I my self use Firefox 3 but in all fairness I haven't tried Opera since Firefox was still in Beta. Might have to download and try Opera again... Votes: +1

I used Firefox for years but lately it has been posting an error message that saye it must close; and I lose my work. So I tried out Safari, Ace and Opera and I think Opera is the best and most reliable. Votes: +53

Opera for me it's a far better interface often have 30 plus tabs open & each tab has its own history. Love the speed dial easy to edit the speedial ini to get more than 9 tabs.
Saved sessions , notes ,opera mail ect..........
Even with all the extra features Opera has it's still faster less of a memory hog & safer than FF.
Press F11 & the page you are on fills the screen can FF3 do that
Opera has been leading the way for years.
Funny how the worst browser IE has the biggest user base & the best browser the smallest.

Votes: +42

Hey Stve:
I don't know about "better" interface. Firefox imho ate Opera there until Opera 9 (Opera 9.5 is so smooth!!)
Firefox can have a speed dial (with an extension: something that gives strong point to Opera AND Firefox if you think about it )
Saved Sessions? Yes, since Firefox 2 I think. Notes? Guess not. Probably an Extension. Mail? Don't think so, maybe an extension.

The important thing here isn't what Firefox or Opera has. Each of them has it all! What's important is what Virus Explorer DOESN'T have - everything you mentioned so far.

Opera faster? Yes, out of the box as it comes with pipelining turned on by default.
Opera less of a memory hog? Less than Firefox 2 for sure. Not sure about Firefox 3 but regardless it IS very quick and very efficient. Once again, things that Idiot Explorer doesn't have.
Safer than Firefox? Are you on something? Currently open security bugs in Secunia for Firefox 3? Zero. Opera? Zero. Internet Explorer? Over fifty. Regardless, nothing but Lynx is safer than Firefox with Noscript.

Press F11 & the page you are on fills the screen can FF3 do that

Actually... yes, it can. LOL, dude, even Internet Exploder can do that. That feature is what, ten years old? At the very least?

Opera has been leading the way for years.

.. Well... I tried Opera 5 or 6 or 7 way back and I hated it passionately (as an end user). Opera nine takes my breath away. So I don't know about the "for years" bit but they are definitely on top of their game right now. Opera is one of the best, if not the best, browsers out there.
It IS fast, it is very secure, it blocks spammy ads and things, and it's very stable. What more could you want? (Apart from extensions, but they can kinda create the opposite to the above effects in some cases)

Funny how the worst browser IE has the biggest user base & the best browser the smallest.

rAmen, man. You're so right. IE will fade into obscurity just like Netscape did .. There's no way a product so bad could last so long in the wild.

I'm a Firefox user myself, but I understand the importance of promoting Firefox, Opera, AND Safari. Frankly as a web designer, I don't CARE what browser people are using, as long as it's not Internerd Explorer. I want to be able to use things like fixed positioning and CSS3 selectors, or even CSS2, and these things simply don't work in Ancient browsers like Internet Explorer 6, 7 or Internet Explorer 8.
When you talk disrespectfully about Firefox, Safari or Opera, all you're doing is helping Idiot Explorer.
There are only two kinds of browsers out there: Internet Exploder, and Modern Browsers. Firefox and Opera are on the same team.
I agree though, it's odd that the world's best browser (Lynx) has the smallest market share. Lynx is the fastest and most secure browser around. It supports HTTP, HTML and XHTML (Internet Explorer doesn't) and is capable of full screen mode.

Down with Virus Explorer! Votes: -1

Opera appears to be the fastest browser for Windows
Votes: +34

i liek dis siet very much %) Votes: -3

Opear 9.X seems good and it runs under Windows NT Workstation (with the exception of Opera 9.5)

Opera 9.6 alphas are looking good! Votes: +34

well i loved the 3 browser safari opera.firefox bt opera is better,well hpe these team will kip the good work going internet xplorer suckZzZ Votes: +28

I love Opera, and i will never change it...
Opera is the best choice!
Mozzila sucks don't use mozzila!!

So, have a nice day Votes: +19

Opera 9.6 is definetly the best! never crashes! love the speed dial and mouse gestures and the transfers/downloads. Espeacially the transfers Votes: +31

OPERA is the best if you want SUPERIOR features and GREAT speed.
Firefox is the best if you want GREAT performance and GOOD speed.
Chrome is the best if you only care about SIMPLE+CRAZY SPEED.

I use Opera Votes: +12

i did try to use crome before.....but after using opera, i just cant get use to crome. The speed dial rocks...one click to any website to saved. Votes: +26

OPEEERAAAA !!!! 4 EEVEER !!!!!! Votes: +22

I think you forgot to take your pills again. Votes: +24

I didn't read the comments, so someone might have beat me to this, but where you say "Firefox could be a better choice when it comes to standards, support, features and safety" I know you're speaking in relation to IE, but it sounds like you're saying Firefox is safer than Opera, and that's not true. Firefox has security holes due to being open source, opera is locked down and easily the most secure browser choice. Not to mention Opera is w3c standards compliant, and the other choices (firefox, chrome, IE isn't even an option IMHO)are happily NOT. Votes: +18

I have been using chrome since its launch and i have experienced the smoothest and quickest web surfing and navigation on it. It is very simple and gives only the essential. And you get a large space for page viewing... Votes: -1

hello all.
i have been using Firefox since 2005. according to me it was the fastest browser but it opens very slow when you using plug ins. now i have installed opera 10 and its really very nice and attractive interface. i must say it is the fastest browser till date.
Firefox is losing this WAR.

Oper is the Best Votes: +10

Hi!

Have allways liked firefox best but now i think Chrome is the winner in this war Firefox doesn't have their former glance anymore Votes: -4

Opera is definetly the best

I have been using opera since opera5.0 (ad support)

Firefox is good not the best .

Votes: +9

Folks, there is NO Best Browser - just as there isn't any BEST Car or BEST Bike or BEST Notebook! It all depends on what your needs are and whether the Browser has them and whether it is packaged nicely, in an intuitive GUI.

We at WellOiledPC have reviewed 13 Windows-based Browsers - http://www.welloiledpc.com/browser.htm - with separate analyses of each Browser. Our findings are as follows:

0. Every Browser is free, so feel free to try them out, one by one!
1. Firefox is best suited to Web Developers and Online Marketeers
2. Apple Safari for Windows is best suited to those who are more accustomed to using a Mac, now using a Wintel PC...
3. Opera has everything you want, plus its Speed Dial is still the most advanced. It also has thoroughly-loyal fans worldwide!
4. Maxthon is a wonderfully-innovative Browser, if you look deep enough and long enough - you could fall in love with it!

So go ahead - enjoy! Votes: +0

I have dial up and after comparing several browsers settled on Firefox and when chrome can out i tested it and found that Firefox is up to 20 seconds faster and actually gets the sites layout right. Votes: -3

I use a great many browsers.
IE for a few sites that only work properly in IE and that I trust; so any security issues can't be that bad.
Firefox for porn and stumbleupon.
Chrome for testing flash websites in, if it crashes, only the plugin does.
And Opera for the other 98% of the time.
I used Firefox for years; I really like the open-source model (I use linux) but Opera just works better for me.

@Speed: Speed is an excuse, the latest versions of chrome, Fx and Opera are all really fast with no serious difference.

@Merlin: If you have dailup, check out Opera, Opera turbo makes images uglier but a lot faster. Votes: +4

I have tried all the 5 browsers mentioned above. Opera is the fastest. Yet its not supported by the VLE, Visual Learning System of my uni.. GRR... Votes: -1

I am so old I remember the beginning of time.... but not when I figured that MS's idiot browser didn't have a popup add blocker - that all the idiot porn sites served up, which still mystifies me to this day as to how does annoying prospective customers induce them to stay and pay; but anyway, MS didn't get a popup blocker for another 7 years, after Opera and Firefox had them...

Anyway I was enthused about Firefox because it was a case of, "We the people against Microsoft and it's shitbag antithesis of retrograde copycat development and innovation".

But in the last few years Firefox has become - well I don't know about the worst browser on the market, as I don't and have not used MS's Outhouse Explorer for like 7 or 8 years., but let me put it like this:

It frequently locks up and hangs.,

It has memory leaks - like 2 plain vanilla webpages will consume like 200 meg of memory.,

And in Ubuntu Linux, I have to use KILL PROGRAM in "System Monitor" or Alt + F2 and XKILL; or when it hangs and just locks up my whole computer - I actually have to turn it off - rather than wait about 1/2 an hour - waiting for it to quit locking up my PC; while it thrashes the hard drive to death.

Incidentally, I came to this site by doing a search using this term, "why is firefox so shit" - which lead me to Encyclopedia Dramatica, and then to here.

http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Mozilla_Firefox


It is a pretty good site and it gives the wrap on how the "We the people browser" became a corporate shithole run by idiots who can't code to save their profit margin.

Firefox is not just shit - it's truly fucked - the idiot corporation and their shithole browser.

Bye Bye Firefox - and take your crap with you to the extinction of your shit hole Google Add infested browser.

Votes: +2

thanks for your article Votes: +0

I use chrome, opera, and Firefox. In my opinion, chrome is the fastest, although there aren't many features (it's very simple); opera and Firefox are both very fast (although I think opera is slightly faster but doesn't have as many features). I'm not quite sure which I prefer, but I think we can agree on something- Microsoft gave us groundbreaking innovations, although some of its' services, such as IE, aren't half crap. Votes: +0

All the browsers are copying each other for features. So we will one day end up with them all looking the same. Firefox & IE are just too bloaty now. The contenders for speed and features is Opera and Chrome. Chrome is still too raw to use for now (horrible font sizes) although it has the fastest load-up and internet throughput times. Votes: +2

I am very impressed; your blog is awesome, good work Votes: +1

Good work, I like your blog theme, and content of course Votes: +0

I recommend not getting the latest firefox, instead get firefox 3.0.17, it's (in my opinion) much better than opera and better than the later versions of firefox.
FIREFOX FIGHT THE WAY! Votes: -2

Google Chrome is the best!!!!! Firefox is catching up,Opera too Firefox and Opera will be better than Google Chrome in 23 years Internet Explorer is pretty good Safari is the worst,I wish it wound go away! Votes: -1

I used the firefox usually,i think it is the best browser for the web desiger! Votes: +0

I am a rigid Firefox user.
I absolutely hate IE and Chrome, opera is ok but i prefer FF.
IE is unsecure and boring, chrome is buggy and ugly. Votes: +0

I used Firefox for 7 years until I switched to Chrome in April 2010. Chrome lacked many features I cared about when it was first released, such as full screen mode, reasonable bookmark management, and most importantly extensions. Support for extensions officially came out in January 2010, and within a few months there were thousands of good ones.

The thing I like best about Chrome is the emphasis on speed and a minimal interface so that I can focus on getting work done. The latest version of Opera is good this way too. Firefox continues to be the most extensible browser but I found myself constantly trying to changing the interface to make it more like Chrome. So why not just use Chrome?

Some of the descriptions (especially Chrome) on this site are out of date. I posted an up-to-date description and comparison of the 5 major browsers on my site last week, and you can get to it by clicking on my name above. Votes: +2

It's Firefox for me all the way. I'm really excited what's coming in Firefox 4. I've tried Google Chrome. It's fast, but, it's too bare bones for me. Comodo Dragon is a good choice too if you like Chromium. I've also tried Opera, Flock, you name it. SeaMonkey is also a very good browser too and is also made by Mozilla. Votes: +1

I've stuck with FF for several years. This spring a colleague thought I would try Chrome instead. I uninstalled after two weeks because the only difference to when it was in beta was that this time I had sound on the youtube videos. Else it was fast... sometimes, but most of the time it said "Resolving host..." in the status field, and I had to let it through my Comodo firewall several times because it needed to update several times a week. But it just got worse. I might try Chrome again in 3-4 years but I expect it to be the same hog as every time I tried it so far. Votes: -1

Well, I used to love Firefox, and I've used it my entire life. But I can't take it any more. I have to kill the process after I shut it down or else it'll use all my system resources (This happens on more than one computer), memory leaks, oh, and if I use it more than a couple hours on my BRAND NEW Win7 machine, it'll eventually stop working by not playing videos correctly, not loading background images, and skipping screens while scrolling. I've had it with Firefox, it's just an old man now. I'll stick with Chromium, I've fallen in love with it. Opera was nice, but not my cup of tea. But dear god, I couldn't take another day of Derpfox any longer. At first I thought it was just because of my old WinXP system in need of a reinstallation, but after it was even worse on a brand new Win7 install was the final straw. Votes: +2

maybe firefox could move faster a small little bit but opera can save the webpages like cheetah...and as *.mht file type ... that makes saving and reading pages more easier....also when you try to save a webpage firefox will save it like downloading files so you will wait to redownloading the elements again ...while on opera you just click save to save it like it is now with no need to remake a new fresh copy of the webpage...
another great thing is the speeddial that opera has ... it's beautifull thing opera provide ...

it has a good shape not like all ... it's not like all windows rectangle form ... it's edited with cool colors those you could change...

my use as a normal user says that opera is better than firefox...

but i'm not sure why everybody singing about firefox ... whether if it's opensource or not ... it's not a bigdeal after all ... it' s slow developed .... i'm sure more competors make softwares more well acting but maybe that's just the point. Votes: +1

Although everything about this browser is great i abandoned the use of it just for the simple reason of it CRASHING too OFTEN.Back to Avant which I used to use. Votes: +0

The same story continues,eventhis version also not compatible with many sites as mentioned in my earlier commentit is not compatible many Web sites. I am able to open all with Firefox,Chrome as well as Avant. Not able to open with the latest version also. What is the use, though it is fast.Switch to Avant finally . Votes: +0

I suppose many guys usually run several browsers in same day. And there must be difference about using frequency. It can be called as best one for user.
For me,
Opera10>chrome canary9>chrome7>>sleipnir2.9>IE8>firefox3.6>woopie2>safari5

In these days, I use opera at first because good speed performance and speed-dial feature which is easy to use and modify. but some times use chrome because opera has poor filter.Occasionally use Sleipnir/IE because poor site can be seen by IE only. Others are used by specific reason only: Firefox for using "modify header". Woopie for downloading youtube video. safari for rarely using "Open Page with" . Votes: +0

These type of browser are loopy.They make ourselves foolish Votes: +0

This is super.I will download this type of browsers only.Size of this browser is very low.Absolutely these browser are very good Votes 51 Votes: +0

Opera is awesome. Votes: +0

I've been using Opera for the long time (before that I was using IE 6, but I've changed it because of lack of tabs, they are necessary, remember that IE 6 takes very little of memory, that's why it is as good as unix Links). Big advantages of Opera are:

- possibility to RUN program which you are downloading instantly (saving it to temporary dir),
- possibility to analyse sites with DragonFly,
- biggest scores in ACID 3 (it is useful because you can view sites properly in every case),
- possibility to search from address bar with one letter wherever you want,
- possibility to mask yourself easily (as FF, IE or Safari),
- your forms don't delete after reversing to them by backspace or so,
- more...

But since Opera 11 have been released Opera is not a good choice. I've experienced that it start as slowly as FF and it sometimes crashes when I want to run PDF file using RUN option (when I choose what Opera should do with downloaded file). So now I am confused. I've tried almost every browser and I don't get anything similar to Opera 10. I am screwed. Votes: +0

I have to say that I love the addons and functionality that Firefox provides. It's quick and easy and there's literally an addon for anything you need. I have started to use Chrome lately and am impressed with the speed of use of the browser overall. I think eventually Chrome will surpass Firefox in popularity, it's just a matter of time. Votes: +1

Microsoft Internet Explorer: The best if you have yet to realize that other browsers exist
(perfect for your average joe)

Google Chrome: The best if you want to go fast and keep it simple (perfect for conservative republicans)

Firefox: The best all around... but only if you know how to customize it properly, otherwise it's useless.
(perfect for artistic creative types who like to have everything just so)

Apple Safari: Best for replicating the Mac theme and feel.
(Perfect for indies and hipsters)

Opera: Don't care how great Opera is, it's not cool and never will be cool... but it really is an awesome browser in many many ways.
(perfect for elitist computer nerds who use linux and KNOW that they're all that and a bag of chips)

Any Browser other than these: Not even worth mentioning. Votes: +2

The information posted on this site is out of date as all 5 browsers have had two rounds of major upgrades since this site was launched. Click on my name for a detailed post comparing the latest versions of all 5 browsers.

Chrome raised the bar for browsers with speed, security, and simplicity but now the major browser makers have caught up.

Chrome is fast and gets out of your way and lets you focus on your work

Firefox add-ons let you customize just about anything

Opera is fast, works on old hardware and operating systems, and has it's own take on customization

Safari is simplest to use and good for those who spend just a few hours/week on the Internet

Internet Explorer 9 is great for Windows 7 systems thanks to speed, hardware acceleration, and making browser apps feel like desktop apps

I prefer Chrome, with Firefox a close second. But the best browser for you will depend on your work habits and personality.
Votes: +4

Firefox 4.0's many features resemble Previous Google Chrome's,
Take a look,,
http://goo.gl/6ZYY3 Votes: -2

I have using firfox for last 6 years still not feeling to use cromo of IE, The latest version is quit impressive and easy tab access.

Votes: +1

Opera is undoubtedly the best, the fastest, the most feature packed out-of-the-box, the most secure, the most reliable.
If you do not use Opera, you in fact do not use internet. Votes: +0

I'm using Avant browser ,a small browser. Votes: +0

Avant is an easy-going browser which open webpages fast and use less memory. Votes: +1