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Best Desktop Browser?

S

SOLDIER

Member
I don’t know if it was a new update or a new add-on update, but lately Firefox has been a slow, crashing resource-hog. For over a decade now Firefox has been my go-to browser, but with this latest headache I wanted to inquire about any potentially better/faster browsers out there.

I know Chrome is something people swear by, and I’ve tried it myself. The problem is, last I checked, it was missing a lot of the QoL features Firefox had, such as zooming images with the mouse wheel, a search bar in the top right with multiple search options (for example, I could set it to “Ebay” and have it automatically search for a term I typed on Ebay), etc.

And I just plain don’t trust Microsoft’s browsers, no matter how much praise Edge gets.

In any event, I would like some browser suggestions. Alternatively, ways to clean out Firefox (I’ve run CCleaner numerous times, but no improvement, and I’d rather not just scrub everything and start over).
 
Lashley

Lashley

Why does he wear the mask!?
I personally prefer Chrome, especially with the syncing of passwords etc between devices
 
O

opticalmace

Member
SOLDIER said:
I don’t know if it was a new update or a new add-on update, but lately Firefox has been a slow, crashing resource-hog. For over a decade now Firefox has been my go-to browser, but with this latest headache I wanted to inquire about any potentially better/faster browsers out there.

I know Chrome is something people swear by, and I’ve tried it myself. The problem is, last I checked, it was missing a lot of the QoL features Firefox had, such as zooming images with the mouse wheel, a search bar in the top right with multiple search options (for example, I could set it to “Ebay” and have it automatically search for a term I typed on Ebay), etc.

And I just plain don’t trust Microsoft’s browsers, no matter how much praise Edge gets.

In any event, I would like some browser suggestions. Alternatively, ways to clean out Firefox (I’ve run CCleaner numerous times, but no improvement, and I’d rather not just scrub everything and start over).
Click to expand...
Re: the bolded, you can do this in chrome. Also you can zoom images.

My favourite is chrome, probably in part because of the easy google account syncing when I go onto other devices and whatnot.
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
I still use Firefox on my PC because I prefer its approach to history-based suggestions in the address bar, but I had to switch to Vivaldi on my laptop as it's just too much of a resource hog. The difference is night and day, but Vivaldi treating space as a character when recommending history items is annoying and there's no keyboard shortcut support for text forms (e.g. CTRL-B for bold here on GAF).
 
H

Hoo-doo

Banned
Maybe this thread can help me out.

I'm trying Firefox Nightly right now for the first time, but is there a way to up the text contrast? It seems like Microsoft Cleartype is like, bouncing off or something and text looks aliased and low-contrast.

Left: Firefox Nightly
Right: Chrome v64

zooi1js9z.png


Regardless of personal preference, is there a way for me to have the font rendering of Chrome in Firefox Nightly?
 
Lashley

Lashley

Why does he wear the mask!?
I'd probably change from Chrome to Vivaldi if it had all the scripts and extensions I use on it
 
S

SOLDIER

Member
shnurgleton said:
Chrome is excellent, but if you're paranoid about using a google product I'd go with Vivaldi
Click to expand...

I’m not, but should I be? Haven’t kept up with any Google exploits or otherwise.

I’ll probably bite the bullet and try Chrome again. Having my tabs sync between my desktop and mobile devices does sound handy.

Even Lastpass stopped working with Firefox for some reason. It’s just been so unstable and unreliable lately.
 
Lashley

Lashley

Why does he wear the mask!?
Does Vivaldi work with all the neogaf extensions chrome has? As well as tampermonkey scripts?
 
E

Enco

Member
Hoo-doo said:
Maybe this thread can help me out.

I'm trying Firefox Nightly right now for the first time, but is there a way to up the text contrast? It seems like Microsoft Cleartype is like, bouncing off or something and text looks aliased and low-contrast.

Left: Firefox Nightly
Right: Chrome v64

https://abload.de/img/zooi1js9z.png[/IM G]

Regardless of personal preference, is there a way for me to have the font rendering of Chrome in Firefox Nightly?[/QUOTE]
I don't have an answer for you but search the [URL="https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox"]subreddit[/URL]. I'm sure you'll find something.

I was surprised with the font at first but it quickly became normal to me. No issues with it now.
Click to expand...
 
S

shockdude

Member
Firefox recently added Multiprocess Windows, which means the browser is actually multithreaded instead of pegging a single CPU core. However, multiprocess windows are disabled if you have incompatible addons.
Type "about:support" in the address bar and make sure that Multiprocess Windows are "Enabled by Default". If they're disabled, you'll have to disable/uninstall/replace addons until it gets enabled.
Enabling Multiprocess Windows lets me run 60FPS Twitch, 60FPS Youtube, and a GAF thread with GIFs simultaneously without issue.

Though I will admit multiprocess windows is something that Chrome already had for a while.
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Lashley said:
Does Vivaldi work with all the neogaf extensions chrome has? As well as tampermonkey scripts?
Click to expand...

It should do as they're both Chromium-based. I don't have any GAF-specific extensions installed, but the couple that I do work just fine.
 
T

TharpDaddy

Member
Chrome imo. I really like Edge as well, but it lacks a fundamental feature I need: the ability to open a grouping of bookmarks at once. I have about 10 tabs I open when i'm doing school work and with Chrome I can open them all at once, in Edge I have to open them manually.
 
J

JustinBB7

Member
shockdude said:
Firefox recently added Multiprocess Windows, which means the browser is actually multithreaded instead of pegging a single CPU core. However, multiprocess windows are disabled if you have incompatible addons.
Type "about:support" in the address bar and make sure that Multiprocess Windows are "Enabled by Default". If they're disabled, you'll have to disable/uninstall/replace addons until it gets enabled.
Enabling Multiprocess Windows lets me run 60FPS Twitch, 60FPS Youtube, and a GAF thread with GIFs simultaneously without issue.

Though I will admit multiprocess windows is something that Chrome already had for a while.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this, I love firefox and all the addons, but Twitch/Facebook would lag the shit out of it for some reason. My multiprocess was disabled so I checked what addons were responsible with another addon that checks which ones are responsible. Replaced/removed those addons and now multiprocess is on so gonna see if Twitch still lags for no reason now.
 
N

natsuyasumi

Member
These past two years Firefox has been going through some of the biggest architectural changes in its history, and just recently, performance has been skyrocketing. Speed gains will culminate with Firefox 57, out in a month or two, which is incredibly fast but will break compatibility with previous add-ons, so there will be an adjustment period.

You can see the speed for yourself in Firefox Nightly, which is up to FF58.

That said, Firefox is like Windows: your user profile collects cruft over time which can lead to lower performance and weird quirks. I like to start a fresh profile every year or two to keep it running happily.

[Windows only] I exclusively run portable versions which keep everything in one folder. Much easier to manage.
 
S

SOLDIER

Member
For reference, this is my Firefox interface:

4Yb5fAc.jpg


Bookmarks are listed on the crossed out bar, which thankfully Chrome can import from Firefox.

As I mentioned before, I'd really like to continue having the search bar on the top right, which has extensions to include searches on specific websites (eBay, Amazon, IMDB, etc). Is there a similar feature for Chrome?

I'd also like to have the tab group feature as well, even though that was something Firefox removed.
 
N

Neith

Banned
SOLDIER said:
I don't know if it was a new update or a new add-on update, but lately Firefox has been a slow, crashing resource-hog. For over a decade now Firefox has been my go-to browser, but with this latest headache I wanted to inquire about any potentially better/faster browsers out there.

I know Chrome is something people swear by, and I've tried it myself. The problem is, last I checked, it was missing a lot of the QoL features Firefox had, such as zooming images with the mouse wheel, a search bar in the top right with multiple search options (for example, I could set it to ”Ebay" and have it automatically search for a term I typed on Ebay), etc.

And I just plain don't trust Microsoft's browsers, no matter how much praise Edge gets.

In any event, I would like some browser suggestions. Alternatively, ways to clean out Firefox (I've run CCleaner numerous times, but no improvement, and I'd rather not just scrub everything and start over).
Click to expand...

I don't follow. In fact, the newest version of Firefox is faster than ever and actually faster and more efficient than Chrome with a lot of tabs open.

You are clearly doing something wrong.

Firefox for life. Will never support Chrome as long as I live. Open source or nothing.

Honestly, I don't understand your firefox problems. The browser has literally never been better. The next version should be a great polishing update.

natsuyasumi said:
These past two years Firefox has been going through some of the biggest architectural changes in its history, and just recently, performance has been skyrocketing. Speed gains will culminate with Firefox 57, out in a month or two, which is incredibly fast but will break compatibility with previous add-ons, so there will be an adjustment period.

You can see the speed for yourself in Firefox Nightly, which is up to FF58.

That said, Firefox is like Windows: your user profile collects cruft over time which can lead to lower performance and weird quirks. I like to start a fresh profile every year or two to keep it running happily.

[Windows only] I exclusively run portable versions which keep everything in one folder. Much easier to manage.
Click to expand...

There is absolutely no reason to start a new profile. You can manage everything in your profiles in app data.

Honestly, never had much problem with Firefox ever. It's so much better than it ever was at this point. So fast and clean for me. I don't understand all the love for Chrome.

I use it on mobile as well but only sparingly as I have a data cap. I don't use pics on mobile lol. But for desktop FF is the way to go for me.

shockdude said:
Firefox recently added Multiprocess Windows, which means the browser is actually multithreaded instead of pegging a single CPU core. However, multiprocess windows are disabled if you have incompatible addons.
Type "about:support" in the address bar and make sure that Multiprocess Windows are "Enabled by Default". If they're disabled, you'll have to disable/uninstall/replace addons until it gets enabled.
Enabling Multiprocess Windows lets me run 60FPS Twitch, 60FPS Youtube, and a GAF thread with GIFs simultaneously without issue.

Though I will admit multiprocess windows is something that Chrome already had for a while.
Click to expand...

As far as I know FF is beating Chrome atm in some major categories. Or at least will be with the next release.
 
M

Matrix XII

Member
I’ve used Chrome for the past 7yrs or so but I haven’t had a great experience with it lately and switched to Firefox. I’m quite liking it actually. I used Firefox a looong time ago and it kind of feels good to be back.
 
C

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
I actually like FF more but recently I've had to change to Chrome because of a YouTube issue I can't seem to fix. Maybe someone here has an idea. Every clip I open defaults to the theater view. I've cleared my cookies multiple times, signed out, reverted to the old yt look... nothing works. If I click on default view, the next clip I open is back to theater mode. This is very annoying and I can't get rid of it.
 
N

natsuyasumi

Member
Neith said:
There is absolutely no reason to start a new profile. You can manage everything in your profiles in app data.
Click to expand...

Understanding that other users may have experiences that differ from your own does not seem your strong point.

And fuck appdata. :) I hate my programs' shit being spread all over the C drive. Makes it a pain to manage and migrate. Portable apps are a godsend.
 
S

SOLDIER

Member
Neith said:
I don't follow. In fact, the newest version of Firefox is faster than ever and actually faster and more efficient than Chrome with a lot of tabs open.

You are clearly doing something wrong.
Click to expand...

Passive aggressive reply aside, is this true? As official speed tests go, where do the browsers rank?

I am the type to have dozens of tabs open at once, so knowing which browser chugs less under that circumstance is a big deal.

And once again, I can't figure out how to get a FF-like search bar for Chrome. From what I've read it's built into Chrome's standard bar, but I don't know how to get it working. If I wanted to type "Batman Lamp" and have it search exclusively in Amazon, how would I go about that?
 
C

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
SOLDIER said:
And once again, I can't figure out how to get a FF-like search bar for Chrome. From what I've read it's built into Chrome's standard bar, but I don't know how to get it working. If I wanted to type "Batman Lamp" and have it search exclusively in Amazon, how would I go about that?
Click to expand...

There is a search engine manager in the settings, where you can assign shortcuts that trigger search engines in the address bar. For instance if I want so search something on youtube I type 'yt' then 'search youtube' shows up in the bar and I type in my search. You can do the same thing for amazon. Say your shortcut is 'amazon' you just need to type 'amazon batman lamp'. But you can assign anything as a shortcut.
 
S

sinxtanx

Member
SOLDIER said:
Passive aggressive reply aside, is this true? As official speed tests go, where do the browsers rank?

I am the type to have dozens of tabs open at once, so knowing which browser chugs less under that circumstance is a big deal.
Click to expand...

what version of FF are you on, and what extensions are you using? 32-bit or 64-bit?

pretty much all modern browsers are comparable to each other in speed, but some might work better for your particular use case. the best thing to do is to just try one a day to see which really works for you

I use Firefox for general browsing, but I keep Chrome and Vivaldi around for specific sites that run better in those browsers for me, same reason I keep VLC around. some subtitles only show up in that one player

btw, no other browser has Tab Groups the way FF has, and when v57 hits that functionality will not work until Mozilla reimplements the tab hiding api for WebExtensions. Closest you'll get is using multiple windows.
 
STI

STI

Member
I use chrome because it syncs between all 3 OS, Windows, Mac and Linux, and I use all 3.
 
I

Izkda

Neo Member
SOLDIER said:
Passive aggressive reply aside, is this true? As official speed tests go, where do the browsers rank?

I am the type to have dozens of tabs open at once, so knowing which browser chugs less under that circumstance is a big deal.
Click to expand...

https://arewefastyet.com/

Which version of Firefox are you using? 32-bit or 64-bit?

I have a ton of tabs open and it's quite smooth.

And once again, I can't figure out how to get a FF-like search bar for Chrome. From what I've read it's built into Chrome's standard bar, but I don't know how to get it working. If I wanted to type "Batman Lamp" and have it search exclusively in Amazon, how would I go about that?
Click to expand...

Just start typing "Amazon", press tab and what you want to search:
EY46uNB.png
Click to expand...
 
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