What is the best Internet Browser on Windows?

Steffan_LeachSteffan_Leach Posts: 4,669
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I read on the Internet a lot these days that Internet Explorer is disliked by many, yet it has come on leaps and bounds since the days of IE6.

I remember using IE6 on my old XP machine. It was slow, unresponsive, often crashed and didn't work well with a lot of sites (due to compatibility issues).
Now IE11 is fast, fluid and modern. Since IE6 internet explorer has improved with every version, adding a smartscreen filter, simplified menus, smart good looking easy to use interface, less clutter, stable, faster, never crashes (at least not yet!) and now they even have addons. It now has the performance and features of every other browser out there. It is not the browser it used to be. Since the launch of IE9 in 2011 Internet Explorer has become pretty good. Yet less seem to be using it???

It seems so many people on the Internet now dislike Internet Explorer, often choosing Firefox (or now the most popular Google Chrome). But at school and work people mostly still use Internet Explorer.

I'm wondering what all you Digi Spy users use, and why. I have got Internet Explorer and Google Chrome, and both are good browsers - both seem just as fast, stable, responsive and they both do what I need them to. I just slightly prefer the smooth glossy look of IE11 to the basic look of Google Chrome.

So I'm wondering, why all this hatred of IE. Is it really the worst browser out there?

Comments

  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    The best Internet Browser is the one you like the look and feel of best.

    You will get all sorts of answers to the question from people who prefer this browser over that browser. But at the end of the day they are not you. They are not the ones sat in front of your computer screen and bashing away at the keyboard.

    The ONLY person who can decide which is the best browser to use is YOU. Try them all and make your own mind up based on how you experience their individual characters. Then decide which one you feel you can live with best and sod what everyone else thinks :D
  • Steffan_LeachSteffan_Leach Posts: 4,669
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    Another positive for Internet Explorer, safety, according to Microsoft: https://flic.kr/p/v2z5UC
  • LoobsterLoobster Posts: 11,680
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    A lot of folks like myself hate IE because Microsoft like to push the boundaries of browser standards, in an attempt to be the company that de-facto creates said standards.

    The result is that with each new browser version introduced, it breaks compatibility with a lot of websites. And no, compatibility mode doesn't always help.

    It's for this reason that my company has a policy of only installing the version of IE that is the one previous to the current version, to give business websites time to catch up with what Microsoft broke.

    When a customer calls in with an issue with their business website not displaying properly, or fields unable to be accessed or not working properly, the first thing we do is check their IE version. If it's the latest, we roll back to the previous version, then run WU and hide the automatic update. This fixes 80-90% of all IE browsing problems that are reported to my helpdesk.

    Personally I like Firefox, I find it to be the most useable of the main three browsers, that displays the most websites properly.

    Chrome is ok for most things, but they also have a habit of releasing updated builds that have bugs that break things.
  • mooxmoox Posts: 18,880
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    At least Internet Explorer is finally on its death bed. Hopefully "Edge", without all the proprietary junk that made everyone hate IE in the first place, will be a worthy successor.

    Since Firefox and Chrome seem to be taking over in market share, MS is finally forced to follow the same web standards as everyone else, rather than inventing their own (some of which had massive security risks, like ActiveX)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3
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    For me Chrome, Firefox and Opera and equally good - fast, reliable, always compatible with newest webdesign trends. Using mostly Opera (just cause it is the least popular browser among above-mentioned) Tried Vivaldi for some time - freaking fast browser, like lightning fast - but was crushing too much on Linux, so I didn't adopt it.
  • NewWorldManNewWorldMan Posts: 4,890
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    chrisjr wrote: »
    The best Internet Browser is the one you like the look and feel of best.

    You will get all sorts of answers to the question from people who prefer this browser over that browser. But at the end of the day they are not you. They are not the ones sat in front of your computer screen and bashing away at the keyboard.

    The ONLY person who can decide which is the best browser to use is YOU. Try them all and make your own mind up based on how you experience their individual characters. Then decide which one you feel you can live with best and sod what everyone else thinks :D

    Fully agree. While there are objective differences between the browsers, different users attach different weights to those differences and those weights are subjective. Hence choice of browser is subjective.

    It also seems to be the case that horrendous problems (crashes, freezes) experienced by user A with browser X are not experienced by the majority of users of browser X, where X could be any browser.
  • NewWorldManNewWorldMan Posts: 4,890
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    Loobster wrote: »
    A lot of folks like myself hate IE because Microsoft like to push the boundaries of browser standards, in an attempt to be the company that de-facto creates said standards.

    That doesn't seem to be true. In the past yes. But if anything Chrome seems to be more bleeding-edge.
  • NewWorldManNewWorldMan Posts: 4,890
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    Tried Vivaldi for some time - freaking fast browser, like lightning fast - but was crushing too much on Linux, so I didn't adopt it.

    It's not reached v1.0 yet, so give it a chance!
  • engineermooreengineermoore Posts: 84
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    Loobster wrote: »
    Personally I like Firefox, I find it to be the most useable of the main three browsers, that displays the most websites properly.

    I use Firefox too. Mainly due to the customization options and the wide range of add-ons available for it. However, I am aware that all the add ons I use are available in chrome, I just don't like it as much.

    Internet explorer is also a fine web browser nowadays. The modern version on my windows tablet is fast and responsive, as is IE on the desktop. However a lack of compatibility for the add ons I use limits its usefulness.
  • BeachcomberBeachcomber Posts: 663
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    I am not going to claim it is the best but I have been using Pale Moon for several years and would never consider any other browser for day-to-day browsing. I has all of the advantages of Firefox, including being able to use most of its add-ons, with none of the disadvantages.
  • the sandmanthe sandman Posts: 621
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    chrisjr wrote: »
    The best Internet Browser is the one you like the look and feel of best.

    You will get all sorts of answers to the question from people who prefer this browser over that browser. But at the end of the day they are not you. They are not the ones sat in front of your computer screen and bashing away at the keyboard.

    The ONLY person who can decide which is the best browser to use is YOU. Try them all and make your own mind up based on how you experience their individual characters. Then decide which one you feel you can live with best and sod what everyone else thinks :D

    ^ this.
  • vanzandtfanvanzandtfan Posts: 8,897
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    Loobster wrote: »
    A lot of folks like myself hate IE because Microsoft like to push the boundaries of browser standards, in an attempt to be the company that de-facto creates said standards.

    I think that's pretty universal amongst browsers tbh (Safari's touch events, Chrome's Web Components). Not that's it necessarily a bad thing either, if all browser manfacturers waited for the standards ratification process to be completed the web would have evolved at a far slower place that it has. I think the more important issue is not whether browser manufacturers extend standards, but whether they implement standards once those standards have caught up. In that respect Microsoft have come a long way unlike others (Apple's refusal to implement pointer events being a recent example).

    In answer to the OP, I'm still mourning the loss of Opera 12, so I would have to say none of the above, although Vivaldi is looking like an interesting prospect.
  • soulboy77soulboy77 Posts: 24,396
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    IE has had it day and it is starting to show with more and more issues with website freezes and mis-displaying. Websites designers are choosing to only make their websites compatible with a limited number of popular browsers because of the development costs, so it is pot luck if they work correctly with others. At work we have all been given Chrome in addition to IE as a workaround.
  • vanzandtfanvanzandtfan Posts: 8,897
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    soulboy77 wrote: »
    IE has had it day and it is starting to show with more and more issues with website freezes and mis-displaying. Websites designers are choosing to only make their websites compatible with a limited number of popular browsers because of the development cotst so it is pot luck if they work correctly wit others. At work we have all been given Chrome in addition to IE as a workaround.

    I'm not sure where you get this information from, but developers should always ensure that their site works with modern IE's.
  • farmer bobfarmer bob Posts: 27,595
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    Chrome with the extension Adblock Pro (free) is decent.
  • TribecTribec Posts: 9,310
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    I've never been a fan of IE, used to use Netscape, and now Firefox always found them reliable and easy to use, and so don't use anything else,

    However, about 4 or 5 months ago I got asked to do market research on browsers, and ended up using "Microsoft weaver". From what I've seen of Edge, this was obviously one of the first public viewings as such. I have to say it looked and worked really well. I'm still going to use Firefox if or when I move up to Windows 10, but for once I wouldn't say I won't use a Microsoft browser, if that experience is to go by.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 10,488
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    I been a fan of Opera for a long, long time but I'm quite happy with Chrome on my android tablet and phone so will probably give it a go on my new Windows laptop.
  • hyperstarspongehyperstarsponge Posts: 16,562
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    Firefox or Chrome Or Edge should be fine browsers.
  • barky99barky99 Posts: 3,921
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    there is no best browser, all depends on personal preferences and whether you like or dislike the stripped out user interface common to many browsers now. Find the stripped out look unusable myself, perhaps thanks to have been using browsers since netscape was king.
    I have installed: IE11, Firefox (std version, extended support release, developer & 64 bit), Chrome, Chromodo, Comodo Dragon, Maxthon, Opera, Opera lecacy, Seamonkey ... & Vivaldi
    Which do I use most you might ask? well Firefox customised just how I like it & when Vivaldi gets final release I'll alternate between it & firefox most of the time
  • gothergother Posts: 14,655
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    For me it is Chrome and maxathon browsers.
  • REDBUSREDBUS Posts: 2,318
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    I read on the Internet a lot these days that Internet Explorer is disliked by many, yet it has come on leaps and bounds since the days of IE6.

    I remember using IE6 on my old XP machine. It was slow, unresponsive, often crashed and didn't work well with a lot of sites (due to compatibility issues).
    Now IE11 is fast, fluid and modern. Since IE6 internet explorer has improved with every version, adding a smartscreen filter, simplified menus, smart good looking easy to use interface, less clutter, stable, faster, never crashes (at least not yet!) and now they even have addons. It now has the performance and features of every other browser out there. It is not the browser it used to be. Since the launch of IE9 in 2011 Internet Explorer has become pretty good. Yet less seem to be using it???

    It seems so many people on the Internet now dislike Internet Explorer, often choosing Firefox (or now the most popular Google Chrome). But at school and work people mostly still use Internet Explorer.

    I'm wondering what all you Digi Spy users use, and why. I have got Internet Explorer and Google Chrome, and both are good browsers - both seem just as fast, stable, responsive and they both do what I need them to. I just slightly prefer the smooth glossy look of IE11 to the basic look of Google Chrome.

    So I'm wondering, why all this hatred of IE. Is it really the worst browser out there?


    if your using IE6 at work i can understand the love of IE11 ,but if you use firefox add-ons like no-script you would realise the amount of tracking that site's employ , i do know there is some kind of tracking disabling in IE11 but quite honestly have never been able to work it out ,IE11 has no-where near as many add-ons to use ,add-block plus being the exception ,there are no equivalent to most add-ons that can be used by firefox/chrome ,but if your happy using it then that's all that matters ,you realise microsoft are ditching IE with windows 10 ,for something that can match other browsers ,now they have realised they cant keep abusing peoples privacy and letting governments have back-door entrance to people browsing /downloading ,time has come to put the old dinosaur to bed imo ,too little too late , good riddance is all i can say
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