on the environment being emulated? They're both free for me, so I'm sticking with XP.

All the Mac users will probably now chime in and say "Chipmunk, you poor soul, don't you realize you can game ON A MAC??!?!". Yes, I do. Don't you realize that Macs are ridiculously expensive? I built my own computer back in 03 for only $300, and ever since then, I've never nor will I ever (besides a laptop) buy a prefabed PC. Ever. Casual PC users really don't understand how cheap PC parts are.

Most people who have a problem with Windows are the people who go out and buy a PC from Dell or another major manufacturer that comes with all the "crap" preinstalled. Stuff like "Try AOL Free!" or Dell's stupid solutions desk that runs in the tray and gobbles up memory like that's its job. All those extra apps eat resources and down the line can cause problems. This is not Microsoft's fault.

Really one of the big parts of this "issue" (and I call it that since every day I'm going to school for computers and it's on my mind a lot) is that nobody realizes that a computer is just a tool, no more, no less. Would you go out to a hardware store and buy a socket wrench and a hammer and argue which one is better? Of course not. They're different tools to do different jobs. Now a days, that analogy isn't quite as accurate because you can do a lot of different things with all types of OSes, but still, you get the idea. I'm not arguing supremacy of any OS because I don't have enough experience with any of them to do that, even XP which I have been using since the beginning of my computing days.

I'm just saying a computer is a computer. Don't get offended that I don't use what you use or like what you like. Many MS users hate on other OSes, but I don't. So please, don't try to suck me into your supremacy war that you people seem so intent on carrying on... I don't care enough to participate.
 

Dentoid

Smile Maker
PREMIUM
Haha, I didn't mean to start any wars.. I was just stating a simple fact. I have problems with Apple software on my XP computer. That doesn't mean I hate Apple or Steve Jobs, I just have problems with Apple software running on my computer. Let me give you a little background about myself. I'm probably the most apathetic person on the face of this planet. The only things I really care about are my aquarium and my motorcycle. Being so apathetic, I'm not extremely passionate about anything and I can't stand people who are fanatics (like hardcore Microsoft or Apple zealots). I don't officially do beta testing for MS, but I just happened to stumble upon a copy of Windows 7 prebeta somewhere along my travels online :D

Even then, I'm not super excited about it.. it was interesting to look at. Another useful bit of info about myself is that I game entirely on my PC. I have no Xbox 360, PS3 or even PS2 for that matter. PC gaming might be a luxury for some, but it's a necessity for me. Really if you're looking for the most cost effective, headache-free path to do that, Windows is the only way to go. Especially since my college distributed free COAs of XP and Vista to all the CS majors, I didn't even pay for it.

All the Linux users out there will probably chime in now and say "But chipmunk, you can game on Linux too! What about Wine??!". Actually, that's not entirely accurate. If you're proficient with Linux, YOU can game on it because YOU know your way around. I however do not. What is more efficient for me, using XP, which takes about an hour to install and then I can throw any game on there I want? Or installing Linux, trying to get all my drivers and Wine installed (difficult if you're not at home in the "bash"), trying to troubleshoot any games that won't run (almost impossible if you're not proficient in command line), and then finally when I get it working playing it on an emulated environment, which will never run as efficiently as playing on the environment being emulated? They're both free for me, so I'm sticking with XP.

All the Mac users will probably now chime in and say "Chipmunk, you poor soul, don't you realize you can game ON A MAC??!?!". Yes, I do. Don't you realize that Macs are ridiculously expensive? I built my own computer back in 03 for only $300, and ever since then, I've never nor will I ever (besides a laptop) buy a prefabed PC. Ever. Casual PC users really don't understand how cheap PC parts are.

Most people who have a problem with Windows are the people who go out and buy a PC from Dell or another major manufacturer that comes with all the "crap" preinstalled. Stuff like "Try AOL Free!" or Dell's stupid solutions desk that runs in the tray and gobbles up memory like that's its job. All those extra apps eat resources and down the line can cause problems. This is not Microsoft's fault.

Really one of the big parts of this "issue" (and I call it that since every day I'm going to school for computers and it's on my mind a lot) is that nobody realizes that a computer is just a tool, no more, no less. Would you go out to a hardware store and buy a socket wrench and a hammer and argue which one is better? Of course not. They're different tools to do different jobs. Now a days, that analogy isn't quite as accurate because you can do a lot of different things with all types of OSes, but still, you get the idea. I'm not arguing supremacy of any OS because I don't have enough experience with any of them to do that, even XP which I have been using since the beginning of my computing days.

I'm just saying a computer is a computer. Don't get offended that I don't use what you use or like what you like. Many MS users hate on other OSes, but I don't. So please, don't try to suck me into your supremacy war that you people seem so intent on carrying on... I don't care enough to participate.


I see a whole lot of passion here! :coffee2: :)
 

sambrinar

Well-Known Member
Brenda some pages you go to if you hit "Print" it will only print about 75% of the page and just CUT the right hand side off. It's not on every page but on the ones that are written "sloppy". Usually if you do "Print Preview" (Under the FILE menu) you'll see how much IE is cutting off.

Ohhh, now that I have seen. gotcha
 

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
I see a whole lot of passion here! :coffee2: :)

X2



Chipmunk I have a feeling that part of your thoughts and ideas will change once you get out there in the Industry and have to work on the system and try to help users who ALWAYS go places.. do things.... "Tweak" things etc that just drive you crazy. I have to say... I've got a day or two of IT under my belt (I started writing code by hand well before there WAS a Windows or anything "Cool" like that). I've written in many of the major (and some not so major) languages and can honestly say "Been there done that". From what we're currently offered I'll say I'm XP all the way. It works for how I work and what I do. It works well for both of my companies (that's plural) and it works well. We've done Vista (makes me sick to re-call THAT fiasco) and we'll try another when the time is right.

As for "pre-fabbed" that too you may change your mind on when you have to buy/build 30 at a time. You don't have to get the "Crap-ware" preloaded and if you DO there's a sweet lil program you can run that takes care of 95% of that in less than 5 minutes. Time will tell :)

For now this is about the Browser of choice and for me and my companies it's FireFox 3 (at least for today).
 

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Aw come on buddy. I'm mostly yanking your chain bro. Debating can be fun. Sorry if I over-stepped my boundaries. I honestly I didn't mean to upset or offend. Sometimes I am overly passionate about this subject and I do apologize!

:)
 

ReefLady

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Interesting. I always thought I was in the vast minority using Firefox. Apparently not. It's interesting because at my childrens' schools they are taught to use IE only, and are pretty much unaware that any other browser even exists.
 

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Interesting. I always thought I was in the vast minority using Firefox. Apparently not...

Unfortunately not any more. There was a time when that was the case and it was a GOOD thing. Since FF was being used by such a small percentage of PC users it wasn't being targeted hardly at all by Crap-Ware writers. Why waste the time to write CRAP-WARE that will only infect a minute percentage of PC users. As Spyware Fighters switched more and more users to FF and it gained more popularity and user share it has gone "Main Stream" and now it's being exploited all to often. Still not AS much as IE but much more than it used to be.


It's interesting because at my childrens' schools they are taught to use IE only, and are pretty much unaware that any other browser even exists.
That's because in such large organizations you want to keep everything as "Stock" as possible so that it's easier to maintain and "Wipe& start over". Since every new PC comes with IE it's just so much easier to implement procedures and restrictions so that IT only has one browser to support and maintain. That's pretty much "Industry Standard" for IT departments now a-days. For good reason though.
 

MatthewJ

Member
For my money, Firefox with noscript and adblock is the best. Firefox has stability problems, especially on Linux, but is fairly solid on Windows. Some sites/pages simply don't work right on Firefox (almost never Firefox's fault, but that's irrelevant).

It's interesting because at my childrens' schools they are taught to use IE only, and are pretty much unaware that any other browser even exists

Like BigAl said, that's a good thing in an enterprise environment. They probably use domain policies to "harden" the browser configuration and to prevent users from modifying settings.

Not to hijack the thread, but speaking of kids, if you've got them at home...take a look at this product (it's free and it's really good):

K9 Web Protection - Free Internet Filtering and Parental Controls Software

I'm not an employee, just a user who's familiar with this space. This is the best I've found for free:)
 

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF

ReefLady

Well-Known Member
Staff member
MatthewJ - really appreciate that link. I have one in 5th grade, and another in 9th. My kids think we're too strict, because we don't allow computers in their rooms - there is one in the living room, and one in the dining room, where we can poke our head around the corner and see what they are doing at any time. They both automatically log off at 10pm.

I was looking at possibly purchasing some good parental control software -- I will certainly check out the info in that link.

Thanks!
 

MatthewJ

Member
I'm glad you found it useful. I have 3 boys, oldest being 8. The approach you're taking is dead on. My kids will not have a computer in their room either.

Because my kids are so young, I haven't tested K9 against the rigors of a 9th grader. Kids are darn clever these days, He/She may be able to bypass it. Another reason to not have the computer in the room:)
 

plecosword

Active Member
Safari!! You all need to try it! So much better than fireffox. Ie8 is a lot like FF, you can save and retrieve the sites and tabs after a crash.
 

MatthewJ

Member
I don't care for Apple as a company...I don't like having Safari shoved down my throat just because I use iTunes;)

I have used it though, and Opera as well. I have specific FF addons I need to use as part of my job though.
 
Top