zero2dash

I'm just wondering what people use as their browser of choice. I used to be Internet Explorer all the way, but ever since using Netscape 6 I've been hooked on Netscape and tossed aside my prior love for Internet Explorer. (And Netscape 6.2 which is what I'm using now - is even sweeter.)

My main reason of preferring Netscape is due to it's SPEED. Netscape loads images (and therefore pages) a good 3 seconds (if not more) faster than Internet Explorer. I'm comparing Netscape 6.2 to Internet Explorer 5.5 and 6.0.

What do you guys/gals out there use...and why?

jameslee

I don't recall the exact versions, but...

I used to use Netscape religiously (pre-version 6), despite the fact that when i did major browsing (8+ windows) Netscape often crashed taking all the windows with it.

Complaining to my brother, he mentioned that he'd switched to the new Internet Explorer and it was simply better. I switched and had to admit that IE was simply a better product at the time.

I tried Netscape 6.01 when it was first released and wasn't impressed, but i haven't tried the most recent release.

bachviet

I mainly used Netscape before (4 and 5) but I have used IE ever since! I tried out Netscape 6 but I switched back since Netscape takes more memory than IE! I think I should give Netscape 6.2 a try!

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Bires

Much like everyone else in my generation-I used Netscrape before IE was bundled with Win98-because that's what everyone used. Once IE was bundled with the OS, using netscape because uneccessary.

Now, IE is the clear winner, in speed and features. (got|java?)

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Five years...

attgig

i used to use netscape.
i think the thing that made me switch was it reloading the page whenever u resized the window..
and it still does that >(

once they fix that, I'll go back to netscape..

my biggest peeve about ie...
if IE crashes, your explorer shell crashes, and your whole system is in disarray...
I've used ie, and a different shell, but that gets annoying.

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DoPeY5007

IE, I just don't like the look of Netscape

jameslee

Well, in Netscape's defense, you can skin the browser.

DoPeY5007

and doing that makes the software lag and take even more time to load

jameslee

Does it really? I've never tested it, so i don't know.

I thought Netscape loaded a skin by default. If so, shouldn't changing the skin have a minimal affect on lag and load time?

DoPeY5007

when ever you change the default skin to any sift it slows it down...

even changing the normal windows colors slows down windows ( and yes I know all the fast computers can spare the speed any way )

sbp

Switched to IE long ago.

Cantacuzene

Netscape is weak, they try to force you to us it in the basic CS classes here and thats a joke.

zero2dash

I didn't mention Opera 'cause I've never used it but I've never heard anything really good about it either...(just my "I have no experience" excuse in full effect)

Also...those of you mentioning problems with Netscape...I haven't had any of those problems with Netscape 6.2. I'm guessing that they fixed those problems with 6.2 (if not even 6.0 for all I know...).

aglio412

used to use netscape...until 6 came out...actually...hehehehe, using net6 now...but, net6 isn't very stable, so i've sold out and been using IE primarily.

ironchef

IE, mostly for simplicity's sake. But every computer I work on has NS 4, 6, IE6, Opera 6 and Mozilla ~1 for evil compatibility checks with my work.

Here's a big ol' Q for those of you NS users that started with 4 and now use 6: notice anything different in the stuff you're looking at now? Not just that it loads faster, but that it actually renders pages properly and supports (*gasp!*) CSS?

Most of the browsers now are working almost parallel as far as page rendering goes, which is downright awesome. Once those geeks get compliance down pat (ie, an ass'll look like an ass on each and every browser, with no variation), it'll come down to features like speed of rendering, security, cookie management, customization, etc. That's when it's going to be an interesting choice as to what browser to pick.

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BrewMaster

i use IE. i haven't used Netscape for a long while now.

the one thing i like about Opera is that if you open multiple broweser windows, they are all contained in one Opera window. all it does is keep the taskbar from getting cluttered up with several browser windows. it ain't much, but it is nice.

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sho.gun

another finger for IE, netscape take too frickin long to load. And I hate its "bubbly" feel, and that rotating barber status thing on the bottom, that's just ugly.

IE has never failed me, especially in XP when it just runs and runs and runs and runs...

qmanchu

If you like the tabbed window capability of Opera and aren't interested in switching over, you can take a look at NetCaptor since it uses the IE rendering engine. Unfortunately, it's not free so keep that in mind. My problem with IE is that in some areas, it's too forgiving towards badly written HTML which is why it may display just fine in IE but be problematic in other browsers.

As to Netscape 6.x -- it's big and bloated and you can see that when you first open it up. However, once it comes up, I must admit, it renders the page pretty quickly.

Opera is small and quick and provides several features that the big two don't. However, it's lacking in certain areas like DOM-compliance.

I'm in agreement with ironchef. Once all of the browsers have full compliance with the established standards, it'll be interesting to see how they differentiate themselves.