Alternative Browsers Advice For a Non-Techie Please!

poorly_scammo

Please be gentle with me!

I've just uninstalled IE8 as I was having problems with it, not least because I have Hewlett Packard software on my machine (apparently IE8 doesn't like this and I wanted to keep my add-ons ) IE7 is back and working fine but I've read on here that many use other non-microsoft browsers.

Firstly, why do people not use IE? Are the others much better?

Secondly, if I were to download an non-IE browser which would be the best one?

I'm on Vista if this helps.

Thanks

sidefx

I use Firefox as recommended by the marvelous techies on this forum.

I find it is quicker than IE.

ETA I'm have vista too HTH

-TangleFoot-

sidefx wrote: »

I find it is quicker than IE.

Only slightly quicker - it's biggest advantage to date is the wide variety of plugins available.

If it's sheer speed you want, Chrome and Safari are currently top of the list. Well, this list anyway.

stevey2005

Google have recently released a new website brwoser, called Google Chrome. Apparently it loads content up to 30% quicker than the other popular website browsers on the market e.g. IE and Firefox: http://www.google.co.uk/chrome

aliEnRIK

I use FIREFOX with the NOSCRIPT plugin as its the safest setup by far

Chrome for speed (But not as safe as I found out)

Marty_J

The usual alternatives for Windows are Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and Opera.

There's nothing to stop you trying all of them out. Once you've used them for a bit, you'll be in a position to decide which one you like the best.

-TangleFoot-

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Chrome for speed (But not as safe as I found out)

Why's that?

aliEnRIK

-TangleFoot- wrote: »

Why's that?

I read somewhere it has a built in SANDBOXIE?
Well it doesnt by default as I got attacked by an online virus and I couldnt as yet find anything to turn it on (If indeed it does exist)

Of course this makes it the same as using IE and all the others in that respect (NOSCRIPT stopped it of course)

-TangleFoot-

aliEnRIK wrote: »

I read somewhere it has a built in SANDBOXIE?

Each tab runs as a separate process, but that's not quite the same thing.

RobertoMoir

poorly_scammo wrote: »

Please be gentle with me!

I've just uninstalled IE8 as I was having problems with it, not least because I have Hewlett Packard software on my machine (apparently IE8 doesn't like this and I wanted to keep my add-ons ) IE7 is back and working fine but I've read on here that many use other non-microsoft browsers.

Microsoft still have the majority of the market for browsers on Windows sewn up, but lots of people are looking at the alternatives. There are plenty of free alternatives out there, so you can look at a lot of the main choices with no cost to yourself other than time.

poorly_scammo wrote: »

Firstly, why do people not use IE? Are the others much better?

Matter of opinion. A lot of people who have tried alternative browsers end up preferring one or more alternatives to IE, but "better" is a personal thing.

poorly_scammo wrote: »

Secondly, if I were to download an non-IE browser which would be the best one?

You can download Apple's Safari, Mozilla's Firefox, Google's Chrome and Opera's ..er.. Opera for free. The "best" one for you is very much personal taste as I've already suggested, so try them and see what you like.

As I use both Apple Mac and Windows, I prefer Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari because they're both going to be familiar to me regardless of what computer I'm using at any given moment. I really don't get on with Chrome too well at all, but these are my personal choices based on my circumstances.

A lot of people like Firefox and if you were only ever going to try one alternative that would be my suggestion (again personal taste, it isn't somehow "better" than IE and/or the alternatives in some scientific way that every other geek in the country is going to be able to measure with a ruler and agree with my equations... I just prefer it is all).

There's a bit of a recurring theme in my answer as you may have noticed by now. Give the free alternative browsers a try and see what you like.