Best browser these days

Actually, that’s probably 1Password’s “code verification”

https://guides.agilebits.com/1password-windows-kb/4/en/topic/disabling-code-sig-verification

Also the 3.9.x Plugins may work.

I used Chrome for a while but recently it’s become so utterly horrible in recent months I just can’t use it anymore.

Usually performance slows to a crawl to the point that loading a tab in the background will make YouTube in the foreground tab stutter and crackle. GIFs for some reason can totally destroy the entire browser for 30 seconds at a time. And someone it’s all even worse on Windows 10 than 8.1.

(And yes, I’ve tried disabling all extensions. doesn’t help)

It destroys my battery life as a result too.

I’ve since switched to Firefox, and have no such problems at all. Even with all the same add-ons enabled that exist for Chrome. Firefox also supports touch and high-DPI on my Surface Pro 3 a whole lot better.

Internet Explorer 11 is still the best touch browser I’ve ever used, but it doesn’t exist on Windows 10, and the lack of add-ons kills it. Here’s hoping Spartan fills those gaps.

Chrome’s advantage for me is purely it’s ability to play youtube without the need of separate Adobe installs. And that is all i use it for, as i really don’t like the UI or even the way the extensions page does not work as functionally as Firefoxes. Trying to find specific types of extension (for example ‘security’ based ones) and then sort them to easily see the most popular or highly rated just does not exist. Horrible end user experience with Chrome that. I simply install as many of the same extensions as i use in Firefox (if the Chrome versions are also ok), as using the in browser site to get them is so unhelpful.

Firefox has become worse since the change to whatever it is called, so Palemoon is my preferred version currently. I don’t notice an speed changes over normal Firefox, but the UI is why i use a browser and i’m not into this stripped down approach, i like/use ‘toolbar’ space for many things (browser add-on/extensions top of the list, security related stuff like No-Script and Ghostery etc) so i find the minimal ‘Chrome’ approach hinders my browser security.

I did use Opera a while back, and it was pretty nice, but like the new Firefox it has become a bit of a ‘meh’ browser to use, not as configurable as it was etc and since Google (iirc) bought it, i’m not that keen.

Chrome’s advantage for me is purely it’s ability to play youtube without the need of separate Adobe installs.

Can’t pretty much any modern browser do that now Youtube has switched to HTML5 by default?

One thing I need from my browser these days is transparent, reliable sharing of data across 3 platforms, Windows, Android, and iOS. Primarily bookmarks, but easily browsing to a page I recently viewed on another platform is occasionally a big help. Firefox kinda-sorta did this when I was using it, but it was iffy. Chrome does this very well.

It sucks that it doesn’t work with Pale moon but I’m glad to see how secure it is. :)

Yes, firefox does that too.

Sadly, in HTML5 they’re not giving you 1080p streams on a lot of videos unless you’re on Chrome. In Flash, you can get 1080p.
(Same way they’ve broken streetview for non-Chrome browsers in the new disimproved google maps)

Gordon - Actually that’s more an attempt at security though obscurity.

That’s outdated information, firefox now gets 1080p streams with HTML5 on youtube. This was fixed when firefox added mediasource extensions in mid-2014. It actually only works in youtube now via the “media.mediasource.youtubeonly” about:config parameter.

Chrome has been surprisingly crap lately. Random crashes. Sometimes if get a modal popup in one tab, every single Chrome window, all tabs, are completely frozen until I close that popup. There should be no way for that to happen. And there’s some silly bug where the mouse cursor keeps breaking and the only way to fix is is to restart every Chrome instance, this seems to happen on sites with chat.

Sorry, I’m the up-to-date one here.

The Youtube-only MSE version got pulled, in favour of a full version which was then not included because it crashed a lot.

Full version is “scheduled” for 37, I believe.

You’re right, I just checked and 1080p videos played in flash on fx36. It was working, and they took it out!

That kinda summarises why I no longer use Firefox. ><

(It’s no longer an isolated incident. I also see “a useable UI” as falling under that, for instance…I’d sooner use IE than Australis)

I actually run a chrome skin on firefox myself. Not a fan of australis.

Sadly, the changes Australis make go far deeper than any skin can fix. Even the addon to restore features…meh.

(I’m kinda hoping another major browser comes along before I get annoyed with Pale Moon…every browser seems to annoy me away sooner or later and I don’t like ANY of the current options. And it’s unlike Spartan is The One, either)

I like pale moon a lot, but its not playing nice with gmail and wont load my inbox at all. That is kind of deal breaker.

I’m running Firefox Developer Edition (currently at 37.0a2). Assuming I’m testing this right, it looks like I’m getting 1080p in the HTML5 player. Here’s what I did:

  1. Opened Youtube video.
  2. Paused.
  3. Selected 1080p under quality.
  4. Right-clicked video.

The right-click menu did not look like the Flash standard, and it even had an option for more info about the HTML5 player. So maybe they were having issues and rolled it back into development. I know for a while any time I took a Youtube video fullscreen in Firefox, it would lock it up.

Gedd - Yea, it should be in 37. The specific youtube support’s been disabled since I believe 34. It’s still a screwup.

MattN - Gmail deliberately (and repeatedly, over the last few years) tries not work, annoyingly. You can try changing the useragent for Gmail.

In about:config, add;

general.useragent.override.google.com
and enter
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:33.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/33.0 PaleMoon/25.0

Alternatively, in options/advanced/general set Firefox Compatibility mode (at the bottom) on (although that can lead to some sites whining over the version).

Gedd - Yea, it should be in 37. The specific youtube support’s been disabled since I believe 34. It’s still a screwup.

MattN - That’s odd. I’m using 25.2.1 and it works fine!

Gmail sometimes deliberately (and repeatedly, over the last few years) tries not work, annoyingly. You can try changing the useragent for Gmail.

In about:config, add;

general.useragent.override.google.com
and enter
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:33.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/33.0 PaleMoon/25.0

Alternatively, in options/advanced/general set Firefox Compatibility mode (at he bottom) on (although that can lead to some sites whining over the version).

(Is odd though…my useragent is
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; Win64; x64; rv:25.2) Gecko/20150122 PaleMoon/25.2.1
and GMail works just fine)

One thing that stopped working in Firefox is the Flashblock addon when I’m using YouTube (it might have been a change made by YouTube). I have to disable Flashblock so now youtube videos autostart, which is extremely annoying when you have multiple tabs.

Is there an addon for Firefox that disables autostart, whether it’s Flash or HTML5 video?