How Neowinians Surf the Net?

[mswarts]

You can't "hate" Opera. You may not prefer it (as I do not), but feature-wise, it is among the best, and it has arguably the fast rendering engine. Furthermore, it has a nice, easily-configurable interface.

A few problems for me:

It is not leggaly free

It is not open

It lacks many cool features obtained via extensions in Fx

It shoves a bunch of unneeded junk down your throat. (I'd rather not have mail glued it it in a very unholy way!)

Quirks mode is sometimes flawed. Along the same lines, it handles less [poorly designed] web pages

A few other bits. :)

But Opera isn't bad, and I support the user of it.

[ozgeek]

I have just switched to Firefox and is falling in love with it. I loved how I can just hover my mouse over an inactive tab and make it an active tab (Tab-browsing Extension plugin added)! :D I used to use Avant but found firefox to contain features found in avant but with lots more.

[VGVL]

Safari.

On Mac I use Safari and on Windows/Linux I use FireFox/Firebird. There is no way in hell I am using IE again, ever. ;)

[mswarts]

Huezo-- I think you've got it pinned. :D

[Apollo]

There is no way in hell I am using IE again, ever. ;)

that's impossible because some (few) sites look like **** or don't even load in FF.

anyway, i have used most browsers out there including netscape, opera, IE front-ends, bla bla bla and Firefox just seems more natural and simpler. :)

[mswarts]

Apollo - yep, sometimes you've gotta use IE for Updates, and IE only pages.

I have a nice extension in Firefox "IE View" allows me to conveniently toggle. But after I'm done updating, IE gets to meet Mr. Alt+F4 ;)

[VGVL]

that's impossible because some (few) sites look like **** or don't even load in FF.

If the website does not work with Safari OR FireFox then it doesn't deserve to be seen. I will not go through the trouble of using a crippled browser just to look at a website that does not follow standards.

[tlogank]

You can't "hate" Opera. You may not prefer it (as I do not), but feature-wise, it is among the best, and it has arguably the fast rendering engine. Furthermore, it has a nice, easily-configurable interface.

A few problems for me:

It is not leggaly free

It is not open

It lacks many cool features obtained via extensions in Fx

It shoves a bunch of unneeded junk down your throat. (I'd rather not have mail glued it it in a very unholy way!)

Quirks mode is sometimes flawed. Along the same lines, it handles less [poorly designed] web pages

A few other bits. :)

But Opera isn't bad, and I support the user of it.

In response:

It is legally free, just their is a paid version, too.

Yes, it is not open.

Most of those features obtained by extensions in Fx, Opera already comes with by default.

All of that "junk" it shoves down your throat can be disabled, plus Opera never tries to set its mail client as your default.

As far as page rendering, I have yet to come across a page that Firefox displayed correctly that Opera didn't. Please, let me know of one.

And in response to the guy who got Bonzi Buddy loaded with Opera...Sorry my friend, but that is not where you got Bonzi Buddy-that came from somewhere else. You won't find Opera loaded with that crap unless you get it from some unauthorized distributor or something.

[Sticktron]

I don't think there is any point in using anything other than IE. It works fine, has for years, and a browser these days is really a non-issue: accessing network resources is just another part of the shell. Why load a seperate program to do what the shell already does by default?

All these extra browsers just mean headaches for web developers.

[RMastah]

And in response to the guy who got Bonzi Buddy loaded with Opera...Sorry my friend, but that is not where you got Bonzi Buddy-that came from somewhere else.  You won't find Opera loaded with that crap unless you get it from some unauthorized distributor or something.

1) i never got bonzi-buddy from opera, i said that it's free version has ******* bonzi-buddy ads, that resize toolbars to 1/5 of the screen on lower resolutions..

2) i agree that Opera has a lot of neat features, but because most of the sites are IE-based, and Opera totally *****s them up, i prefer to use alternative IE-based browsers!

To sticktron: ??? IE is crap, because of a) no popup-blocker b) no auto-login c) no tabbed browsing d) no auto-search etc.

[mswarts]

All these extra browsers just mean headaches for web developers.

By "All these other browsers", you must mean IE and only IE.

[Apollo]

If the website does not work with Safari OR FireFox then it doesn't deserve to be seen. I will not go through the trouble of using a crippled browser just to look at a website that does not follow standards.

what if you really want to see the information on one site that there isn't in any other ?

IE is a nice POS but needed sometimes

[tlogank]

don't say most pages, I would feel safe to say that Opera cant display around 5-8% of pages correctly, and that is shooting high.

[SYPHADIUS]

I use MyIE2... the surfability and the ease of surf is just so great... its really easy to use and very intuative to surf with. everything contained in one window.

I would use Firefox, but theres not enough options and it doesn't keep all the pages in one window...

oh well.

[Hankyone]

IE is a good browser if you use it with avant browser or myie2

Opera is nice cuz there is LOT of features

but my best one is firefox!! cuz it lite and fast!!

[VGVL]

what if you really want to see the information on one site that there isn't in any other ?

IE is a nice POS but needed sometimes

If I really, really need the information on that site most of the time I will not go through all the trouble of using Internet Explorer. Most of the time I just give up and move on. If I absolutely need to see that site then eventually I'll gather up enough willpower to fire up IE, being as careful as possible. It's like handling U-235.

[mswarts]

In response:

It is legally free, just their is a paid version, too.

Yes, it is not open.

Most of those features obtained by extensions in Fx, Opera already comes with by default.

All of that "junk" it shoves down your throat can be disabled, plus Opera never tries to set its mail client as your default.

As far as page rendering, I have yet to come across a page that Firefox displayed correctly that Opera didn't. Please, let me know of one.

And in response to the guy who got Bonzi Buddy loaded with Opera...Sorry my friend, but that is not where you got Bonzi Buddy-that came from somewhere else. You won't find Opera loaded with that crap unless you get it from some unauthorized distributor or something.

I know there is a free version, but the banner is intrusive :/

Open source IMO is the best way

The problem is, every "feature" is smashed into one program. No wonder it isn't open-source-- they're probably embarrassed that the source code is such a mess! And I know Opera's mail is not default. The point is I don't want a DVD player in my browser :/

There are pages Opera displays incorrectly that Fx displays correctly, both compliant and Quirks. It's the bitterness of the engine -- doesn't make it a bad browser, so I'm not arguing that really...

I don't know anything about Bonzai Buddy in Opera-- I bet it was that poster's error.

Also, realize, I have used Opera and give it a new try each time a new version is released. I prefer Firefox, but Opera users are the least of my conerns :)

[jhaygood86]

I personally like XDG Neophoria 1.3, currently in heavy development. Once released, it will rock ^_^

It has a Firefox 0.8.0+ 20040502 core, and extends on that by providing integration with the new free Neophoria Online service, which will hopefully provide a community-based web portal that offers everything that AOL or MSN does, except:

A) It's free

B) It uses ONLY Google Ads (not until it goes public however)

C) It works only in Firefox and Neophoria ;) (Firefox will require the Neophoria Online extension which is being developed as well).

MOZILLA FIREFOX RULEZ!

[mswarts]

If I really, really need the information on that site most of the time I will not go through all the trouble of using Internet Explorer. Most of the time I just give up and move on. If I absolutely need to see that site then eventually I'll gather up enough willpower to fire up IE, being as careful as possible. It's like handling U-235.

I use it for Updates, as do most of us. It is less trouble just to give in than look for the updates individually :(

[trigger_my_passion]

I personally like XDG Neophoria 1.3, currently in heavy development. Once released, it will rock ^_^

It has a Firefox 0.8.0+ 20040502 core, and extends on that by providing integration with the new free Neophoria Online service, which will hopefully provide a community-based web portal that offers everything that AOL or MSN does, except:

A) It's free

B) It uses ONLY Google Ads (not until it goes public however)

C) It works only in Firefox and Neophoria ;) (Firefox will require the Neophoria Online extension which is being developed as well).

MOZILLA FIREFOX RULEZ!

What's its homepage?

Tried googling but

No standard web pages containing all your search terms were found.

Your search - XDG Neophoria - did not match any documents.

[Sticktron]

To sticktron: ??? IE is crap, because of a) no popup-blocker b) no auto-login c) no tabbed browsing d) no auto-search etc.

a) popups are sometimes important. if you don't want them, use SP2 or msn toolbar.

b) storing passwords in your browser is a no-no

c) tabbed browsing is superfluous--use Alt-Tab to switch between different websites

d) it has auto-search, for whichever site you want--but why use that ****e anyway? can't type google and hit ctrl-enter?

[jhaygood86]

Nop, i do believe there should be a standard but i think the W3C is doing a crappy job at keeping the standard and adding to it

There's no profit to be made from Open Source softwares, you can't charge for something thats open source, so in the end i couldnt make a software and sell it if i give out the source. Going around the same path, a corporation cannot make profit from an Open Source software therefore they won't have as much money to put in development

There's lots of advantages and disadvantages with open source and im not going to go in depth but personally im noa big fan of it

I dont believe its helping developers in general, i mean oubviously it does exist.... ;)

There is too a profit to be made from open source. Open source says that you release the source, but you can charge for the product as long as the source is available for the same medium and included in the price.

[tagerd0g]

to each their own

i use fire-fox-ay!

[Sticktron]

By "All these other browsers", you must mean IE and only IE.

LOL, maybe you just started to program for the web and pickuped up a W3C book--otherwise, you would know that you have it ass-backwards. It's only recently that other browsers are rendering pages properly.

But who cares? IE is a built-in html-renderer for Windows. Windows can parse text files, parse .bmps, and can parse html files, among other things. 97% of computer users use Windows. There was never a need to complicate matters by creating a slew of separate products for browsing the web, each with their own idea of what should work and what shouldn't.

It was a real pain in the ass to have to program in all kinds of exceptions to get Netscape to work properly, because people were still using it 4 years after they stopped developing it--and decided to focus on whining at Microsoft instead--because they made browsing completely transparent to the user. Just like .zip files. XP opens them just fine, you don't need PKZip or WinZip or whatever anymore. Time to move on.

:ninja:

[mswarts]

a) popups are sometimes important. if you don't want them, use SP2 or msn toolbar.

b) storing passwords in your browser is a no-no

c) tabbed browsing is superfluous--use Alt-Tab to switch between different websites

d) it has auto-search, for whichever site you want--but why use that ****e anyway? can't type google and hit ctrl-enter?

a) Unrequested popups are not important. You may still get *REQUESTED* popups in Firefox (and the other browsers). MSN toolbar is chunky and unappealing. Yep-- SP2 :)

b) Storing passowrds in a browser is not a no-no. But be wise ;)

c) Tabbed browsing is useful for a number of reasons. You click a link on a page and the target content loads in a new tab and you can continue reading the content of the page (especially useful for Neowin forum browsing :D ). Also, it keeps the taskbar tidy. Some of us have quite a few programs open and the Windows grouping just doesn't cut it. There are also cool things you can do with tabs with TBE and even a cute extension "Tab Scroller", that allows you to switch between tabs with a right-click and scroll wheel-- the uber-convenience! Auto-search is nice, but *not* a selling point! ;)

Cheers