Current Events > I'm out of the loop, which is considered the best web browser overall right now?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've been using Chrome forever but I feel like I want to switch it up.

Firefox, it's the only browser not running on Google controlled Chromium

Brave

Firefox

Firefox

I thought Firefox was abandoned a while ago? Does it have extensions like Chrome?

Yes

I remember using Pale Moon a while back. Is that still a thing? I liked it.

firefox!!

Nobody saying Waterfox or Pale Moon

I enjoy Opera.

Kiwi for Android. Yes it chromium but if I understand it correctly its still using manifest v2. The thingamabob that gives ablockers their full powers.

Lynx

This was the best article describing generic non-Chromium options that I could find: https://stackdiary.com/web-browsers-not-based-on-chromium/

Almost all the other articles and links I found are woefully out of date (listing Brave as non-Chromium) or reference specifically privacy-oriented browsers that have unique scopes of service that might be too niche for, "I just don't want to use Chrome," people.

Cheater87 posted...

I enjoy Opera.

Opera has been Chromium for a decade.

If you are using anything other than Firefox in this day and age there is something seriously wrong with you.

Opera has been my favorite for decades.
I know that its still Chromium, but I've had no issues with it at all.

Normally I'd say firefox but it needs Win10 now so... K-Meleon.

It's a light, firefox-based browser that can handle the latest web standard (hopefully). Run on 32bit WinXP too in case someone's bold enough to visit malware riddled porn site using archaic OS lol

https://portableapps.com/apps/internet/k-meleon-portable

If you don't want to use Chrome but are still okay with Chromium

Then Brave is the browser for you.

Otherwise, Firefox.

Same for mobile.

What's wrong with Chromium?

Brave

BlingBling22947 posted...

What's wrong with Chromium?

i was gonna ask this

Duck Duck Go? More like Duck Duck GOAT Browser.

Firefox is amazing. They have been pioneers of good identity protection technologies that later ended up in other browsers, such as randomized password generation for new accounts, a free password breach monitoring service, and an email alias service (free version lets you create up to 5 email masks so you don't have to use your real email address to register for services, there's a paid version that lets you keep more). Plus it's just fast and looks nice, though the latest GUI update took a while for me to get used to - there are still mods out there to revert it to a previous look though. It has browser compartmentalization built into it using Container Tabs, so you can have like a "Personal Finance" container where you do all your online banking, stock accounts, etc., a "Google" container for using Gmail and YouTube, a "Social Media" container for using Facebook, IG, etc., and it keeps all your accounts and tracking cookies isolated to their respective containers. Meaning you won't be logged in to Google on your Personal Finance and Social Media containers unless you choose to do so. Just helps minimize tracking. It also has an add-on called Forget-Me-Not (I don't know if Chromium has one like this yet, but for a long time it did not) that lets you manage all cookies on the fly - when you load a website, you can click the Forget-Me-Not icon and it will list all the cookies being placed by the site and you can tell it which ones to whitelist and which ones to block, just in case you don't trust the built-in privacy protection.

Another good option is Vivaldi which is vastly better and is a workhorse of a browser, with integrated e-mail client and a lot of power tools for organizing ... well, pretty much everything you need. It also has a good sidebar that you can add web panels to, so I have a Facebook Messenger pane so I don't have to keep a FB tab open.

Opera sucks ever since the original company sold it to some Chinese consortium.

Firefox, but i still using Opera with ublock origin and have no problems.

BlingBling22947 posted...

What's wrong with Chromium?

google is trying very hard to kill adblockers and anything with chromium is much more vulnerable to those efforts than things without it

thisworld posted...

Normally I'd say firefox but it needs Win10 now so... K-Meleon.

I'm using it on 7 so, no?

I'm not very knowledgeable about these things.

But when I got my first laptop, a friend who knows about these things told me I should be using Firefox. I had no idea what that was, so she set it up for me, and I've stuck with it ever since.

I use both Brave and Firefox. Firefox for general browsing and Brave almost exclusively for watching YouTube videos.

For all the people claiming Brave is under the sway of Google, it held up better than my Firefox adblockers during the recent YouTube Troubles.

Anyone know why Firefox won't open twitter links? I always have to open them in another tab rather than them showing up when posted on these boards, kinda annoying

indica posted...

I'm using it on 7 so, no?

Mozilla recently dropped support for Win7 and Win8 in firefox 116. Going forward you'll have to use firefox ESR 115 for your Win7

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-users-windows-7-8-and-81-moving-extended-support

Firefox version 115 will be the last supported Firefox version for users of Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. If you are using these versions of Windows you will be moved to the Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) channel by an application update. Mozilla will provide security updates for these users until September 2024. No security updates will be provided after that date.

NOM posted...

I thought Firefox was abandoned a while ago? Does it have extensions like Chrome?

I could be wrong, but I believe it was Firefox that pioneered extensions in the first place. Same with tabs. The other browsers only have them because they took the idea.

Dark_Arbron posted...

Same with tabs.

I thought tabs and "speed dial"/frequently visited was an Opera innovation? Back when Opera wasn't evil.

Netscape Navigator.

FR though I've been out of the loop since Chrome was the de facto one to use and firefox was a big joke.

Dark_Arbron posted...

I could be wrong, but I believe it was Firefox that pioneered extensions in the first place. Same with tabs. The other browsers only have them because they took the idea.

Firefox certainly popularized browser extension but it was Internet Explorer 4 that first pioneered browser extension during the IE vs Netscape days. It was called Browser Helper Objects (BHO) back then. IE5 then allowed you to add entries to tool menu and icon to toolbar with BHO just like modern extensions nowadays.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/ms976373(v=msdn.10)

Tabbed browsing was invented by InternetWorks browser. After AOL acquired InternetWorks, Firefox adopted the feature following the browser wars.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/cd076010.jpg

DnDer posted...

I thought tabs and "speed dial"/frequently visited was an Opera innovation? Back when Opera wasn't evil.

Speed dial yes iirc but tabs definitely not, see post#41. Wikipedia is also wrong about Opera inventing tabs but I'll be hunted down by Opera fanboys if I dare to change that lol

I use Firefox on desktop and Brave mobile.

thisworld posted...

Firefox certainly popularized browser extension but it was Internet Explorer 4 that first pioneered browser extension during the IE vs Netscape days. It was called Browser Helper Objects (BHO) back then. IE5 then allowed you to add entries to tool menu and icon to toolbar with BHO just like modern extensions nowadays.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/ms976373(v=msdn.10)

Tabbed browsing was invented by InternetWorks browser. After AOL acquired InternetWorks, Firefox adopted the feature following the browser wars.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/cd076010.jpg

"BHO" are three nightmare initials I remember seeing in too many anti-virus logs from back in the day. It was safer to just re-image a machine at that point.

Oof. There's a memory I had forgotten about.

Which is best for mobile? Brave?

ninjaman44 posted...

Which is best for mobile? Brave?

Firefox Mobile works great for me.

ninjaman44 posted...

Which is best for mobile? Brave?

Also Duck Duck Go.

Best mobile browser and best desktop browser

ninjaman44 posted...

Which is best for mobile? Brave?

Firefox, especially if you use it on desktop because you can sync your browsing and bookmarks. Any essential extensions you may need can conveniently be downloaded straight from the addon manager.

DnDer posted...

"BHO" are three nightmare initials I remember seeing in too many anti-virus logs from back in the day. It was safer to just re-image a machine at that point.

Oof. There's a memory I had forgotten about.

Hahaha sorry for bringing back the nightmare. I feel your pain :d

ninjaman44 posted...

Which is best for mobile? Brave?

For Android privacy, Firefox Focus is probably the safest best right now assuming you trust Mozilla. Others have weird issues (ex. Brave with crypto), a bit too specialized for casual (ex. Mull) or simply outdated (ex. Bromite).
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mozilla.focus

There's a privacy test for various browsers here. Keep in mind that the author is currently employed by Brave.
https://privacytests.org