This seems like an appropriate place to ask, being that I'm stuck with IE whether I like it or not, is there anything out there that allows script/flash blocking to get rid of this annoying goosing ads? Or does IE9 maybe have something like that?
This seems like an appropriate place to ask, being that I'm stuck with IE whether I like it or not, is there anything out there that allows script/flash blocking to get rid of this annoying goosing ads? Or does IE9 maybe have something like that?
Well there are a few things you can do. First add some block lists into IE with Spybot SD's Immunization feature & Spyware Blaster. Both are free programs that do this.
*Next give this ad blocker a try, its supposed to use some of the same block lists as Firefox's Adblock plus. http://simple-adblock.com/
*If you're using IE9 make sure you install the beta version.
So, all the talk about the IE9 beta made me curious, so I went ahead and installed it tonight.
Wow. It looks like MS is finally taking the challenge from other browsers seriously. It actually feels and looks like a modern browser, and not something left over from 2002. It's still not enough to move me away from Opera, but I'll actually keep it on my taskbar now, and use it on the odd occassion when I need a different browser.
So, Firefox 4 beta 8? Progress has been made towards making it less lame! It has WebGL and hardware accelerated Google Maps and such. Also, it does not eat half my ram and use 1.7 gigs of swap if I leave 50 tabs open for several days, unlike Chrome's habit of late.
Also, the tab grouping thing is just about my favorite tab management system so far. I just drag thumbnails around between groups. Chrome and Opera have a 1Dish approach to tab organization. I think Mozilla is onto something with the lots-of-squares-on-a-2D-table approach.
Something is really weird around here that so many people are suggesting Opera. It's been around for a while but it's market share is something like 2% at most. Opera tends to be used for mobile devices and game console browsers. That's its biggest audience and it's built for that market. If you're using a regular computer I don't see the reason to use it, as separately, I don't think the interface is good nor is the speed. Not to sound snarky but this recommendation is kind of coming out of left field.
I would easily recommend Chrome.
Flash now comes installed in it, so there is no separate update utility or program needed for that. And we all need to keep flash up-to-date 100% of the time whether we like it or not due to security.
You can turn off plugins and scripts for websites and enable it only for those sites you allow.
The interface functions the best. The menu for selecting tools and options is the most straight forward. There's no need for a separate bar to search using search engines or places like Wikipedia and Amazon. The way it shows the full url without a permanent status bar. And I think it looks the best by far especially on Windows 7 or Vista.
It's the fastest or at least the same speed as the other fast browsers.
It opens pages in separate processes so if a script or plugin crashes in one it doesn't affect anything else.
The name sounds dumb at first, but Chrome is a technical term for a web browser's interface. Type about:config into Firefox and search using the term chrome to see. Therefore the name Google Chrome makes a lot of sense although it's not creative.
Actually, the standard Opera browser has long been the fastest out of the big five, and it's been much more customizable for several generations of software.
Actually, the standard Opera browser has long been the fastest out of the big five, and it's been much more customizable for several generations of software.
Well, it and Chrome keep trading places, but the point still stands.
Something is really weird around here that so many people are suggesting Opera. It's been around for a while but it's market share is something like 2% at most. Opera tends to be used for mobile devices and game console browsers. That's its biggest audience and it's built for that market. If you're using a regular computer I don't see the reason to use it, as separately, I don't think the interface is good nor is the speed. Not to sound snarky but this recommendation is kind of coming out of left field.
The Opera browser for mobile devices and for game consoles is completely different. It shares a few things with the desktop browser but they're different programs built for different platforms. Opera for PC existed long before smart phones and Wiis, and the reason Opera was chosen for these platforms is because it's so fast and compact on computers. People knew that Opera could make a fantastic browser that uses few resources. If you don't like the interface or its speed, that's fine, but the recommendation doesn't come out of left field, it comes from people who like Opera the best. It has a small market share but in Russia it's like 50% or something, so I guess there's that.
Flash now comes installed in it, so there is no separate update utility or program needed for that. And we all need to keep flash up-to-date 100% of the time whether we like it or not due to security.
I'm not really seeing how this is a big plus for Chrome. It's not like updating Flash is a pain in the ass normally.
The interface functions the best. The menu for selecting tools and options is the most straight forward. There's no need for a separate bar to search using search engines or places like Wikipedia and Amazon. The way it shows the full url without a permanent status bar. And I think it looks the best by far especially on Windows 7 or Vista.
These are all things Opera can do so I'm not sure why they count in Chrome's favor.
It's the fastest or at least the same speed as the other fast browsers.
Probably the main reason I use Opera is its speed; I guess this is all subjective or whatever because everyone likes to claim their browser is the fastest, so I just suggest people use all of them and decide which they like. In any case, between Opera and Chrome I see no appreciable difference.
The name sounds dumb at first, but Chrome is a technical term for a web browser's interface. Type about:config into Firefox and search using the term chrome to see. Therefore the name Google Chrome makes a lot of sense although it's not creative.
I think Mozilla is onto something with the lots-of-squares-on-a-2D-table approach.
What, you mean like the tab stacking feature in Opera 11?
Maybe he means the Speed Dial feature in Opera 10!
Neither. Speed dial is awesome and Firefox is lame for not snapping that up (in the default install). I dislike tab stacking; I always end up piling things on top of each other by accident. ;-)
In FF4, when you click a button, all the browser chrome disappears and little thumbnails of every open tab appear. You can drag them near each other to automatically group them, or you can drag them from group to group, or drag them out of a group. Everything is all tiled and pretty and magical. When you click a tab thumbnail, the chrome reappears, and only tabs from that group are in your main browser tabs.
It's great if you need to work on several completely unrelated things at the same time. I regularly keep 50 tabs open, and right now I've got groups for general goofing off; Linear Algebra reference/Unity documentation; a bunch of stuff related to a desktop I'm building; and several tabs open to various used game sites looking for the cheapest prices on various titles.
People have tried to argue that I don't really need that many tabs open, that I could live without them. This is true. I could also use dialup, or a machine with less RAM. But if it's handy and convenient, why not?
I dislike tab stacking; I always end up piling things on top of each other by accident. ;-)
Sounds like a personal problem :P
But I'd also like to point out that hovering over a tab stack in Opera will bring up a group of thumbnails that functions, more or less, identically to what you described from Firefox. You can grab the thumbnails and drag them to other groups and out of the group. Really, it functions like some kind of cross between the new taskbar in Windows 7 and what you described in Firefox.
But I'd also like to point out that hovering over a tab stack in Opera will bring up a group of thumbnails that functions, more or less, identically to what you described from Firefox. You can grab the thumbnails and drag them to other groups and out of the group. Really, it functions like some kind of cross between the new taskbar in Windows 7 and what you described in Firefox.
I would put forth that it does not function more or less identically. The intended function of tab stacks is the same, but I see the way it currently functions as flawed.
First, there's a second delay for the popup to come up initially; it's slower than the transition time in Firefox. This is especially annoying if you made a mistake and accidentally grouped the tabs.
Second, you can't see the contents of every group at the same time, you have to either expand each one or mouse over each of them. This places a higher load on the user's short-term memory.
Third, it's not spacial; there's not as a solid feeling of physical place associated with each tab, so I find it easier to loose tabs. This may be partially because Opera's implementation makes it easy to shift the physical location of things in the tab bar around quickly by expanding and collapsing stacks.
Opera is also usually the first browser out with new trend setting features. Chrome putting the tabs over the address bar was taken from Opera. Never mind the fact that Opera invented tabs. Opera also gives us UI options that Chrome doesn't.
The only reason Firefox is big and Opera isn't is because Opera wasn't free for a long time.
Opera is also usually the first browser out with new trend setting features. Chrome putting the tabs over the address bar was taken from Opera. Never mind the fact that Opera invented tabs. Opera also gives us UI options that Chrome doesn't.
The only reason Firefox is big and Opera isn't is because Opera wasn't free for a long time.
Eh? I thought it has always been free; albeit ad-supported.
edit: something feels wrong about that sentence, in the grammatical sense, but I can't put my finger on it. Did I screw up the tenses or something?
The interface functions the best. The menu for selecting tools and options is the most straight forward. There's no need for a separate bar to search using search engines or places like Wikipedia and Amazon. The way it shows the full url without a permanent status bar. And I think it looks the best by far especially on Windows 7 or Vista.
These are all things Opera can do so I'm not sure why they count in Chrome's favor.
Woah woah slow down. You gave me such a blanket statement back for what I said. You told me Opera is better based on my statement "the interface functions the best." What I listed afterwards was not meant to be an exhaustive list. But besides that point, Opera doesn't have a single bar for urls and search engine/special site functionality thats what I count in Chrome's favor. The second is that Opera has an ever-present status bar at the bottom of it. Another is that when you load a page it shows progresses on individual elements. I'm not sure why it would need to do this since it's so fast anyways. Those interface things including an even more straight-forward menu is what I counted in Chrome's favor.
It's the fastest or at least the same speed as the other fast browsers.
Probably the main reason I use Opera is its speed; I guess this is all subjective or whatever because everyone likes to claim their browser is the fastest, so I just suggest people use all of them and decide which they like. In any case, between Opera and Chrome I see no appreciable difference.
You may not have been speaking about me, but I don't have a "my browser" mentality, so if another browser is faster I want to know about it. But I've not seen tests that show Opera is faster in average areas or anything. I just haven't come across them. I run very standard stable hardware and on Vista and Windows 7, Opera (not the current version) ran noticeably slower than Chrome, both from clean installs and after a couple weeks of use. If I'm being told this isn't common it looks like I have to check up on this.
It opens pages in separate processes so if a script or plugin crashes in one it doesn't affect anything else.
That's nice, yeah. Although I can't remember the last time my browser crashed. Well, Firefox crashes all the time, but it's Firefox.
Yea, it doesn't ever crash anyways. I guess the more useful point for me to make is that you can move tabs out to a new window and back very easily. You can move it out with your mouse, set a couple windows side by side for example, and then put them back as tabs if you want. You can run a regular browsing session and an icognito window session at the same time. According to Frem, Opera has a ton of easy functionality in this regard too. It sounds much less my style, and probably for normal users. I have about 7 tabs open at most.
I hope people will refrain from making statements like Opera use in Russia is 50%, especially when it's not true.
Opera is also usually the first browser out with new trend setting features. Chrome putting the tabs over the address bar was taken from Opera. Never mind the fact that Opera invented tabs. Opera also gives us UI options that Chrome doesn't.
The only reason Firefox is big and Opera isn't is because Opera wasn't free for a long time.
Eh? I thought it has always been free; albeit ad-supported.
edit: something feels wrong about that sentence, in the grammatical sense, but I can't put my finger on it. Did I screw up the tenses or something?
Your grammar isn't wrong it's just a little wonky sounding, I can't remember the official phrase for that.
Opera had a banner ad in their free version that was absent if you paid for a pro version.
The interface functions the best. The menu for selecting tools and options is the most straight forward. There's no need for a separate bar to search using search engines or places like Wikipedia and Amazon. The way it shows the full url without a permanent status bar. And I think it looks the best by far especially on Windows 7 or Vista.
These are all things Opera can do so I'm not sure why they count in Chrome's favor.
Woah woah slow down. You gave me such a blanket statement back for what I said. You told me Opera is better based on my statement "the interface functions the best." What I listed afterwards was not meant to be an exhaustive list. But besides that point, Opera doesn't have a single bar for urls and search engine/special site functionality thats what I count in Chrome's favor. The second is that Opera has an ever-present status bar at the bottom of it. Another is that when you load a page it shows progresses on individual elements. I'm not sure why it would need to do this since it's so fast anyways. Those interface things including an even more straight-forward menu is what I counted in Chrome's favor.
No, Opera can definitely do the combined URL/search bar, the hidden status bar, and the per-item loading thing.
It's the fastest or at least the same speed as the other fast browsers.
Probably the main reason I use Opera is its speed; I guess this is all subjective or whatever because everyone likes to claim their browser is the fastest, so I just suggest people use all of them and decide which they like. In any case, between Opera and Chrome I see no appreciable difference.
You may not have been speaking about me, but I don't have a "my browser" mentality, so if another browser is faster I want to know about it. But I've not seen tests that show Opera is faster in average areas or anything. I just haven't come across them. I run very standard stable hardware and on Vista and Windows 7, Opera (not the current version) ran noticeably slower than Chrome, both from clean installs and after a couple weeks of use. If I'm being told this isn't common it looks like I have to check up on this.
Browser speed tests are pretty dumb these days but typically Chrome and Opera are basically tied for first and everything else loses. Just from personal experience I find them basically identical; Chrome seems to have a snappier UI but Opera seems to load pages faster. Like I said before I have a feeling its mostly subjective, but I think the clear message is that Firefox is slow.
It opens pages in separate processes so if a script or plugin crashes in one it doesn't affect anything else.
That's nice, yeah. Although I can't remember the last time my browser crashed. Well, Firefox crashes all the time, but it's Firefox.
Yea, it doesn't ever crash anyways. I guess the more useful point for me to make is that you can move tabs out to a new window and back very easily. You can move it out with your mouse, set a couple windows side by side for example, and then put them back as tabs if you want. You can run a regular browsing session and an icognito window session at the same time. According to Frem, Opera has a ton of easy functionality in this regard too. It sounds much less my style, and probably for normal users. I have about 7 tabs open at most.
Opera did the whole "windowed browsing" thing before most browsers we use today even existed. It has had windowed browsing before tabbed browsing was invented (by Opera).
I'm gonna try what someone else mentioned and open flash stuff (youtube) in Chrome. That's about the only issue I have with Opera: I leave a lot of youtube tabs open, it eventually slows down and (very shortly after slowing down) crashes.
Not restarting my browser or computer in general, or closing tabs when I'm done with them, doesn't help.
Okay it looks like Opera does have a lot of good things about it.
To my point about Flash and this is mostly a tangent... For those that don't like having to look at extra programs that upgrade themselves then having it preinstalled in Chrome is a nicety.
Also, when suggesting safer browsers to people instead of IE I think it's a great thing because people tend to ignore the adobe updater. Some people keep clicking cancel whenever that Adobe loader thing comes up on their desktop even though they've been told what it is and to update it. I've helped a handful of people with their computers making them more secure and I've seen half of them ignore it still, so I'm thinking with the general population, which tends to have no computer person looking over their shoulder about these things, it's a really good thing.
Doesn't the link about browser stats in Russia (from 2006-2008) show IE is 55%, Opera (including mini) about 19%, and Firefox about 12%. And then the source they use with actually-relevant recent stats for 2010 is Firefox 26%, Opera (including mini) 33%, IE 28%, Chrome 9.5%.
Edit... I understand what you're saying, but this is browser usage so people who are dumb still have to be included.
Opera sold me long ago on one simple little feature. When I have a link copied I can just run up to the URL bar right click and hit Paste and Go. Any time I use another browser I get absolutely frustrated without it. I don't know why more browsers don't have that in there by default.
I fucking hate Opera very much.
It has stupid OPERA services it bothers me about when I close it.
It makes it a lot harder to "open link on background tab".
It's so bad.
Opera sold me long ago on one simple little feature. When I have a link copied I can just run up to the URL bar right click and hit Paste and Go. Any time I use another browser I get absolutely frustrated without it. I don't know why more browsers don't have that in there by default.
I think Chrome does that too, but I know what you mean!
I run both it and Opera in parallel, with Opera locked-down tightly - no cookies, javascript or plugins, unless I say so - and fire up Chrome whenever I'd rather not add a site-specific exception.
In other news, I hear Firefox has now surpassed IE's market share here in Europe. At one time, I'd have be glad to hear it, but now I'm just left asking "why Firefox, of all things?"
Since the feature sets of all the browsers are converging (both in base installations and more so with extensions), is the last bastion of Opera that they had some of them first?
Since the feature sets of all the browsers are converging (both in base installations and more so with extensions), is the last bastion of Opera that they had some of them first?
or:
Browser "Wars": Much Ado About Nothing
Not really, it's just something to bring up because people have never tried Opera and always imagine that it's this crappy old browser that isn't worth checking out. I ignored Opera for the longest time because I didn't understand why anyone would need something other than Firefox, and if I hadn't switched back then, I would probably be using Chrome right now and not understanding why anyone would like Opera, except for the fact that the PA forums appear to be Opera City or something. The idea about pointing out that Opera basically invented every new thing that Firefox has come out with in the past few releases is to show that it might be worth giving it a try, because at the very least it has stuff that is good enough to copy.
Firefox is still fine. The new Javascript engine in 4.0 (which is coming out pretty soon) is just as fast as Chrome or anything else. The only disadvantage is that all the tabs share a thread and it's not as good at reclaiming memory after long browsing sessions. And Flash gets put in its own process anyway, so a lot of the heavy duty stuff won't mess with browsing at all.
The crazy amount of extensions and customizability make up for that. Chrome's got extensions too, but I hear it's much more annoying to write them, so I don't see it catching up that quickly.
RandomEngy on
Profile -> Signature Settings -> Hide signatures always. Then you don't have to read this worthless text anymore.
And really, if Opera keeps coming out with all these features that become standard in the other browsers, doesn't it follow that this is something that will continue into the future?
I've switched entirely to Opera on my laptop, dropping FF. Quite happy. Hoping I can make the switch on my PC. Feels much more stable than FF has recently.
Man, to me there's a point where having a lot of extensions just equates itself with being incredibly tacky, usually crappy, and always unneeded. They need to reign it in and stop flooding their audience with shit.
Man, to me there's a point where having a lot of extensions just equates itself with being incredibly tacky, usually crappy, and always unneeded. They need to reign it in and stop flooding their audience with shit.
This seems like an appropriate place to ask, being that I'm stuck with IE whether I like it or not, is there anything out there that allows script/flash blocking to get rid of this annoying goosing ads? Or does IE9 maybe have something like that?
Well there are a few things you can do. First add some block lists into IE with Spybot SD's Immunization feature & Spyware Blaster. Both are free programs that do this.
*Next give this ad blocker a try, its supposed to use some of the same block lists as Firefox's Adblock plus. http://simple-adblock.com/
*If you're using IE9 make sure you install the beta version.
Man, to me there's a point where having a lot of extensions just equates itself with being incredibly tacky, usually crappy, and always unneeded. They need to reign it in and stop flooding their audience with shit.
I just find Opera to have the ugliest interface of any professional app I've ever seen. I don't know what OS's interface guidelines they're following, but it sure as shit isn't OS X's.
I've always found Firefox to be the best-looking browser in OS X. In Windows, I'd be voting for IE9. Or Opera, what with its liberal use of Aero Glass.
I just find Opera to have the ugliest interface of any professional app I've ever seen. I don't know what OS's interface guidelines they're following, but it sure as shit isn't OS X's.
Are they still using that weird shiny black skin? I've been using the Opera 9 lookalike skin since, well, Opera 9. Since it updates itself it preserves the settings and skin, so I don't know what the standard skin looks like now.
Yes, the default skin for Opera is kind of ugly, but it's also the most customizable I've seen. This is how I prefer mine looks.
Everything below it is just the thin border. All status information when browsing shows up in the address bar. If I need the menu functions, I just press the alt key. And the red button is my bookmarks. I could potentially make it even more minimalist, but then I'd start losing functionality.
Posts
I'm mostly just using Chrome at the moment
If you can't decide just use each of them for 3-5 days then switch, if one feels comfortable just stick with it.
Well there are a few things you can do. First add some block lists into IE with Spybot SD's Immunization feature & Spyware Blaster. Both are free programs that do this.
*Next give this ad blocker a try, its supposed to use some of the same block lists as Firefox's Adblock plus.
http://simple-adblock.com/
*If you're using IE9 make sure you install the beta version.
Lastly just for fun here is a Pipeline hack for IE to speed up loading: http://enhanceie.com/dl/fixHTTPMax.reg
Here's a link to the actual page: http://enhanceie.com/ie/tweaks.asp
Wow. It looks like MS is finally taking the challenge from other browsers seriously. It actually feels and looks like a modern browser, and not something left over from 2002. It's still not enough to move me away from Opera, but I'll actually keep it on my taskbar now, and use it on the odd occassion when I need a different browser.
Also, the tab grouping thing is just about my favorite tab management system so far. I just drag thumbnails around between groups. Chrome and Opera have a 1Dish approach to tab organization. I think Mozilla is onto something with the lots-of-squares-on-a-2D-table approach.
I would easily recommend Chrome.
Flash now comes installed in it, so there is no separate update utility or program needed for that. And we all need to keep flash up-to-date 100% of the time whether we like it or not due to security.
You can turn off plugins and scripts for websites and enable it only for those sites you allow.
The interface functions the best. The menu for selecting tools and options is the most straight forward. There's no need for a separate bar to search using search engines or places like Wikipedia and Amazon. The way it shows the full url without a permanent status bar. And I think it looks the best by far especially on Windows 7 or Vista.
It's the fastest or at least the same speed as the other fast browsers.
It opens pages in separate processes so if a script or plugin crashes in one it doesn't affect anything else.
The name sounds dumb at first, but Chrome is a technical term for a web browser's interface. Type about:config into Firefox and search using the term chrome to see. Therefore the name Google Chrome makes a lot of sense although it's not creative.
I'm not really seeing how this is a big plus for Chrome. It's not like updating Flash is a pain in the ass normally.
Same with Opera.
These are all things Opera can do so I'm not sure why they count in Chrome's favor.
Probably the main reason I use Opera is its speed; I guess this is all subjective or whatever because everyone likes to claim their browser is the fastest, so I just suggest people use all of them and decide which they like. In any case, between Opera and Chrome I see no appreciable difference.
That's nice, yeah. Although I can't remember the last time my browser crashed. Well, Firefox crashes all the time, but it's Firefox.
I suppose you win this round.
Neither. Speed dial is awesome and Firefox is lame for not snapping that up (in the default install). I dislike tab stacking; I always end up piling things on top of each other by accident. ;-)
In FF4, when you click a button, all the browser chrome disappears and little thumbnails of every open tab appear. You can drag them near each other to automatically group them, or you can drag them from group to group, or drag them out of a group. Everything is all tiled and pretty and magical. When you click a tab thumbnail, the chrome reappears, and only tabs from that group are in your main browser tabs.
It's great if you need to work on several completely unrelated things at the same time. I regularly keep 50 tabs open, and right now I've got groups for general goofing off; Linear Algebra reference/Unity documentation; a bunch of stuff related to a desktop I'm building; and several tabs open to various used game sites looking for the cheapest prices on various titles.
People have tried to argue that I don't really need that many tabs open, that I could live without them. This is true. I could also use dialup, or a machine with less RAM. But if it's handy and convenient, why not?
But I'd also like to point out that hovering over a tab stack in Opera will bring up a group of thumbnails that functions, more or less, identically to what you described from Firefox. You can grab the thumbnails and drag them to other groups and out of the group. Really, it functions like some kind of cross between the new taskbar in Windows 7 and what you described in Firefox.
I would put forth that it does not function more or less identically. The intended function of tab stacks is the same, but I see the way it currently functions as flawed.
The only reason Firefox is big and Opera isn't is because Opera wasn't free for a long time.
Eh? I thought it has always been free; albeit ad-supported.
edit: something feels wrong about that sentence, in the grammatical sense, but I can't put my finger on it. Did I screw up the tenses or something?
Woah woah slow down. You gave me such a blanket statement back for what I said. You told me Opera is better based on my statement "the interface functions the best." What I listed afterwards was not meant to be an exhaustive list. But besides that point, Opera doesn't have a single bar for urls and search engine/special site functionality thats what I count in Chrome's favor. The second is that Opera has an ever-present status bar at the bottom of it. Another is that when you load a page it shows progresses on individual elements. I'm not sure why it would need to do this since it's so fast anyways. Those interface things including an even more straight-forward menu is what I counted in Chrome's favor.
You may not have been speaking about me, but I don't have a "my browser" mentality, so if another browser is faster I want to know about it. But I've not seen tests that show Opera is faster in average areas or anything. I just haven't come across them. I run very standard stable hardware and on Vista and Windows 7, Opera (not the current version) ran noticeably slower than Chrome, both from clean installs and after a couple weeks of use. If I'm being told this isn't common it looks like I have to check up on this.
Yea, it doesn't ever crash anyways. I guess the more useful point for me to make is that you can move tabs out to a new window and back very easily. You can move it out with your mouse, set a couple windows side by side for example, and then put them back as tabs if you want. You can run a regular browsing session and an icognito window session at the same time. According to Frem, Opera has a ton of easy functionality in this regard too. It sounds much less my style, and probably for normal users. I have about 7 tabs open at most.
I hope people will refrain from making statements like Opera use in Russia is 50%, especially when it's not true.
Your grammar isn't wrong it's just a little wonky sounding, I can't remember the official phrase for that.
Opera had a banner ad in their free version that was absent if you paid for a pro version.
Browser speed tests are pretty dumb these days but typically Chrome and Opera are basically tied for first and everything else loses. Just from personal experience I find them basically identical; Chrome seems to have a snappier UI but Opera seems to load pages faster. Like I said before I have a feeling its mostly subjective, but I think the clear message is that Firefox is slow.
Opera did the whole "windowed browsing" thing before most browsers we use today even existed. It has had windowed browsing before tabbed browsing was invented (by Opera).
Looks like about 50% to me for '06 to '08. I should have specified that IE doesn't count because it's not like anyone downloads IE because they like it. 50% of people who care used Opera. In Russia. If we want to update it for the past year, it looks like Opera's at about 30%. It's also the number one browser in Ukraine for 2010 it looks like. Also when I use keyboard shortcuts in Opera like CTRL + I it puts in the italics forum code but Chrome doesn't do that, so that's annoying.
I'm gonna try what someone else mentioned and open flash stuff (youtube) in Chrome. That's about the only issue I have with Opera: I leave a lot of youtube tabs open, it eventually slows down and (very shortly after slowing down) crashes.
Not restarting my browser or computer in general, or closing tabs when I'm done with them, doesn't help.
To my point about Flash and this is mostly a tangent... For those that don't like having to look at extra programs that upgrade themselves then having it preinstalled in Chrome is a nicety.
Also, when suggesting safer browsers to people instead of IE I think it's a great thing because people tend to ignore the adobe updater. Some people keep clicking cancel whenever that Adobe loader thing comes up on their desktop even though they've been told what it is and to update it. I've helped a handful of people with their computers making them more secure and I've seen half of them ignore it still, so I'm thinking with the general population, which tends to have no computer person looking over their shoulder about these things, it's a really good thing.
Edit... I understand what you're saying, but this is browser usage so people who are dumb still have to be included.
Steam | Live
It has stupid OPERA services it bothers me about when I close it.
It makes it a lot harder to "open link on background tab".
It's so bad.
I think Chrome does that too, but I know what you mean!
I run both it and Opera in parallel, with Opera locked-down tightly - no cookies, javascript or plugins, unless I say so - and fire up Chrome whenever I'd rather not add a site-specific exception.
In other news, I hear Firefox has now surpassed IE's market share here in Europe. At one time, I'd have be glad to hear it, but now I'm just left asking "why Firefox, of all things?"
Middle click. So hard.
or:
Browser "Wars": Much Ado About Nothing
Robots Will Be Our Superiors (Blog)
http://michaelhermes.com
The crazy amount of extensions and customizability make up for that. Chrome's got extensions too, but I hear it's much more annoying to write them, so I don't see it catching up that quickly.
:?:
The adblocker works like a charm man, thanks. Was my only beef with IE8, honestly.
Are they still using that weird shiny black skin? I've been using the Opera 9 lookalike skin since, well, Opera 9. Since it updates itself it preserves the settings and skin, so I don't know what the standard skin looks like now.
Everything below it is just the thin border. All status information when browsing shows up in the address bar. If I need the menu functions, I just press the alt key. And the red button is my bookmarks. I could potentially make it even more minimalist, but then I'd start losing functionality.