Which browser should you use?

Short answer? Whichever you like. Our recommendation? FireFox

• Open Source
• More Secure Than IE
• No locked down "secret" code like Google Chrome and IE
• Less Crashing
• Platform independent
• Large URI Query String Support
• Nice Development Tools (e.g. FireBug*)

What about Google Chrome? 

Well, honestly, I'm too busy these days to give it a spin, however I have heard some good things. I hear the Javascript engine is extremely fast, even fast enough for advanced games typically not possible with other browsers.  

I must say that the locked down code spooks me a little when we are talking about web browsers or any software that is "free" from advertising agencies. Let's not forget that advertising is Google's is a huge part of their revenue stream. Microsoft has been trying to gain marketshare in the advertising arena for a long time also. What do these programs do when we think they are shut down or idle? Do we really know? Am I paranoid? I think most savvy computer users are to some extent, they usually want to protect their private information and at a minimum keep their PC's from crashing.

Am I Biased?

First let me tell you that I've been a Microsoft Internet Explorer user for years. Even the glitches in IE were overlooked because it was what most people were using and it worked for me.

One of my colleagues said that he uses IE for Microsoft products his company supports, but the second he wants to just go surfing or visit new sites he doesn't yet trust, it's FireFox for him.

This isn't a long blog promoting the browser wars, just my personal opinion based on my experience creating web sites and web based server applications.

What about other browsers?

I can't say. I've heard nice things about Opera... I love the text based browser named "Lynx" (Lynx is really cool and is actually the best implementation of how HTML was designed to work in my opinion... it's a computer affectionado type admiration perhaps)

Why did you bother writing this?

I needed a break from programming for a few minutes and wanted to share.

I've been doing a lot of work in Linux and I have been using FireFox more and more. I've always been a fan on the OpenSource credentials but now that I'm using it a lot in Linux I have been using it more and more in my Microsoft environments as well. 

With what I've been seeing lately such as IE7 going to the wayside, IE8 being totally hosed and many sites needing "backward compatibility mode"... I think... FireFox and W3C are where we need to go, because every other browser technology is not for the people (business and individuals alike) but seems to instead just be an advertising agenda.

I was recommending to Springli, when I saw she was having an issue with IE, to use FireFox instead...she looked at me like I had three heads and asked: 

"Wasn't it you who told me to use IE?" Yeah that was me... I've changed my mind!

Until Next Time,

Jason

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