Which browser(s) du you use?

[julguribye]

I know that this has been posted many times before, but I figured it's been a while since we did a real browser poll. I think it's a little exciting to see if things has changed and if there are many people that use Netscape and how many that are now straight Chimera users!
But PLEASE do not make this in to one of these usual browser discussions where we discuss if AOL is evil or not etc...
Only vote your browser(s) and reply with them if you want.
I am currently an OmniWeb user, that uses Explorer for complicated sites.

 

[Sogni]

In order of most used:
o Mozilla
o MS Internet Explorer
o OmniWeb
o Opera

and when I'm on a Linux machine I use:
o Lynx (is this on OSX??? I haven't even thought of trying it - I'll look when I get home).

I'd like to move MSIE down in my list or even off of it (but as a designer I can't... not to mention I SHOULD have a true Netscape on my list other than Mozilla), and would like to add others - but without starting yet another browser war, I simply find that's the order I find most useful to me.

And yes I've tried the others mentioned, and they are have been purposely left out of my list!

And please don't preach to me about the religion of other browsers, like I said - I tried them, and they're simply NOT on my list! K?

 

[phatsharpie]

I think Lynx is a seperate download from Apple.com.

I love Lynx too! It rocks when you just want quick and dirty information!

 

[edX]

I'd like to move MSIE down in my list or even off of it (but as a designer I can't... not to mention I SHOULD have a true Netscape on my list other than Mozilla), and would like to add others - but without starting yet another browser war

i think tormente brings up a good point which tends to get ignored - that designers should have all the browsers and be checking their sites to be sure they are mostly compatible with them all. I don't think there is any shame in that and in fact it should be a point of pride for those who do. In the end, the internet should be a good experience for all. The problem is not with designers who use a variety of browsers, it is with those who don't - those who think ie or netrape are the only ones that need to be bothered with.

now, without preaching, i would ask you to add icab to your list tormente - if only to use to check your sites with. should i ever run across one of your sites, i would like to enjoy it as much as the guy/gal using one of those evil browsers

 

[Sogni]

Originally posted by Ed Spruiell


i think tormente brings up a good point which tends to get ignored - that designers should have all the browsers and be checking their sites to be sure they are mostly compatible with them all. I don't think there is any shame in that and in fact it should be a point of pride for those who do. In the end, the internet should be a good experience for all. The problem is not with designers who use a variety of browsers, it is with those who don't - those who think ie or netrape are the only ones that need to be bothered with.

Exactly... good designers (or at least those trying to be good designers) are slaves to certain browsers... and better designers (or at least those trying to be better designers ) use as many browsers as possible... If at least for testing...

now, without preaching, i would ask you to add icab to your list tormente - if only to use to check your sites with. should i ever run across one of your sites, i would like to enjoy it as much as the guy/gal using one of those evil browsers

Well, sadly you can't see most of my best work as it's on an Intranet I longer have access to (September layoffs kinda but not exactly), and I won't bother promote work I was forced to do even though my entire being was yelling "NO!!! This is utter CRUD". Some website owners have no taste! Not saying that *I* do. But at least I know when a website simply looks sick! :shudder: LOL

I never said I didn't have iCab - just that it's not on my list! LOL
But you're right, I should be using other browsers I don't normally use for my own browsing to test designs on.

Oh and BTW, my list of browsers also include Windows versions (if available).

 

[Valrus]

You should change "Lynx" to "Lynx or other text-only browser." I have links and used to use that instead of lynx. Also, I think there's another text-only browser called w3c or something like that - not sure if it's been tested on OS X.

-the valrus

 

[dixonbm]

I use chimera for the majority of my browsing. Fast with a very nice user interface. Can't wait for it to go beta, think of what it will be...oh what a glorious future!

I fire up mozilla for sites that Chimera has trouble with, though I find the interface ugly.

And on the rare occassion I use IE for internet banking and what not.

I've also used the new aol gecko browser a few times just to test it.

I have mucho problems with OmniWeb, backgrounds and other images not loading, a problems noone else seems to have.

 

[Sogni]

Originally posted by phatsharpie
I think Lynx is a seperate download from Apple.com.

I love Lynx too! It rocks when you just want quick and dirty information!

SWEET!!! THANK YOU!!!

Move Lynx up to my normal Browser list right under Mozilla! YES!!!

Just wish it could format pages a little better (my.yahoo.com is a total nightmare to look at with Lynx - but then again my.yahoo.com is proably not a good example! lol)

Thanks! I LOVE Lynx!

 

[Nummi_G4]

Am I the only loser that uses IE 5 all the time? I have iCab, OmniWeb, and NN6 on my comp... but they are just for testing web sites. I like IE the most. it seems to support everything. The best thing that all browsers should support is the iFrame. If OmniWeb supports that, and fixes a few other things... I might switch over to OmniWeb.

 

[Sogni]

Originally posted by Nummi_G4
Am I the only loser that uses IE 5 all the time?

Yes!
If it makes you feel any better - my boss does too!

I like IE the most. it seems to support everything. The best thing that all browsers should support is the iFrame. If OmniWeb supports that, and fixes a few other things... I might switch over to OmniWeb.

NO!!! Must.. resist... on... responding... to... this... Hmmm nope can't stop myself! lol

The only reason it "supports everything" is because it's supporting most of the web's standards PLUS Microsoft's own proprietary code (which is a big no-no!).

Ok I won't go furter into this... it's been a long day (between doctors, physical theraphy and an MRI) I'm exhausted!

 

[chemistry_geek]

I use Mozilla for the sheer speed and convenience of Tabbed browsing. I also use it as my mail client. I use Netscape 6.2 when I need to print something to PDF because Mozilla still doesn't get the webpages right in PDF format yet. I also use the Mail to get my email, but Mozilla/Netscape is my primary choice for email.

I NEVER use Internet Explorer, just because it's Micro$oft, and also because I grew up on Netscape, and old habits die hard.

 

[phatsharpie]

Originally posted by Nummi_G4
Am I the only loser that uses IE 5 all the time? I have iCab, OmniWeb, and NN6 on my comp... but they are just for testing web sites. I like IE the most. it seems to support everything. The best thing that all browsers should support is the iFrame. If OmniWeb supports that, and fixes a few other things... I might switch over to OmniWeb.

Just wanted to point out that the gecko rendering engine used in Mozilla, Chimera, and the new AOL supports iframes, so these browsers should have no problems displaying them.

What annoys me is that most web developers tests browsers using browser name strings and not features (i.e. document.getElementByid()), so that sometimes even if a browser supports a specific feature, the developer redirects the said browser to ones with less feature and blames the browser for "lack of support". This has been particularly true when I was using Netscape 6. Some sites see the browser as Netscape and assumes that I am using version 4.x, which has far fewer features and W3C compliance.

 

[edX]

What annoys me is that most web developers tests browsers using browser name strings and not features (i.e. document.getElementByid()), so that sometimes even if a browser supports a specific feature, the developer redirects the said browser to ones with less feature and blames the browser for "lack of support". This has been particularly true when I was using Netscape 6. Some sites see the browser as Netscape and assumes that I am using version 4.x, which has far fewer features and W3C compliance.

amen brother

sites that let you in or out based on the name are a crock - mostly banks and credit card companies. It often makes me wonder if i should really be trusting them with my money, especially when they want to insist i use ie. but all i have to do is set icab to be ie and there site works perfectly. of course m$ probably keeps some money in every bank in the world just to control that market

 

[phatsharpie]

Ed,

I know what you mean! It's so stupid, since I find that feature tests to be a much more accurate way of testing the browser and that it's easier to write too! I look at some of the browser detect scripts out there, and it's larger than the HTML document itself!

Regarding banking, I use Union Bank of California, and it seems to have really good support for odd browsers! Which makes me really happy. All its site asks for is 128 bit encryption. It's so ridiculous when a site specifies a specific browser, that was the beauty of the internet, wasn't it? The universal accessibility. *sigh*

 

[Sogni]

My bank (WaMu) denies (denied?) me access to online banking if I was using Netscape 6.x claiming no support for it... But yet I have no problems whatsoever with Mozilla... Um, isn't that kinda the same browser? Works PERFECTLY fine with Mozilla, so I'm sure they can take that stupid notice down!

They did recently redo the online banking website, but I haven't bothered to check to see if it works with Netscape 6.x.

Stupid banks!

 

[fryke]

For a web developer, it's now quite easy to test everything on a Mac. You only have to have these:

- IE 5.1 on Mac OS X
- Mozilla on Mac OS X
- IE 5.5 on Virtual PC
- Mozilla on Linux (Galeon)
- OmniWeb on Mac OS X

If it works on all of the mentioned browsers, it works everywhere. (Mostly because OW has the least CSS 1 & CSS 2 support.)

It, of course, doesn't make sense to test Chimera on Mac OS X or Opera on Win32, as one is just another Mozilla and the other mimicks IE on Win32 (and can display more than OW on OS X).

Basically, you're even set with IE and OW on OS X. The only thing almost *every* web developer forgets to test is font availability on Linux.

Browser checking websites are the worst. Shouldn't a user decide that the site won't work with his off-the-line browser? (I understand that some online banking services want to shut out everything but one or two browsers because they have to tightly control security.)

 

[julguribye]

Oops.. I forgot Opera! That's a shame! It's even made in my own country!
Well, they don't have a very good OS X browser version yet so that weights up i guess...
As I can see from the results so far, is that OmniWeb and Chimera is the most used browser. And that makes me glad! I remember 1-2 months ago there was a similar thread like this and then IE had the most votes leaving OmniWeb second. But now Chimera has been out for a while and many people use it! That's good! OmniWeb is more used too as it gets better nearing version 4.1

 

[voice-]

Would you look at that, our Cocoa browsers seem to be topping the lists...

 

[Nummi_G4]

Originally posted by phatsharpie


Just wanted to point out that the gecko rendering engine used in Mozilla, Chimera, and the new AOL supports iframes, so these browsers should have no problems displaying them.

iCab also supports iFrames. I guess the only biggie that does not support them is OmniWeb

 

[RacerX]

My primary browser is OmniWeb, but I do use others from time to time.

Browsers by operating system:

• 
  Mac OS X- OmniWeb 4.1
  Rhapsody 5.6- OmniWeb 3.1
  Rhapsody 5.1- OmniWeb 3.0
  OPENSTEP 4.2- OmniWeb 3.1
  Mac OS 9.2- Netscape 4.7
  Mac OS 9.2- Internet Explorer 5.1 (browsing without cookies)
  IRIX 6.2- Netscape 4.7
  IRIX 5.3- Netscape 4.0
  Solaris 7- Netscape 4.7