IE vs. Firefox vs. Opera

I searched for other threads that compared all three internet browsers, but I couldn't find any.

Basically, I have all 3 browsers on my computer. I've always used IE because it uses the least amount of resources, but that was on XP. I've opened all browsers to see which one uses the most amount of resources but the results varied, even when I was on the same webpages.

What is everyone's opinion? I know it seems that most people like firefox, but I'm not such a fan of the layout and it seems to use the most resources and seems the slowest out of the 3.

 

it will be nice if u:
. state ur comp environment (OS, etc ...)
. state browsers version
. give us all a link that u tested ur browsers version on
. some numbers (cpu/mem - taken from task manager) that u had from ur personal test(s)

cheers ...

 

I don't like firefox anymore or atleast not in vista,
First - you can't upload files in my webmail (IE you can)
and Second - my video overlay software does not like it... as in is randomly causes the cpu to work overtime, which effectively brings my computer to a halt untill it sorts itself out. (IE doesn't do this)

 

I have a thinkpad t61:
Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0 GHz
2 GB Ram
Vista 32bit Business
100 GB 7200 RPM hardrive.

I have the newest versions of all the browsers. I belive its IE 7, Firefox 2, and Opera 9.27.

My test were really informal. Basically just opened the task manager. Opened all 3 internet broswers and opened tabs to different websites. But I made sure the website were the same on all 3 broswers. At the time it seemed opera was using the least resources. (can't remember the exact number). But now it seems like it's using a bit more than the other programs. For example right now this is the only window I have open and opera is using 87,312K.

 

i use;

i use the latest IE(7) and Opera on Windows XP
i use the latest Safari and Opera on Mac OS X

i think 2 browser is the most people will ever need for the forseenable future.
i use IE7 for compatibility purposes only. sometimes; opera cant display a website, because the website is exclusively designed for IE.
same goes for safari. safari has always been a solid browser. previous IE6 is not good. but IE7 is a BIG improvement over the IE6, it is quite good to use nowadays... though i use opera 90% of the time.

i dont like firefox dont like the user interface, dont like the idea of plugin.

i believe Opera uses more resources because it cache a lot of data. havent you notice that going "back" or undoing a tab you just close is near instant?! with IE7 it is a lot more sluggish. so is safari, but to a less extent.

 

. what ff2 version are u using?
. yes, it is true at the moment that Opera 9.27 has a smaller footprint than other browsers


cheers ...

 

Personally, I prefer Firefox.But IE is useful for some collage work. There are websites that I cannot acutally access with firefox.lol...

 

true, there are websites that noone can access, when using a browser other than IE ... Opera included

cheers ...

 

generally speaking:
IE: defaulty set in Windows OS. I have no opinion on IE7 whatsoever. I think it is a standart browser, some say it does not eat so much memory as the other two do.
FF: advantage - it is lighter than Opera. the basic idea is to have just a browser, but fully functional and safe obviously. All the necessary things you want to have extra on it can be added through Addons, so its customizable.
Opera: definitely eats the most of memory from these three browsers. is fully loaded with functions though, IRC, email client, bittorent (varies by version used). Said to be for people, who want it all at ones and dont want to deal with addons in FF.
I personally use FF.
see:
http://www.linux.com/feature/44843
otherwise google

--------------
please rep the people that help you

 

firefox 2.0.0.13....what do you mean that opera 9.27 has smaller footprint? Do you mean less resources?

 

. small footprint: relative to other browsers, lower cpu/mem numbers
. less resources? - i m not sure, Opera is good at pushing many of its "system usages" to "system idle process"

cheers ...

 

I use Opera due to better functionality and access (speed dial and remembering the pages ) and FireFox for the best performance and reliabity.
I swear, IE is the biggest crap browser yet.

 

i m not so sure anymore.
Testing IE8 beta at the moment. And except for some quirkyness, it has loads of potential, especially now that it works closely with the folks in mozilla and sun java

cheers ...

 

Off-topic: Firefox has IE Tab, which allows Firefox to open IE-only websites. I think there's a problem with the latest version of FF and the latest version of IE tab but installing an older version or editing the code can fix that issue.

 

octavia
did not actually know about that.
Try thinkwave.com. Create an account and log in from the IE tab....

 

I swear by Opera. Fast at loading pages, lightning quick at going back a page or receiving a page out of the trash can because of the caching methods it uses.

 

Some people experience problems with IETab such as memory leaks and the like. If IETab has problems try out just as good alternatives that are lighter and faster:
IE View
IE View Lite

 

The choice of one's browser is almost like the choice of one's hat or shoes. It boils down mostly to personal preference as we value each feature and disadvantage differently...

Now that I have my disclaimer out of the way I'll mention my preferences and the rationale for my choosing them.

I use all three major browser, but each in a different way...

Main: Opera
I never monitor resource usage by any of my browsers because I have 4GB of RAM in my machine. I could care less how much RAM any specific browser uses because I have so much. With that being said...

I love Opera for its commonsense features. Like the following:
-It remembers all the tabs you had open and where you were on the page when you restart the browser. It can also do the same in the even the browser crashes
-It takes you to the tab that you were last viewing when you close a tab. Not to the tab directly next to your current tab (like IE and FF) which I find to be very disruptive to my reading. As for me I'm quick to open a new tab to read something linked to in an article and then close it off to continue reading that article.
-It has a recycle bin! So if I close a tab by accident I can get it back with a click. Complete with all its history and the location I was on the page. That is just too nice. As I'm sure we've all had a time where we closed an important tab for some reason.
-The most standards compliant and safe browser on the market at the moment.

Secondary: IE 7
This browser mainly gets used when I need to use an IE specific page or something else needs it. Other than that there isn't much reason to be here.

Third: Firefox
I don't prefer this browser at all really. I just use it when I'm on campus so I don't have to tinker with proxy settings. Opera makes this super easy with F12, but if I forget to turn it off I get bombarded with a user and pass request for my school's proxy when I get home. So out of laziness I use Firefox for this purpose.

Those are my top reasons for using what I use, but your mileage my vary. You might need to care about how much RAM usage is or something else, but I'm at a luxury to not care so I go on pure features alone. As well as standards support

 

When Firefox 3 is fully released I'm sure a lot of IE users and a lot of Opera users will switch as it fixes a lot of complaints they have about it, though i am also interested in IE8 and Opera 9.50 as they bring new things to the table as well. The next browser wars will be interesting indeed...

 

It's not straightforward to compare resource usage. It depends entirely on the pages you're visiting. However, the upcoming Firefox 3 is a lot more light-weight than other browsers.

And of course, there's the usual question "do you *need* the extra 5MB RAM?" If not, who *cares*?

However, much more important:
Firefox is a web browser.
Opera is a web browser.
IE is a piece of crap that sometimes pretends to be able to display websites.
Every time you use IE, God kills a web developer. Or I suppose, IE does. The problem with IE is that for a website to support it, the developer pretty much needs to write a completely separate site. One with all the hacks, quirks and workarounds required to coax IE into displaying something semi-correct.
Yes, for the end-user there doesn't seem to be a big difference, but that's only because the poor guy who wrote the site decided to literally double development time in order to allow time for the IE version. So do us developers a favor, and stay away from it. (At least until IE8. That does seem to be a fairly decent browser, one that actually supports all the technologies that make up the web, and therefore can be considered a web browser)

In my daily use, I use the Firefox 3 beta. Haven't had any problems with it (other than the fact that most extensions aren't supported yet). And resource usage seems top notch, and standards compliance and features are best in class.
(Sure, some would say Opera is better, I'd say both are perfectly good browsers. Personal preferences make me lean towards Firefox, but eh, use whatever you like... Just not IE please)

 

I agree with you completely on that on Jalf, all windows needs is a virus to prevent the opening of IE and install Firefox/Opera. I was actually working on one at a point in time but it flopped.

 

Couldn't agree more! As a web developer too I know the pains all too well!

 

Same here. Opera is quicker and operates in a more intelligent way.

Though Firefox might replace IE as #2 if I can get another website or two that refuse to work with Opera working with it. I've used IE on a few sites that do work with Opera over the past few days for a change and have found it much worse than I thought it was. Mostly in that I have to click the back button multiple times for it to go back at all and then sometimes it goes back several pages all at once. Might downgrade to IE6 and see if it still works for all my IE-exclusive sites while having a working back button. Hardly ever use multiple tabs in IE anyways, would just as soon start Opera for all my other tabs.

Safari for Windows just isn't worth it. No benefits and the text looks horrible.

 

FWIW, I occasionally switch to other browsers but gravitate back to FF. Perhaps it's just familiarity, but it appears to be a fairly fast, reasonably intuitive, all-around good browser.

Bill

 

Firefox Baby All The Way Yeaaaaaa

 

I like FF but sometimes it doesn't work well with some web sites. IE doesn't display some telephone numbers in one of my applications is very annoying. I haven' tried Opera yet.

 

Opera Opera Opera. Absolutely fanatical about it. Running he latest beta build of 9.50 along with the ttt-show skin, 13 tabs per line, cpu usage is very low, customized the toolbar in 2 minutes. Wrapping of tabs to multiple lines is something that once you get used to (especially for research or college) you can't live without. Its the difference between a browser operating as I want it rather than a browser built the way I am told I should want it. The sessions idea is brilliant.

FF 3 beta 4 is coming along very nicely and I applaud the very hard work and improvements that have been shown over FF 2. But it still can't do tab wrapping and its interface is nothing on Opera IMHO.

IE should be put up against the internet wall and shot. After being shot it should have its throat cut, all in public (DVD + Blu-Ray versions available, rated family viewing). It has all the redeeming features of a genocidal maniac in a frock at a playground offering sweets to children.

But I do have one problem with all the above browsers and its called piratebay. One of my favourite sites (for research naturally) makes Opera, FF and Safari c**p themselves. Major cpu ramping with no option but to quit and reopen the browsers. But there is one browser that handles sites like this and others with flash content supremely. Its Flock. Based on FF and optimised I now use it for all my media searches and playing, including Facebook, RSS etc, leaving Opera to the heavy work. No wrapping but its media capabilities obliterate Opera and strangely FF, even though its related. Using the media bar to search picasa, youtube, flickr and truveo is a revelation if you consume large amounts of content.

The thing I find strange is this. Both inbuilt browsers on both my pc and mac (IE7 and Safari) are of such incredibly poor quality, lacking imagination and capabilities of free competitors that you really have to wonder if Balmer and Jobs have had their heads shoved up their proverbial asses for the last 7 years. I'm not even gonna hope that they sort it out. Their products keep the hacker and phisher attention off the other browser developers and make my life easier. They are just cannon fodder in the browser war and acceptable losses IMHO.

 

Keep IE but dont use Get firefox with ietab addon. Opera is blazing but after about an hour it lags heavily and crashes due to memory leaks

 

How much memory do you have?

 

4 GB look in sig.

 

Firefox. Internet Explorer is too slow. Never tried Opera. Didn't need to... Firefox is perfect.

 

Hey X2P can you fill in some details for me

1) which build of Opera were you using
2) any particular sites you find cause the problem
3) what size was your cache set to.

Seems very severe behaviour for a recent build although I did have similar results on non-beta/current release builds.

 

I'm really sick of firefox's slow start up time (~8 secs on my laptop) and its terrible performance on handling large web pages (eg: Digg comments). I don't know whether other people have this problem on Firefox. Visit this Digg page and set it to show all comments. Firefox will always freeze for 3-4 seconds whereas Opera does not. However, I can never use other browsers. The biggest advantage of using Firefox is not Firefox itself but it is user-created addons. I'm so addicted to Greasemonkey, cannot live without it.

I tried Opera. It is really good in rendering web pages but has less customizability. Though, Opera can also use Greasemonkey scripts, it's not as good as Firefox. On Opera, scripts will be used only when a web page is fully loaded (including all images on web page). On firefox, scripts are used instantly. Also, Opera adblocking ability through "urlfilter.ini" is really inconvenient and not as effective as Adblock Plus addon on Firefox. Unless Opera has same kind of addons like Firefox's, I'll never use it as my main or only browser. Now, I have Opera installed just only I can test my web pages on it.

Internet Explorer is out of question here. There's no Adbolcking, no User-scripts, questionable security. Only thing that keep me using IE is my university does not support other browsers. All university's web pages are geared toward IE and it is the only browser that I can use to present my works in web design class.

 

O snap. I thought that was my computer fooking with me. Yeah, I've been experiencing the same slow down on several sites, eBay for example. :/

 

In Minefield opening Digg and showing all comments doesn't hang Firefox at all, it only took about a second or two.

 

I've been using Opera for years and love it. I will try the latest iterations of Firefox when they come out but I don't like the idea of having to go install different plug-ins to get what comes installed by default with Opera. If a website won't work with Opera I just go: Tools/quick preferences/edit site preferences and set it to either mask or identify as IE or firefox and have been able to get all but one IE specific site to work this way. Lightweight, quick, and always innovating. Who do you think invented tabbed browsing anyways? Opera that's who.

 

1) Most current build and the 2 past builds
2) Most sites i noticed loaded a tad slower after the hour and severly slow after two hours. Some sites such as deviant art displayed black or no images at all
3) cache limit was set to double of the default

EDIT: Dont get me wrong I LOVE OPERA and always have just never get it to run stabily. Great features next to ff or ie aswell.

 

I use FF3.5 and IE. haven't tried Opera but both of my current browsers do the job.

Am I the only one that liked how FF3.5 does not support some toolbars yet???

 

No problems here. It may be because of some of your extensions. They're usually the ones bogging Firefox down. Try removing some of them and see if you can find the culprit.

(Actually, try running "firefox.exe /ProfileManager" and create a new profile. That will run without any of your existing extensions, so you can test a completely clean FF install. See if that starts quicker, and whether it freezes on these pages as well. Should help pinpoint the problem at least)

 

I has had this problem long before I installed those extensions. I don't think it was caused by addons. Anyway, I did create new profile and tried browsing that page, problem still presents.

Sometime, I get this unresponsive scripts warning form Firefox when I browse a really really large page, like, 500KB+ of a HTML+Javascript page. This can be annoying sometime as it constantly asks me, in rare case, 4 times before it finish rendering the page. That does not happen with Opera or IE. I think problem could be Firefox prioritizes rendering engine higher than other aspects of browser, like UI. So when it open a large page, it will try to finish rendering the page first, result in temporary freeze of the whole browser (I cannot even create new tab or change to view other tabs). Opera on the other hand, deals with large scripted page very well. I can still use other functions of browser while it was rendering web pages.

 

. link?
. it is interesting for me to see the difference between FF2.xx and Minefield build. And at the same time to see how the newest Opera beta fareing in this

cheers ...

 

You can visit the same Digg link I posted and choose "sort by date (show all)". Now, that page has more than 600 comments and its HTML size is >550KB.

 

I've never had any issues with Firefox, not even on Vista. I see no reason to change.

 

under xp:
. minefield = no issue, quick
. opera9.5beta2 = no issue, quick

under vista:
. minefield: as in XP
. opera9.5beta2: crashed

cheers ...

 

After 2 days of testing opera, I'm back to using IE. I've already encountered a few websites that don't work with opera and even if it does function a little better i find it annoying. Especially since the websites that it had problems with our websites that I use daily.

I guess I'll wait for firefox 3 to come out.

 

What were the sites if ya don't mind sharing? wanna try experimenting

 

tried logging into my citibank personal account, tried logging into my HSBC personal banking account and my school email account.

All kind of personal things. It worked with my school email, but everytime I logged on some pop up came up asking me a question and then the display of the email was not the same as with IE.

 

FF for the win, at least when compared with IE. I haven't tried Opera yet, so no comment.

 

I use Firefox 98% of the time and IE the other 2%. Now if you want to talk Mobile, then I will opt for Opera Mini, but that's the only time.

For Firefox, I have to have TabMixPlus installed so that I can reopen closed tabs, ctrl-tab to previous tabs, multi-line tabs, and anything else that I want done with tabs. TMP totally controls all aspects of tabs how I want it.

As for pages not loading, I rarely have an issue when in FF. I even tried the link to Digg that was posted, and that page with every single comment displayed took 18.287 seconds to load. Large page, yes, but still loaded and browsed without a hitch.

As for the argument about all the features that Opera has that FF doesn't. Yeah, out of the box, it might, but I prefer to pick and choose the features that I want.

These are my top choices for add-ons:

• AdBlockPlus
• All-in-One Search Button
• Download Statusbar
• FasterFox
• IE View
• TabMixPlus
• Tiny Menu

 

2nd that

cheers ...