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Doug's Mailbag: New Browser Thoughts, Part 2

Here's the next batch of reader mail on the new browser versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer:

Yes, I noticed Firefox 4 to be vastly worse than earlier releases... Enough so that I had to change default browser from Firefox to Chrome (and Firefox had been my default for over a year).

Loudly agree with the tabs and other user experience comment -- and hiding things I use often does not win new friends...

Chrome is not as stable as I would like. I do run IE 9 for some things but could actually be forced to make it the default because Chrome is not covering everything I would like it to (especially some business internal sites and a few commercial/news sites). 
-Anonymous

IE9 has been out for a bit. Here's what I don't like:

- Favorites on right side
- Status Bar information is gone
- Look and feel
- No search bar

Just when you get used to using a Microsoft product, it moves everything around. Haven't looked at Firefox 4, but if I have to learn something new I might as well switch to Chrome.
-Brian

I have used Firefox for three or four years now, and I upgraded to version 4 when it was available. I have to say, I have noticed none of the issues you have. FF 4 installed the first time. Of course I did upgrade from a previous version -- I didn't install from scratch. I can still drag my bookmarks to whatever folder I want them to, with absolutely no issues. When I tell it to sort my bookmarks by name I get exact alphabetical order. Right-clicking a bookmark allows me to delete immediately, the Delete is not grayed out. Lastly, I have yet to have FF4 crash, not even once. Not sure what is going on with your FF, but I've been happy with it since the moment I upgraded.
-Ken

Actually I have had no issues with Firefox other than SharePoint looks kinda funky in it. But then again, we are back to the monopoly thing. At least Google doesn't ugly up its apps if you don't use Chrome.

You do need to remember, though, that I am not a gadget guy. Computers and software are just tools, and I use them as such. If it wasn't for my iTunes addiction I would not need a computer at home. At work I only use the browser to find and retrieve software and driver updates. I am sure there I am missing something but I have other diversions. There you have it, another David Op Ed at no cost to you.
-David

Well, I haven't tried Firefox (lately anyway), but I've been using IE 9 and I'm fine with it (or to say it the old way, 'and it's fine with me!').

Then again I'm not one of those wild-eyed open source guys that says IE is a joke. I'm pretty agnostic about tech, generally (mainframes, Unix, Windows, open source).

I tried Chrome a couple months ago and didn't like it so I removed it -- but then I had to go look on the Internet to find out how to fix some problem my PC was then having as a result (links not working because IE was no longer the default). Does this mean Google deliberately screws up your machine because it dosen't want you to remove Chrome? Or it's just buggy...

Anyway, so far I have no reason to leave IE.
-Jeff

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Posted by Doug Barney on 04/11/2011 at 1:18 PM


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