Should I Just Stick To Chrome Or Firefox?

[Deleted member 44219]

So at the moment, I'm constantly switching between Firefox and Chrome. Ever since the Chrome Re-design, I just haven't been able to fully stick to one browser(I even switched to Edge a couple of times).

From what I've heard on the internet, Firefox is faster and more secure than Chrome but at the same time, Chrome is handled by Google, who have much better staff(That's my guess anyway).

I definitely do not like Chrome's rounded-tabs as it doesn't feel right(Just like everyone else, I was settled with the old tab design). I do like rounded-corners but Chrome just doens't suit it. Firefox on the other hand, has a more squarish-design which looks similar to Edge. I do like this design yet I do find Firefox more tedious to navigate around in(Like trying to find my Bookmarks or History).

Somebody please just tell me what's better and I'll probably stick to it.

 

[Page]

Just use what you think that you rather use. I don't think about the theme and layout, is what it has to offer and the resources. Chrome offers allot then firefox. Then edge doesn't take allot f CPU as chrome does.

 

[Elli]

They're both really good browsers! The differences between them are more personal preference than technical superiority imo. Since Firefox Quantum was released, it's a bit faster than Chrome and uses less RAM. But other than that, the main differences are:

• Mozilla, the creator of Firefox, is a non-profit organization and has consistently argued for a free and open web. Google, on the other hand, has been uncomfortably silent or has little input when it comes to battles against internet legislation such as Article 13, CISPA, and others.
• Chrome tracks pretty much everything you do within the browser, and sends that data back to Google if you're signed in to your Google account. As far as I know, Firefox's data mining is either non-existent or very minimal.
• Chrome's extension store is bigger than Firefox's (this could change in the future). Depending on which extensions you use, some may only be available in Chrome.
• imo Chrome's developer tools are miles ahead of Firefox's, and so much faster. If you use dev tools a lot, Chrome is the better option. (This is my primary reason for sticking with Chrome.)
• Chrome syncs well with other devices signed in to a Google account. I prefer to have my mail, calendar, bookmarks, and contacts sync with all devices.
• The interface. This is pretty specific for each person and I prefer Chrome in this area, but I can understand the preference for Firefox.

It depends on what's important to you. If you want a browser made by a company that values privacy and an open internet, Firefox is the obvious choice. If you want a browser that syncs effortlessly across multiple devices and is easy to code with, then Chrome is the better option. If your only concern is speed and the interface, either are good.

 

[Deleted member 44219]

They're both really good browsers! The differences between them are more personal preference than technical superiority imo. Since Firefox Quantum was released, it's a bit faster than Chrome and uses less RAM. But other than that, the main differences are:

• Mozilla, the creator of Firefox, is a non-profit organization and has consistently argued for a free and open web. Google, on the other hand, has been uncomfortably silent or has little input when it comes to battles against internet legislation such as Article 13, CISPA, and others.
• Chrome tracks pretty much everything you do within the browser, and sends that data back to Google if you're signed in to your Google account. As far as I know, Firefox's data mining is either non-existent or very minimal.
• Chrome's extension store is bigger than Firefox's (this could change in the future). Depending on which extensions you use, some may only be available in Chrome.
• imo Chrome's developer tools are miles ahead of Firefox's, and so much faster. If you use dev tools a lot, Chrome is the better option. (This is my primary reason for sticking with Chrome.)
• Chrome syncs well with other devices signed in to a Google account. I prefer to have my mail, calendar, bookmarks, and contacts sync with all devices.
• The interface. This is pretty specific for each person and I prefer Chrome in this area, but I can understand the preference for Firefox.

It depends on what's important to you. If you want a browser made by a company that values privacy and an open internet, Firefox is the obvious choice. If you want a browser that syncs effortlessly across multiple devices and is easy to code with, then Chrome is the better option. If your only concern is speed and the interface, either are good.

Those are good points. Before, I wouldn’t have really cared but I’m now at the point in which I want to hide as much personal info about myself on the web and be anonymous. I’m glad that Firefox is made by a non-profit but it does need to do some slight adjustments to the interface and make its dev tools faster.

Chrome of course, has a UI I’ve settled in and find easier to use. But of course, it’s made by Google, Who does a lot of data-mining.

 

[Azareal]

I use both. Some tabs go in Firefox. Some go in Chrome. Some go in Opera.
It's particularly useful whenever one decides to crash for no reason and I can't be bothered to relaunch it for an hour or two.

 

[Azareal]

Google, on the other hand, has been uncomfortably silent or has little input when it comes to battles against internet legislation such as Article 13, CISPA, and others.

YouTube which is a subsidiary of Google (Google's holding company, Alphabet, to be accurate) is publicly against Article 13.

 

[Deleted member 44219]

Google, on the other hand, has been uncomfortably silent or has little input when it comes to battles against internet legislation such as Article 13, CISPA, and others.

YouTube which is a subsidiary of Google (Google's holding company, Alphabet, to be accurate) is publicly against Article 13.

Yes, both Google and YouTube are trying to fight that. Of course, this is the EU, they won’t care or listen. Whatever gets the most votes and that’s it.

Now I know why Mozilla is wants a free and open web(That includes sites stealing data)

 

[Elli]

YouTube which is a subsidiary of Google (Google's holding company, Alphabet, to be accurate) is publicly against Article 13.

I haven't heard anything from any Google product on Article 13. Do you have a link?

 

[Azareal]

I haven't heard anything from any Google product on Article 13. Do you have a link?

https://www.youtube.com/saveyourinternet/
Also, Susan W. herself spoke out about it on Twitter.

Of course, this is the EU, they won’t care or listen. Whatever gets the most votes and that’s it.

They don't really care about votes either. The EU is largely unelected bureaucrats and nation states trying to push something over the hoop, and then, the others agreeing to keep the laws in, just in case something inconvenient like citizens protesting happens in particular country after the fact.

 

[Page]

Chrome tracks pretty much everything you do within the browser,

that's what I don't like but end of the day it might not bother people so much.

And please don't bring up the EU into this!!

 

[Katrina]

I'm a FireFox user...but I have 4 other browsers on my system so I can see how my forum looks to my other members since they use different browsers. We used to have a ChatBox (before we got our SSL certificate and now it displays oddly so we deactivated it) and Chrome would not work right with the smileys in the Chatbox. There were a couple of other minor things our members couldn't do with Chrome too but that was a couple years ago so I'm not sure if Chrome's updates fixed it?

My husband uses Chrome when he's on my computer and I don't know what he does but malwarebytes thinks that Chrome is syncing bad things. I just keep asking my husband to not use my computer 😎

 

[edenwax]

They're both really good browsers! The differences between them are more personal preference than technical superiority imo. Since Firefox Quantum was released, it's a bit faster than Chrome and uses less RAM. But other than that, the main differences are:

• Mozilla, the creator of Firefox, is a non-profit organization and has consistently argued for a free and open web. Google, on the other hand, has been uncomfortably silent or has little input when it comes to battles against internet legislation such as Article 13, CISPA, and others.
• Chrome tracks pretty much everything you do within the browser, and sends that data back to Google if you're signed in to your Google account. As far as I know, Firefox's data mining is either non-existent or very minimal.
• Chrome's extension store is bigger than Firefox's (this could change in the future). Depending on which extensions you use, some may only be available in Chrome.
• imo Chrome's developer tools are miles ahead of Firefox's, and so much faster. If you use dev tools a lot, Chrome is the better option. (This is my primary reason for sticking with Chrome.)
• Chrome syncs well with other devices signed in to a Google account. I prefer to have my mail, calendar, bookmarks, and contacts sync with all devices.
• The interface. This is pretty specific for each person and I prefer Chrome in this area, but I can understand the preference for Firefox.

It depends on what's important to you. If you want a browser made by a company that values privacy and an open internet, Firefox is the obvious choice. If you want a browser that syncs effortlessly across multiple devices and is easy to code with, then Chrome is the better option. If your only concern is speed and the interface, either are good.

^ This is the best breakdown Ive seen in a while. Also on the topic of privacy, Mozilla created a Firefox plugin that wraps Facebook into its own little container so that it cant snoop on your other open tabs. I like seeing their commitment to privacy. 🙂

 

[Azareal]

Firefox is generally a buggier browser and sometimes has annoying issues like making it impossible to change the background of native select drop-downs forcing them to either be white on dark themes or to emulate them with JavaScript.

Firefox is a bit faster at handling CSS and a few things and it currently uses less resources, although it is likely that it will become dramatically less efficient when they actually harden the browser against Spectre in their Fission project rather than relying on crippling high resolution timers and putting off SharedArrayBuffer.

Chrome sort of tracks you, but I think you can opt-out out of it. They don't really want you doing it, but well yeah. There's also the open source build of Chrome, Chromium which has a lot less creepiness.

Chrome is also more likely to actually to work on websites as people test first on Chrome and sometimes not at all on Firefox.

 

[HotRodCarts]

I use Firefox most of the time. I still use Edge and IE mostly for testing my websites.

 

[Azareal]

I use Firefox most of the time. I still use Edge and IE mostly for testing my websites.

You might not need to for long, not for Edge at-least lol

Edge is going to be Chrome under the surface soon. They're joining forces with Google.

 

[HotRodCarts]

Yes, I heard about that. A lot of my members on one of my forums still use IE11 so I have to make sure everything is working as it should.

 

[Azareal]

Yes, I heard about that. A lot of my members on one of my forums still use IE11 so I have to make sure everything is working as it should.

Oh wow, I didn't know IE11 was still that popular in some circles.
I don't think I've seen a single visitor running IE11 in months.

 

[Deleted member 44219]

Yes, I heard about that. A lot of my members on one of my forums still use IE11 so I have to make sure everything is working as it should.

Oh wow, I didn't know IE11 was still that popular in some circles.
I don't think I've seen a single visitor running IE11 in months.

A lot of people surprisingly still use IE. Just recently though, Microsoft said that people should stop using IE.

 

[edenwax]

Another factor I just thought of is Google's recent decision to make it harder for ad blockers to work properly. I worry this is less of a "safety" decision as they claim and more of an advertising decision as Google is at its core, an ad company. I try to allow ads for sites that make sure their ads arent intrusive, but I'd like to be able to block ads too.

 

[Azareal]

Another factor I just thought of is Google's recent decision to make it harder for ad blockers to work properly. I worry this is less of a "safety" decision as they claim and more of an advertising decision as Google is at its core, an ad company. I try to allow ads for sites that make sure their ads arent intrusive, but I'd like to be able to block ads too.

On top of that, Chrome/Chromium is quickly becoming the new IE. I'm not typically a Verge fan, but this article is worth a read: https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/4/1...-only-sites-internet-explorer-6-web-standards

One of the biggest problems with Chrome is that they are really quick to add new features, while Firefox is comparatively slow whether it's security features like SameSite cookies to guard against CSRF, etc.

I believe Chrome has had SameSite since 2016, while Firefox only added it a year or so ago.
It's all these little things that add up over time. Chrome is just far better at serving developers than Firefox. Remember the old days of CSRF and all the drama that ensued just to keep things safe?

People use Chrome because it's a good browser not because it's the only browser like with IE.