Fastest Internet browser

I have used opera since the days of IE3 (1998) and it has always been thee alternative browser. Nutscrap Communicrasher came and went and was reborn and a fox on fire - but it still sucks. I can remember in the FF1 alpha days people thought they sounded cool claiming that now there finally was an alternative to IE - pity the fools. Chrome is just rebadged mozila/firefox browser that runs each tab as another process - big deal.

The downfall of FF is you need a plug in for everything (kinda like an iPhone) it just does not work out of the box. Example, Opera comes with mouse gestures included, FF does not. Opera is also smaller and on more platforms (even a Wii). Many of the things people take for granted in modern browsers, like tabs and middle click actions to name but a few, are the creations on Opera.
 
Rouxenator said:
I have used opera since the days of IE3 (1998) and it has always been thee alternative browser. Nutscrap Communicrasher came and went and was reborn and a fox on fire - but it still sucks. I can remember in the FF1 alpha days people thought they sounded cool claiming that now there finally was an alternative to IE - pity the fools. Chrome is just rebadged mozila/firefox browser that runs each tab as another process - big deal.

The downfall of FF is you need a plug in for everything (kinda like an iPhone) it just does not work out of the box. Example, Opera comes with mouse gestures included, FF does not. Opera is also smaller and on more platforms (even a Wii). Many of the things people take for granted in modern browsers, like tabs and middle click actions to name but a few, are the creations on Opera.
Click to expand...

+1

the list is actualy much longer than that. but yes opera is the clear winner here. not just for being fastest, but for stability as well as features and functionality.
 
Rouxenator said:
I have used opera since the days of IE3 (1998) and it has always been thee alternative browser. Nutscrap Communicrasher came and went and was reborn and a fox on fire - but it still sucks. I can remember in the FF1 alpha days people thought they sounded cool claiming that now there finally was an alternative to IE - pity the fools. Chrome is just rebadged mozila/firefox browser that runs each tab as another process - big deal.

The downfall of FF is you need a plug in for everything (kinda like an iPhone) it just does not work out of the box. Example, Opera comes with mouse gestures included, FF does not. Opera is also smaller and on more platforms (even a Wii). Many of the things people take for granted in modern browsers, like tabs and middle click actions to name but a few, are the creations on Opera.
Click to expand...

thriel said:
+1

the list is actualy much longer than that. but yes opera is the clear winner here. not just for being fastest, but for stability as well as features and functionality.
Click to expand...

+++++

Every time I try Firefox (every new version), I get reminded of how much better Opera is (notwithstanding the last coupla versions of FF have been very good).
Speed yes, but stability and those little features no other browser's even thought of. THAT's what sets Opera apart.
I always have at least 20 tabs open in Opera, sometimes 30, and often with a second browser window with another 10. Perfectly stable, and doesn't slow down the computer either, regardless of OS (Windows, Linux mainly).
Oh, and no plugins required. What a pleasure. (There are loads if you do want some obscure feature, tho)
And don't even get me started on Opera Mini.

Incidentally, Opera are the market leaders by a long long way on mobile devices and appliances.
 
jouda said:
Internet Exploder has such a high percentage because:
  1. Many workstations run the standard browser shipped with the OS
  2. There are many idiots out there
Click to expand...

This has to be the funniest (also truest) post on the list so far! That "Opera" is by far the WORST browser I have looked at ... don't forget folks, I have been working with internet browsers since the early 1990s or the late 1980s, long before these browser wars started, and I have grown up with all of them. I still prefer Firefox (don't touch 4 beta 1 unless you're a geek like me and can be bothered with all its idiosyncracies), but Opera's claims of being the fastest is purely subjective. For me, I'll stick to Firefox, Flock, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and leave the pundits to wage war against each other. Opera will never feature on my list of installed programs. I only have IE8 installed because some sites are designed purely for IE, and for no other reason. It's tantamount to comparing Microsoft Office with OpenOffice.org. For me, I will never use Microsoft Office ...
 
I will still use firefox because of two things, AdblockPlus and Ubiquity.
 
adblock is available for chrome.
port firebug to a native chrome extension and i'll move tomorrow.
it's been said before.
opera was slower than chrome when i tested it on sunspider a few weeks back.
and that was vanilla opera.
 
Antonf said:
Huh?

Firefox with addons rules. What's the point of having a lightning fast browser on a slow connection - it's like owning a Ferrari but you have to use Mpumalanga's road network?
Click to expand...

that's because most of your surfing probably doesn't involve localhost...
 
The fastest browser out there has not even been tested for this article. The K-Meleon browser is a Windows- only gecko based browser, and the fastest one out there. It is secure and light weight, a truly nimble little hero of internet addicts.
 
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g-d-zilla said:
This has to be the funniest (also truest) post on the list so far! That "Opera" is by far the WORST browser I have looked at ... don't forget folks, I have been working with internet browsers since the early 1990s or the late 1980s, long before these browser wars started, and I have grown up with all of them. I still prefer Firefox (don't touch 4 beta 1 unless you're a geek like me and can be bothered with all its idiosyncracies), but Opera's claims of being the fastest is purely subjective. For me, I'll stick to Firefox, Flock, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and leave the pundits to wage war against each other. Opera will never feature on my list of installed programs. I only have IE8 installed because some sites are designed purely for IE, and for no other reason. It's tantamount to comparing Microsoft Office with OpenOffice.org. For me, I will never use Microsoft Office ...
Click to expand...

I'm the Queen of England - would anyone like to hear my opinion on the crown jewels? :p

Depending on your bias, you can always find a test to prove your choice right.
 
Rouxenator said:
The downfall of FF is you need a plug in for everything (kinda like an iPhone) it just does not work out of the box. Example, Opera comes with mouse gestures included, FF does not..
Click to expand...
The problems with Opera unfortunately is no plug-in support. That's fine and dandy if you like standard browsers but the plug-ins I use aren't available on Opera (or I should say the features provided).

IE.
- Firebug: Web-development (Opera tried doing something similar to this but it just isn't close to Firebug in functionality)
- Ant Video Downloader: Download flash-videos, I hate not being able to download YouTube videos
- Skipscreen: So you don't have to wait when downloading from Rapidshare and such places, no click on this or that (fill out this part, click on this link, then that link, then this link, etc.), everything is handled for you, works every time without exception!
- Adblock plus: duh block ads
- LastPass: Where to start, let's just say that neither Opera nor Firefox's standard password manager compares, this thing fills forms for you, you can have multiple identities (for form filling), multiple logins (saved depending on Identity), etc. I only use my real identity on few sites (which I trust), for others I have identities from SA, UK, USA depending on my needs. No need to remember that, just click fill form and it's done for you. So much better.
- Flashblock: Block flash files unless I click on them so I don't have to look at flash ads and what not.

I won't be able to live without these plug-ins (or the functionality they provide). Honestly, Opera can be as fast as it wants, it just lacks the features.
 
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jouda said:
Internet Exploider has such a high percentage because:
  1. Many workstations run the standard browser shipped with the OS
  2. There are many idiots out there
Click to expand...

The main concern is that too many clients have IE6 installed.

g-d-zilla said:
This has to be the funniest (also truest) post on the list so far! That "Opera" is by far the WORST browser I have looked at ... don't forget folks, I have been working with internet browsers since the early 1990s or the late 1980s, long before these browser wars started, and I have grown up with all of them. I still prefer Firefox (don't touch 4 beta 1 unless you're a geek like me and can be bothered with all its idiosyncracies), but Opera's claims of being the fastest is purely subjective. For me, I'll stick to Firefox, Flock, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and leave the pundits to wage war against each other. Opera will never feature on my list of installed programs. I only have IE8 installed because some sites are designed purely for IE, and for no other reason. It's tantamount to comparing Microsoft Office with OpenOffice.org. For me, I will never use Microsoft Office ...
Click to expand...

Firefox 4.0 beta 1 looks like Opera but with an orange button and Firefox performs slower than it... Plus the new add-on and bookmarks in-browser windows looks like Chrome... Flock is even based on Chromium aka Chrome, it ditched Firefox as well... There is a reason for IE Tab... Now to MS Office 2010 vs OpenOffice.org 3.2.1, to be quite frank I would rather use MS Office 2010; honestly Office 2010 makes everything so much easier to work with.
 
Would have ditched firefox for speed, but those plugins are just too handy.
 
Gnome said:
The problems with Opera unfortunately is no plug-in support. That's fine and dandy if you like standard browsers but the plug-ins I use aren't available on Opera (or I should say the features provided).

IE.
- 1. Firebug: Web-development (Opera tried doing something similar to this but it just isn't close to Firebug in functionality)
- 2. Ant Video Downloader: Download flash-videos, I hate not being able to download YouTube videos
- 3. Skipscreen: So you don't have to wait when downloading from Rapidshare and such places, no click on this or that (fill out this part, click on this link, then that link, then this link, etc.), everything is handled for you, works every time without exception!
- 4. Adblock plus: duh block ads
- 5. LastPass: Where to start, let's just say that neither Opera nor Firefox's standard password manager compares, this thing fills forms for you, you can have multiple identities (for form filling), multiple logins (saved depending on Identity), etc. I only use my real identity on few sites (which I trust), for others I have identities from SA, UK, USA depending on my needs. No need to remember that, just click fill form and it's done for you. So much better.
- 6. Flashblock: Block flash files unless I click on them so I don't have to look at flash ads and what not.

I won't be able to live without these plug-ins (or the functionality they provide). Honestly, Opera can be as fast as it wants, it just lacks the features.
Click to expand...

1. http://getfirebug.com/firebuglite
Compatible with all major browsers: IE6+, Firefox, Opera, Safari and Chrome
Click to expand...
2. http://widgets.opera.com/widget/5958/
3. -
4. http://my.opera.com/Tamil/blog/ad-block and http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/123741-Opera-Urlfilter-vs-Firefox-Adblock-Plus
5. http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/01/20/lastpass-now-handles-logins-and-form-filling-in-any-browser/
6. http://my.opera.com/Lex1/blog/flashblock-for-opera-9
 
Opera was also the first with Afrikaans support (mine is fully Afrikaans) and with a multi login password tool (Wand). The only reason I have FF is for the EasyVideo plugin on Youtube - but for all other sites I still use Opera and some cache folder diving.
 
OMG - the thread is about the fastest browser, not who has the best plugin support !!!!

and firefox is most definitely not the fastest, not even close.
 
AirWolf said:
Lol, yep :D. But I did derail 5/6 of Gnome's objections against Opera :p :cool:
Click to expand...

NICE ONE BRUVVA

BTW, nobody's addressed my main objection against FF / main reason for using Opera - the ability to comfortably handle a zillion open tabs without slowing down my PC!!! No other browser I've tried even comes close. Seriously, go open 30+ tabs in FF and see what happens.
 
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