FireFox vs Internet Explorer vs Opera

[Shooting Palanx]

Which do you think is better?

Vote here.

[judge_fudge]

Gotta be Firefox! Way less buggy, way less hackable, so many cool extensions.

[hitori12]

id say in security ff but in how confertable and organising files ee

[arcadeplayer987]

firerox>opera>IE

[viaor]

IE Is the worst one you can use. I like to use Opera.

[Shooting Palanx]

Good choices everyone.

Never really used Opera myself.

[Annihilator 2]

I prefer Avant Browser.

[Shooting Palanx]

Avant?

Wow should have put an "other" option, will do that now.

[CygnetGames]

Never used Opera, so i'll have to say Firefox.

I have used a lot of random browsers that come with Linux, and they have all had some sort of problem that's really annoyed me. I think Firefox manages to avoid this by having so many people helping to develop it and build extensions.

Also, you've missed off Safari (the default browser for Macs).

If anyone's interested, the statistics from my website show 79.90% of visitors using IE! Only 17.94% using FF, 1.27% using Safari, 0.64% using Opera and the rest using 'Mozilla' or 'Netscape' (names of very old versions of FF).
That's a little more skewed towards IE than the latest figures from the W3C (http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp), which show IE at around 60% and FF at around 34%.

[arcadeplayer987]

Good choices everyone.

Never really used Opera myself.
Opera is a good browser and has some nice features and interface but firefox is faster
Anyway is much better than IE, that's for sure.

[Apocalypse]

u like internet explorer cuz in 0firefox if a page doesent load for a long time it says it timed out

[Kingdom_hearts_fan]

What is opera?

[CazzyB]

I have never heard of Opera. I prefer Internet Explorer.....a lot of people don't, what's wrong with it?

[Kingdom_hearts_fan]

Fire Fox is not good at all i had it in my schools computer lab.

[mappy]

All of 'em are pretty good now,but I'm most used to firefox

[CygnetGames]

I have never heard of Opera. I prefer Internet Explorer.....a lot of people don't, what's wrong with it?

The main problem with Internet Explorer is security. There are two reasons why IE has security troubles:
1) It is a shell for the Operating System.
2) Most people use it.

1) What this means is that instead of internet explorer being a program that runs on top of windows (like any other web browser), it is not. It is a part of windows that it tightly intertwined with a program called Explorer.exe - this is the program that displays the contents of your folders in windows.
Because of this intertwining between Internet Explorer and Explorer.exe, if any malware manages to compromise the security of Internet Explorer, it has a route into compromising Explorer.exe. If Explorer.exe is compromised, the malware can do whatever it likes to your computer (technically: whatever the currently logged-on user has permission to do).
So this means that attacks on Internet Explorer can not only compromise Internet Explorer, but can "jump out" and compromise the whole of Windows - not a good thing!

2) Because of Microsoft's very clever marketing (which included linking Internet Explorer with windows so that it could not be removed), most people use Internet Explorer. This means that anyone writing malware to compromise a web browser is more likely to target Internet Explorer. So there are more attacks against Internet Explorer. This applies to Windows as a whole and is one of the things that makes MacOS and Linux safer than Windows. But of course, if everyone switched to, say, Linux and Firefox, then this situation would be reversed and people would mostly try to attack Linux and Firefox.
The solution to this is to have a few different alternatives (for web browers and operating systems), none of which dominates the market completely.

And also, until recently (Internet Explorer version 7), Internet Explorer was lagging behind firefox in terms of technical details and usability. Internet Explorer did not have tabs, which are rediculously useful, and it did not render CSS properly (no browser renders CSS perfectly, but IE used to be very bad). But these things have been mostly fixed with IE7.

Finally, Firefox has lots of extensions that can be used to customise the look-and-feel of Firefox, and to add new functionality to it. Because of the great community of developers that Firefox has, there are loads of really good quality extensions, and lots of development happening with Firefox (like a portable version, for example).

Opera (http://www.opera.com/) is simply another web browser that is becoming more and more popular at the moment. There is a lot of information (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_(web_browser)) about it on the web.

[arcadeplayer987]

I have never heard of Opera. I prefer Internet Explorer.....a lot of people don't, what's wrong with it?
Opera and Firefox are way more faster and IE7 has alot of bugs

[CazzyB]

The main problem with Internet Explorer is security. There are two reasons why IE has security troubles:
1) It is a shell for the Operating System.
2) Most people use it.

1) What this means is that instead of internet explorer being a program that runs on top of windows (like any other web browser), it is not. It is a part of windows that it tightly intertwined with a program called Explorer.exe - this is the program that displays the contents of your folders in windows.
Because of this intertwining between Internet Explorer and Explorer.exe, if any malware manages to compromise the security of Internet Explorer, it has a route into compromising Explorer.exe. If Explorer.exe is compromised, the malware can do whatever it likes to your computer (technically: whatever the currently logged-on user has permission to do).
So this means that attacks on Internet Explorer can not only compromise Internet Explorer, but can "jump out" and compromise the whole of Windows - not a good thing!

2) Because of Microsoft's very clever marketing (which included linking Internet Explorer with windows so that it could not be removed), most people use Internet Explorer. This means that anyone writing malware to compromise a web browser is more likely to target Internet Explorer. So there are more attacks against Internet Explorer. This applies to Windows as a whole and is one of the things that makes MacOS and Linux safer than Windows. But of course, if everyone switched to, say, Linux and Firefox, then this situation would be reversed and people would mostly try to attack Linux and Firefox.
The solution to this is to have a few different alternatives (for web browers and operating systems), none of which dominates the market completely.

And also, until recently (Internet Explorer version 7), Internet Explorer was lagging behind firefox in terms of technical details and usability. Internet Explorer did not have tabs, which are rediculously useful, and it did not render CSS properly (no browser renders CSS perfectly, but IE used to be very bad). But these things have been mostly fixed with IE7.

Finally, Firefox has lots of extensions that can be used to customise the look-and-feel of Firefox, and to add new functionality to it. Because of the great community of developers that Firefox has, there are loads of really good quality extensions, and lots of development happening with Firefox (like a portable version, for example).

Opera (http://www.opera.com/) is simply another web browser that is becoming more and more popular at the moment. There is a lot of information (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_(web_browser)) about it on the web.


Wow thanks for that info. You sure know what you are talking about don't you. I will definitely take notice of everything you have said.

[anihi1ator]

My vote was for Internet Explorer - I'm probably biased toward Microsoft.

I tried using FireFox exclusively for about 1 month (early 2007) - switched back to IE and haven't looked back.

Internet Explorer is the gold standard for web developers. It's what's used by 80% of people online, and it's the most forgiving in regards to coding - something that really irritates non-IE supporters.

In a gaming related forum such as this one, you can expect Sony and Nintendo fanboys to support FireFox (or other non-Microsoft web browsers), and XBox fanboys to support IE. There will be some exceptions of course.

[Apocalypse]

i like nintendo and i think that firefox isnt good..

[anihi1ator]

That's why I included the caveat, "There will be exceptions of course".

How loyal of a Nintendo fan are you if you support Internet Explorer? Don't be expecting a dinner invite from Satoru Iwata anytime soon.

Just kidding BTW - not trying to troll. :)

[HollyBlue]

The main problem with Internet Explorer is security. There are two reasons why IE has security troubles:
1) It is a shell for the Operating System.
2) Most people use it.

1) What this means is that instead of internet explorer being a program that runs on top of windows (like any other web browser), it is not. It is a part of windows that it tightly intertwined with a program called Explorer.exe - this is the program that displays the contents of your folders in windows.
Because of this intertwining between Internet Explorer and Explorer.exe, if any malware manages to compromise the security of Internet Explorer, it has a route into compromising Explorer.exe. If Explorer.exe is compromised, the malware can do whatever it likes to your computer (technically: whatever the currently logged-on user has permission to do).
So this means that attacks on Internet Explorer can not only compromise Internet Explorer, but can "jump out" and compromise the whole of Windows - not a good thing!

2) Because of Microsoft's very clever marketing (which included linking Internet Explorer with windows so that it could not be removed), most people use Internet Explorer. This means that anyone writing malware to compromise a web browser is more likely to target Internet Explorer. So there are more attacks against Internet Explorer. This applies to Windows as a whole and is one of the things that makes MacOS and Linux safer than Windows. But of course, if everyone switched to, say, Linux and Firefox, then this situation would be reversed and people would mostly try to attack Linux and Firefox.
The solution to this is to have a few different alternatives (for web browers and operating systems), none of which dominates the market completely.

And also, until recently (Internet Explorer version 7), Internet Explorer was lagging behind firefox in terms of technical details and usability. Internet Explorer did not have tabs, which are rediculously useful, and it did not render CSS properly (no browser renders CSS perfectly, but IE used to be very bad). But these things have been mostly fixed with IE7.

Finally, Firefox has lots of extensions that can be used to customise the look-and-feel of Firefox, and to add new functionality to it. Because of the great community of developers that Firefox has, there are loads of really good quality extensions, and lots of development happening with Firefox (like a portable version, for example).

Opera (http://www.opera.com/) is simply another web browser that is becoming more and more popular at the moment. There is a lot of information (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opera_(web_browser)) about it on the web.

Hi CygnetGames, Thanks for explaining all of that, it is great to get infomation about things that i didn't really understand. Now i feel more informed and thinking more about the security of the browser i use.....Cheers !

[CygnetGames]

Wow thanks for that info. You sure know what you are talking about don't you. I will definitely take notice of everything you have said.
Hi CygnetGames, Thanks for explaining all of that, it is great to get infomation about things that i didn't really understand. Now i feel more informed and thinking more about the security of the browser i use.....Cheers !

Thanks :)
It's good to know that people are thinking about security and not just going along with whatever is popular.
Security is a very difficult subject, but just knowing a little information and thinking about what you are doing at all times can prevent the vast majority of security issues.

[gamehead]

i'd say it's gotta be firefox, the exstentions for it a are great, it provides real versitility. Allthough to be fair to IE they have cottoned on pretty fast to make it more user friendly.

[Timus]

Internet explorer 7 is the best out there.

[Kingdom_hearts_fan]

I like IE better than anything.

[Timus]

FF and IE7 are basically the same thing.

[Shooting Palanx]

Meh, I personally prefer FF, can't use IE7 don't have Vista :)

[Timus]

Meh, I personally prefer FF, can't use IE7 don't have Vista :)

I don't have vista and still have IE7. Don't get vista anyways, it is horrible, we were going to update, but didn't after people telling us how bad it is.

[arcadeplayer987]

FF and IE7 are basically the same thing.
I don't agree, IE7 has a lot of bugs especially "not responding" errors, FF is much faster and and has better security
FF has been voted in top 100 best product Pc World, IE not:)

[kkid]

Ie7 is fantastic with vista i love it, it also gives you a bigger viewing screen.

[Timus]

Vista is crap, windoes xp all the way.

[CazzyB]

That's exactly what I was going to say. I haven't heard any good reports about Vista

[exaulter]

My firefox never crushed

[anihi1ator]

Vista is crap

How come you don't like Vista?

XP does run games much faster than Vista, but otherwise, I prefer Vista.

I especially like the animated dreamscene desktops you can use with Vista Ultimate.

[Gala30]

I had IE for a long time up until about 2 years ago when I switched to msn explorer (don't know why I preferred it). When I switched my yahoo email to my msn passport I could no longer use the browser with the email. Anyways, I went back to IE and had a hell of a time. IE kept playing up, wouldn't open sometimes, and when it did it'd crash. Friend suggested Firefox and having had it I would never ever go back to IE.

Apart from being much more slick looking it's much more customisable and has never played up. Personally my choice of browser is nothing to do with the makers of my games console (I'm not sure why it would really), however I am not much of a fan of Microsoft (I think windows is terrible to be honest and has too many problems). Firefox all the way *nods*.

[Apocalypse]

wat???

[CazzyB]

No one word posts please Zombozo3eyes

[Shooting Palanx]

Wow, this poll is looking quite good actually.

Glad FF is in the lead, IE just keeps on crashing on me from time after time, so FF was my choice and I shall never look back.

[CygnetGames]

FF and IE7 are basically the same thing.
!!! :eek: :eek: ROTFL ROTFL ROTFL :eek: :eek: !!!

Any browser that can be brought to its knees with six words (http://commandline.org.uk/2007/how-to-bring-down-internet-explorer-with-six-words/) is not the same as FF.

This bug was first reported for IE6, and it still crashes my version of IE7 on WinXP now! (I downloaded all the latest updates this morning.) The fact that M$ still haven't fixed this clearly shows one of the differences between FF and IE.

[Shooting Palanx]

Clearly a FF supporter, I don't see the need to change browsers also, never had that much trouble from FF.

Except when the bookmarks get deleted after every update, I find that annoying. Otherwise it is great.

[aceunlimited]

I voted for internet explorer. Whats opera???

[KOILL]

Firefox or Opera for me....since I have a bootlegged version of Windows XP, sometimes my Internet Explorer will get disabled.

[goonersworld]

firefox all the way

[arcadeplayer987]

I voted for internet explorer. Whats opera???
Opera is nice browser like firefox or IE.
www opera com try it

[Rapture]

Yey Firefox! I just like it, and you can choose themes which you can probably do for IE now but oh well :D

[Rated R]

How is firefox better than the biggest internet engine in the world. IE rules!

[AroundTheKenny]

firefox since i play marapets -pokes blog- and it helps me restock

[Lightning]

Internet Explorer is more advanced and decreases the chance of finding virus's can't stand firefox

[AroundTheKenny]

firefox is faster

[Rated R]

Do you use it then "AroundTheKenny"?
Or are you guessing?

[mmotp]

FF owns IE.

I havn't tried IE, but the developing atmosphere in FF is great!

[Blake_rsh]

FF defenetly is better then IE and the other browsers. But I'm not so sure that it's better than pera. Haven't tried Opera sofar but I've heard nice thing about it. So my vote goes to FF.

[BlueEyedSarah]

Which do you think is better?

Vote here.
I vote Internet Eplorer.

FireFox bugs the heck out of me with its popup blocker! And telling me to install Active X all the time :mad:.

I don't get popups on Internet Explorer :confused:.

[Lightning]

Originally posted by BlueEyedSarah

I vote Internet Eplorer.

FireFox bugs the heck out of me with its popup blocker! And telling me to install Active X all the time .

I don't get popups on Internet Explorer .

Yes i agree with you, i installed firefox as soon as it came out expecting it to be great, although i got the football (soccer) scores very easily, i ended up getting a million and 1 pop upxs, got annoyed and went back to IE

[Rated R]

Yes i agree with you, i installed firefox as soon as it came out expecting it to be great, although i got the football (soccer) scores very easily, i ended up getting a million and 1 pop upxs, got annoyed and went back to IE

I agree but have never tried firefox? Is it really that good?