Best Web Browser?

paladin · Post by **paladin** » 2003-01-07 09:40pm

I use Netscape 7.01 and IE 6.0 right now on my computer which is running on Windows XP. Does anyone have suggestions for other browsers that are better?

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-01-07 09:49pm

I tend to think that Mozilla is the best multi-platform browser available. It's too bad they have to bloat the shit out of it with a mail client, newsreader, page editor ... Hell, there's probably something in there that'll wipe your ass with the proper key combination. The browser-only Gecko derivatives (Phoenix, Chimera and the like) are also shaping up nicely, on the Linux, Windows and Mac platforms.

KHTML 3.0 is fully CSS1 compliant, and does a pretty good job of rendering webpages. I think that Gecko does a better job, though. Both are open-source, so it's hard to say who will come out on top. Though, KHTML's biggest advantage is its small footprint and easy portability. For example, Chimera, a Mac OS X browser based on Gecko, is roughly 21MB. Safari, Apple's KHTML browser, is only 7MB. The application launch time for Chimera is also exceedingly slow, as is the case for most Gecko variants.

Opera is adware shit, and Internet Explorer on Windows isn't fully CSS1-compliant (ironically, the Mac version is). It also incorrectly utilizes ALT tags. Also, it lacks any kind of pop-up or image blocking capabilities. I've come to expect at least pop-up blocking in my web browsers, as image blocking can be achieved system-wide with a simple hosts file.

For you, I'd recommend trying out Mozilla. Its ad-blocking features are excellent, and it renders, on average, just as fast (if not faster) as Internet Explorer. The only real drawback on the Windows platform is a slow launch time.

Cal Wright · Post by **Cal Wright** » 2003-01-08 12:03am

Wipes your ass? You don't say...Where do I download this from?

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-01-08 12:05am

DG_Cal_Wright wrote:Wipes your ass? You don't say...Where do I download this from?

It's a Mozilla variant called "AssZilla."

Exonerate · Post by **Exonerate** » 2003-01-08 12:06am

NETSCAPE! NETSCAPE! THE GOGGLES DO NOTHING!!!
I really hate Netscape. Cross-browsering is a bitch for Netscape... I'm currently using IE because almost all sites support it, and it loads quickly, unlike most of the other browsers.

Cal Wright · Post by **Cal Wright** » 2003-01-08 12:06am

Sounds like a beast.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-01-08 12:16am

Exonerate wrote:NETSCAPE! NETSCAPE! THE GOGGLES DO NOTHING!!!
I really hate Netscape. Cross-browsering is a bitch for Netscape... I'm currently using IE because almost all sites support it, and it loads quickly, unlike most of the other browsers.

As an added bonus, it also has convenient features for allowing hackers to view the contents of your hard drive.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-01-08 12:29am

PS. I use Konqueror. KHTML may not throw in everything but the kitchen sink, but it works on the vast majority of sites, it's fast, it's lightweight (not like IE, which pretends to be lightweight by burying most of its massive bulk in Windows itself; just look at the size of a full network-install download version of IE6 and you'll see what I mean), and it doesn't have a big red circle-target painted on it by hackers.

Exonerate · Post by **Exonerate** » 2003-01-08 12:57am

Darth Wong wrote:
Exonerate wrote:NETSCAPE! NETSCAPE! THE GOGGLES DO NOTHING!!!
I really hate Netscape. Cross-browsering is a bitch for Netscape... I'm currently using IE because almost all sites support it, and it loads quickly, unlike most of the other browsers.
As an added bonus, it also has convenient features for allowing hackers to view the contents of your hard drive.

IIRC, they put a patch up for that...

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-01-08 12:59am

Exonerate wrote:
As an added bonus, it also has convenient features for allowing hackers to view the contents of your hard drive.
IIRC, they put a patch up for that...

Yes. And then it happens again, so they put up another patch. And then it happens again, so they put up another patch ...

And what about Outlook Express, which refuses to let you turn off HTML rendering on E-mail in your inbox?

Cal Wright · Post by **Cal Wright** » 2003-01-08 02:21am

Fuck express. The DG uses some webmail service, but you can run it through Outlook. It's bout the shittiest thing in the world. AoL email shines compared to it.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-01-08 02:51am

Darth Wong wrote:
Exonerate wrote:NETSCAPE! NETSCAPE! THE GOGGLES DO NOTHING!!!
I really hate Netscape. Cross-browsering is a bitch for Netscape... I'm currently using IE because almost all sites support it, and it loads quickly, unlike most of the other browsers.
As an added bonus, it also has convenient features for allowing hackers to view the contents of your hard drive.

Yes, that came in handy for getting to files in the university's computer labs. Nutscrape completely ignored view permissions, so I could browse the hard drive with it, unhindered.

Clone Sergeant · Post by **Clone Sergeant** » 2003-01-08 02:55am

I was surfing around and I noticed that Apple finally has come up with it's own web browser. It's called "Safari", what caught my eye was it's part of Konqueror open source project. GUI looks pretty nice to me. It's only for Jaquar at the moment though.

http://www.apple.com/safari/

Johonebesus · Post by **Johonebesus** » 2003-01-08 10:40pm

Just how different is Mozilla from Netscape?

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-01-08 11:53pm

Clone Sergeant wrote:I was surfing around and I noticed that Apple finally has come up with it's own web browser. It's called "Safari", what caught my eye was it's part of Konqueror open source project. GUI looks pretty nice to me. It's only for Jaquar at the moment though.

http://www.apple.com/safari/

Yes, if you read my "New Browser" thread, you'll see that I'm using it at the moment. Apple has submitted its changes to the KHTML project, as well, and the developers of KHTML are hoping for a collaborative effort between themselves and Apple to improve the engine and squash bugs. KHTML is very grateful for such a huge endorsement.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-01-08 11:54pm

Johonebesus wrote:Just how different is Mozilla from Netscape?

Netscape = Mozilla + Useless Crap - Popup/Image Blocking.

Post by **Dalton** » 2003-01-08 11:54pm

Johonebesus wrote:Just how different is Mozilla from Netscape?

Mozilla and Netscape are not that different at all. In fact, they look pretty much alike. Except that Mozilla is open-source and less annoying and FAR more customizable.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2003-01-09 08:51am

There is popup blocking in nutscrape, I think. you just have to edit prefs.js. The next version will have popup blocking though.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2003-01-09 09:32am

For me, Mozilla. Even with all its extra shit it, the download is only about 10 meg (vs 50+ meg Internet Exploder?). Specially for the forums, I use the tabbed browsing A LOT.

I haven't tried Opera or the lite versions of Mozilla. Konqueror manages but I think it's as barebones as you can get, I don't think it even supports any kind of plugin...