What Browser Do You Use, and Why?

nebulos said:

in Chrome, there is only bar at the top which doubles as the address bar AND the search bar. entering "apple.com" takes you to http://www.apple.com. entering "apple" takes you to a google search for the term "apple".

GENIUS.

it's a very simple idea that makes a huge difference. get it, Safari?

Click to expand...

Simple yet elegant solution. But I wouldn't go so far and say it's genius. I think I can survive w/out that feature. But it is nice feature.

After the initial setup of my new MBA from Amazon, (20% off ) the first thing I did was install Google Chrome. It's the best browser for me by miles. Super fast, stable, great extensions, and apps. The entire package for free. It's on all my Macs.

I'm regularly an FF user, but it's missing a lot of Lion features that'd be nice on the MBA, like scrolling back/forward between pages and full-screen, so I'm using Chrome Canary builds right now and am actually really happy with it.

I use Firefox because of Adblock.

nebulos said:

a little off topic, but maybe useful for many here:

what do people use to sync their bookmarks, across different machines, across different browsers, with their phones?

this is one reason i like Chrome, though it doesn't help with my phone.

Click to expand...

I don't know...I love Chrome's sync...but my iPhone obviously doesn't work with it. I use Google to sync OTA almost everything on my phone (Calendars, mail, etc). Although I don't think I use to sync contacts. Don't remember lol

Safari 5.0 was great, but 5.1 is excellent. The privacy settings got buried even deeper in menus, though
Having quicker access to, and more control over, privacy settings - like FireFox - would be nice.
Different sites deserve different access to my info.

NutsNGum said:

I used Chrome until the two finger swipe appeared in Safari and the three finger swipe disappeared in all the other browsers.

Click to expand...

as resolved above, you can three finger swipe in Chrome;

system prefs -> trackpad -> more gestures. set 'swipe between pages' to 'swipe with two of three fingers'.

Apologies if this was stated. I scanned through the replies (rather quickly I must admit) and haven't seen it. Apologies if this is a repeat though.

For all those who are using Safari, and don't know about it -

there is an extension to provide an Omnibar for Safari.

I works rather nicely.

Also, there is an extension called All Pages Zoom to manage zoom on Safari, if required.

It can be also found in Safari Extensions (under productivity).


To answer the OP - I switch between the Safari and Chrome depending on... god knows what? I just do. I like them both. Firefox is brilliant too, but I find that Safari and Chrome are faster (somehow).

Also, there is a browser called Omniweb which is really really fast. I just do not like the way the bookmarks work (personal thing). But the browser is super fast. I think it is the fastest one I have ever come across (Note: that was in Snow Leopard, did not try it in Lion).


Sorry for prattling on...

The best reason for chrome

Really the best reason for me to use Chrome is that it includes a built in flash player, but unlike the flash blocker plugins for Safari and Firefox, it also automatically tells each web page NOT to offer flash content - but display alternative content - UNLESS there is no alternative content -- in which case it will display flash content automatically for you...

This is a huge advantage because the flash blocker plugins "admit" to every web page that "yes, I can do flash" - so alternate content is not offered - you simply are presented with the box which offers the choice to display the flash content - or not...

Chrome because you can keep zoomed in at 125% for all web pages rather than reverting back to 100% view and on the MBA that is needed. It's simple, fast and secure with almost the same extensions as Safari.

I have been using Lion on my new MBA 13 and my older MBP 17 and I have yet to find anything the new Safari will not do for me. That being said, I have not bothered to try any others on the MBA. I have a desire to streamline the apps and media on my MBA so storage is available when I need it for Photo needs.
2 cents

As a first time Mac user I went ahead with Firefox as its what I know and I know exactly which add ons I need to download to filter out unwanted javascript, adverts and flash from websites.

I'm giving Safari a try and its fine but it's not giving me enough reasons to change from my default browser.

nebulos said:

in Chrome, there is only bar at the top which doubles as the address bar AND the search bar. entering "apple.com" takes you to http://www.apple.com. entering "apple" takes you to a google search for the term "apple".

GENIUS.

it's a very simple idea that makes a huge difference. get it, Safari?

Click to expand...

Yea firefox pretty much does the same thing but this is the dealbreaker for me right now. I use chrome.

Safari, I'm a sucker for the two swipe back adn forth.

The only reason I used firefox was for the mouse extensions but 99% of the time I"m using the track pad on my MBA so they were basically useless.

I just wish they had a drag down to refresh a page plugin.

I was a diehard Firefox user until the latest version of Safari came out. I decided to try using it for a week and ended up liking it enough to not bother with Firefox anymore.

Camino for me. Mainly because it has been my sole browser the last 6'ish years, and that it does everything I need.
But am on the lookout for a replacement as its future is highly uncertain.

Guess I will need to give the new Safari version a try. Chrome and Firefox are all out as I do not like their password management.

Safari just looks better than all the others

You should change it so we can vote for multiple browsers as I use two

Chrome. It's just so fast & efficient. Featuring the best extensions for my needs their was never a question for me.

Safari while somewhat better on Lion over Snow Leopard, still has not caught up with Google's great browser.

Safari mostly, but occasionally Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.6. I dislike browsers with a search/address bar combined, and dislike browsers with the tabs on top. I don't use anything Google, not even search.

Chrome for speed and easy Sync between computers.

I used Chrome on my PC but when I switched to Mac I just used Safari on both my Air and my Pro.

Yesterday I decided to try Chrome and it felt faster so now Im using Chrome. I will probably go back to Safari one day though.

Safari

Not bothering to install a different browser on my MBA. Safari plays quite nicely with Lion and that's enough for me.