SillyDog701

[Mandrake]

I thought it might be interesting to see what browser everyone prefers, and why that is the case.

I'm a total Firefox junkie, I don't even have any other browser installed (other than IE). Prior to switching to Firefox I used Mozilla. and every time a new Firefox version came out I'd download and try it out. I found the browser was getting better and better with each new version and at either version 0.7 or 0.8 I finally made the switch. That was sometime between six and seven years ago, and I'm still going. I totally love Firefox 4, it's incredibly fast and finally having a skin that integrates well with the Aero UI in newer versions of Windows is awesome. Since I'm so familiar with Firefox and the way it works I've just never considered using another browser.

Firefox it is for me, and Opera Mini when on my HTC Desire phone (aside from flash content on the Desire, I have to use the default browser for that).

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:2.0b4) Gecko/20100818 Firefox/4.0b4

[iJohnE]

I've been a long time Netscape /Mozilla user. However, after 7.2 became outdated I moved on to SeaMonkey. When Netscape 9 was released I moved onto that; and when they killed it back to Firefox.

Right now I sit pretty much in-between Firefox, and SeaMonkey for my defaults.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/533.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/5.0.375.127 Safari/533.4

[Fulvio]

when they killed it back to Firefox.

And,... now Safari?
No need to reply. I am using everything which is on the Internet, at least once. FF3.6.8 is my default.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2.8) Gecko/20100722 Firefox/3.6.8

[James]

Chrome all the way. My usage goes back to 1997 when I first began with Netscape 3 Gold. From that point onwards I only used Netscape right up until NS 9. When Mozilla first entered the picture, I had a copy of that browser right up until Milestone 18 when it switched over to Firebird and later Firefox and yes... I've had every version of Firefox since...right up to FF 4.5 beta. But Chrome has won my heart all the way. The latest issue of PCWorld rates Chrome as the best all-round browser using: speed, security, user inferface and extensions and add-ons. You can check the story out at you local library.

Actually... what PC World declares is: "All five (IE, FF, Chrome, Safari and Opera were the only browsers they considered) are free so it never hurts to experiment. It can take a while to set up a Web browser to appear and behave the way you like so jumping from one to another can cost you time. With that in mind, if we had to select only one browser, Chrome would be our top recommendation. We like Chrome for its clean and friendly interface, good performance and strong security. It covers all the basics for most users and offers plenty of customization for power users. In terms of security, only Chrome too the novel approach by sandboxing each open page. If a site you visit has been hijacked, sandboxing can help prevent malware implanted on that site from accessing the files on your PC."

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/533.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/5.0.375.127 Safari/533.4

[iJohnE]

when they killed it back to Firefox.

And,... now Safari?
No need to reply. I am using everything which is on the Internet, at least once. FF3.6.8 is my default.

Read the UserAgent, I was using Chrome. And it's the default browser on my grandparents computer; as it's very light weight.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9.2.8) Gecko/20100722 Firefox/3.6.8

[richard mitnick]

My deal is I try everything for a month as a default either on my main machine at home or my work machine.

So far, I stick with FF.
IE is too slow. That's all that's wrong with it.
Chrome is like a toy.
Safari is totally boring and depressing to use.
My real favorite is SeaMonkey; but some of my music sites just do not work well on SeaMonkey.
Also, I fear for SM's longevity once FF is moved by Mozilla to a new branch or whatever else they call it.
I understand that you can make a change in about:config so that a site sees SM as FF. But, I am against
that in principle. I believe the SM deserves to live on its own. I think that it is way more robust that FF,
with problems in FF having been solved in SS prior releasing a build for the public.

If I do ever need to move from FF, which is possible with 4.0, then it would be to Chrome, unless IE9 is way faster than IE8.

In all, it is an embrassment of riches.

>>RSM

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9.2.8) Gecko/20100722 Firefox/3.6.8 ImageShackToolbar/5.2.4 ( .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET4.0C)

[Fulvio]

5.0.375.127 Safari

I got thrown off by the above part of the UA. Indeed, it says Chrome, but, the Safari part comes later.
But, doing a Search, one of the replies was:

Talking about user agents, why are most of the user-agent strings in use so bad and confusing ? This one says “Mozilla/5.0″ (…like everybody else I’d be tempted to add) even though it’s not a Mozilla product. Then it says “Safari/…” even though it’s not Safari. It also mentions KHTML and Gecko, none of them being Chrome’s engine. Fortunately, it does mention Chrome and WebKit, the actual, relevant infos.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.11) Gecko/20100701 SeaMonkey/2.0.6

[iJohnE]

5.0.375.127 Safari

I got thrown off by the above part of the UA. Indeed, it says Chrome, but, the Safari part comes later.
But, doing a Search, one of the replies was:

Talking about user agents, why are most of the user-agent strings in use so bad and confusing ? This one says “Mozilla/5.0″ (…like everybody else I’d be tempted to add) even though it’s not a Mozilla product. Then it says “Safari/…” even though it’s not Safari. It also mentions KHTML and Gecko, none of them being Chrome’s engine. Fortunately, it does mention Chrome and WebKit, the actual, relevant infos.

I try my best not to pay attention to UserAgents anymore. For I feel I need a college degree in IT to decipher them,

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2.8) Gecko/20100722 Firefox/3.6.8

[James]

I'm with you on that one, John. Best wishes for you new school year.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/533.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/5.0.375.127 Safari/533.4

[Edward]

SeaMonkey is used here.

If a site will not display because I am using SeaMonkey, I will then switch briefly to Firefox to view the site in question.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1.13pre) Gecko/20100831 SeaMonkey/2.0.8pre

[richard mitnick]

Edward, what do you see as the future for SeaMonkey?

>>RSM

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9.2.8) Gecko/20100722 Firefox/3.6.8 ImageShackToolbar/5.2.4 ( .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET4.0C)

[Edward]

Edward, what do you see as the future for SeaMonkey?

>>RSM

Great things.

I have been following the development of it, they are working on version 2.1 currently and they have a great group that addresses bug reports in a timely manner.

I sometimes test pre-releases, especially under Linux, since it's very easy to remove (simply delete the directory). 2.0.8pre is noticably faster than 2.0.6 is on my systems.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1.13pre) Gecko/20100831 SeaMonkey/2.0.8pre

[James]

As long as there remain men and women who are committed to keeping this excellent suite current, then I would agree. Being a former Netscape fanatic, I hope SeaMonkey continues for many years.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/533.4 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/5.0.375.127 Safari/533.4

[Edward]

I hope it will as well.

I just installed 2.0.8pre on my laptop, running fast like on the other systems I've installed it on (all Linux).

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.1.13pre) Gecko/20100901 SeaMonkey/2.0.8pre

[DJGM]

Another vote for SeaMonkey from me. It's got all the same "under the hood" stuff as Mozilla Firefox,
maybe slightly behind with the revision of Gecko it currently uses, but I like the way SeaMonkey is
sticking with the more standard and traditional browser GUI layout, rather than dumbing down
like Chrome always has been, and more recently, even Firefox.

I also like way I have much better control over cookies in SeaMonkey than I do in Firefox.

UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.9.1.11) Gecko/20100701 (like Firefox/3.5.x) SeaMonkey/2.0.6