Firefox vs. Camino vs. Safari

[g-boac]

I'm new to Mac -- my whole family is. Was wondering if you could share your thoughts on the pros and cons of Firefox, Camino, and Safari, and how the three compare. Particularly on how Firefox and Camino are different from each other.

I realize that browser preference is a hot and personal topic, and I am NOT looking to start any firefights or long posts -- I'd find it helpful maybe if you each could post:
[1] your browser of choice and why
[2] any alternate browsers you use, and for what purpose
[3] the 1-2 key differences that separate one browser from the rest

thanks!
Mark

 

[tersono]

You'll find a lot of other threads on here that cover this, but:

Personally, I use two browsers equally:

1. Omniweb. I can't get on with Safari for whatever reason (hard to quantify), so I use Omniweb, which is also based on webkit, but has probably the best GUI of any browser I've ever used
2. Firefox 3 beta. The most Mac-like browser that Mozilla has yet produced (at least it is with Aronnax's GrApple theme). It works with those few sites that don't quite behave in Omniweb (and vice-versa). It's also damned fast.

 

[bjett92]

Umm heres my comparison:

Firefox 3:
+ Lots of extensions
+ well known
+ EXTENSIONS again
- sort of slow IMO

Camino:
Camino is the native version of Firefox, you could say
+ Great Mac interface
+ faster than FF
+ extensions
- still not extremely fast

Safari:
+ integrated perfectly
+ extremely fast
+ add to dashboard feature
+ light weight
- lacks extensions

My browser of choice is Safari. I like it because its fast and light weight. Even though it lacks things like add-ons and themes, i think the speed outweighs those features.

Ummm.... I also have Shiira and Opera installed for different small reasons. I really like the look and eye candy of Shiira.

 

[heatmiser]

I prefer Firefox.

 

[dpaanlka]

I use Safari - fastest, best integration with Mac OS X services, looks the best.

Occasionally FireFox, to test my web sites in Mozillas.

 

[CalBoy]

I use Safari - fastest, best integration with Mac OS X services, looks the best.

Summed up nicely for me.

I use Safari for 90+% of my browsing because it's fast, clean, and generally problem-free (for me).

I use Firefox once in a while if there's a website that doesn't play nicely with Safari (very rare now) and that's about it.

 

[g-boac]

Extensions

bjett92 - thanks for your reply. What are a couple examples of extensions that are available for Firefox that aren't available in Safari?

all - thanks for your replies so far!

regards,
Mark

 

[clevin]

bjett92 - thanks for your reply. What are a couple examples of extensions that are available for Firefox that aren't available in Safari?

all - thanks for your replies so far!

regards,
Mark

there are 2000+ extensions for firefox, its easier to list the one safari has than not.

This topic is getting beaten to death, please, please just do some search. and try out each one for yourself. nobody's experience can replace yours. Firefox's extension maybe not useful for you. safari maybe not that fast for you, camino's tab operation may not meet your needs... really... nobody can choose for you.

 

[kajitox]

[1] your browser of choice and why
[2] any alternate browsers you use, and for what purpose
[3] the 1-2 key differences that separate one browser from the rest

I use Safari because I have found it to be considerably faster than Firefox.

I have Firefox just in case something doesn't work with Safari, which I have run into...but I dislike going back to Firefox. Also, the Firefox 3 Beta was so bad I had to uninstall it...the beta had a lot of issues (hence being a Beta).

I think that the speed and UI of Safari is great and works well with the "Mac experience" so to speak.

 

[ndwgolf]

I love safari but I like to go to Thai web pages every now and then and when I do I just get a white screen, if I go to text encoding and select Thai windows as default it will show up fine, if I open another window while Thai windows is still default and go to another Thai web page I have to go through the same procedure: ”click view reselect Thai Windows in encoding and click enter and the web page shows up.
Funny thing in Safari on my iPhone it goes to the Thai web pages without a problem?
So I use Fire Fox

 

[ebel3003]

I had always been an avid Safari user, but had tried to switch several times to Firefox. Safari is a memory hog and crashes way too often. As much as I like Firefox's expandability with extensions, it feels slow. Not only that, but themes just don't look good.

I've been using Camino for quite some time now (like 4 months). I love the simplicity and speed it has to offer. I do wish it was a little more expandable, but the fact that it isn't bloated is enough to outweigh the cons.

That's just my 2 cents and I'm pretty picky, since I'll always find a way to complain about an application using too much memory or something.

 

[iMpathetic]

I've been using Camino for quite some time now (like 4 months). I love the simplicity and speed it has to offer. I do wish it was a little more expandable, but the fact that it isn't bloated is enough to outweigh the cons.

Thankyouthankyouthankyou! I've been meaning to post on this thread for a while saying how much I adore Camino. I can't exactly put my finger on why, but what you just said pretty much nails it.

So,
What he said.

 

[prostuff1]

I'm new to Mac -- my whole family is. Was wondering if you could share your thoughts on the pros and cons of Firefox, Camino, and Safari, and how the three compare. Particularly on how Firefox and Camino are different from each other.

I realize that browser preference is a hot and personal topic, and I am NOT looking to start any firefights or long posts -- I'd find it helpful maybe if you each could post:
[1] your browser of choice and why
[2] any alternate browsers you use, and for what purpose
[3] the 1-2 key differences that separate one browser from the rest

thanks!
Mark

1) I personally use Camino for most of my browsing. It is essentially Firefox without some of the plugins, but it is "built" specifically for OS X. Camino integrates with the built in stuff (like keychain) while firefox does not.
2) I do have Safari and an optimized version of firefox installed just in case something does not work. But since Camino and firefox use the same gecko engine i very rarely use firefox.
3) The main difference is that camino does not have the plugin base that firefox does. You can still change quite a few things in camino via the hidden prefs (search on camino's site) and the pimpmycamino site.

 

[macDonalds]

Firefox's extensions are the only reason I would consider. Of course this is a big reason. However, FF is pretty slow compared to Safari so at the end of the day I'm a Safari user.