Topic: Switched to Firefox from Chrome

[PyroMenace]

Has anyone been having any issues with Chrome?

It's been my default browser for a few years now but over the past couple months I've had some significant issues creep up. My new tab page, which shows your most viewed pages, has completely stopped functioning, now it just shows random links from my browser history. I've looked up what the problem was (possibly corrupt profile), and tried all the troubleshooting (making a new profile, wiping everything from the browser, uninstalling/reinstalling) and nothing has worked. I've also had problems on sites where the comment sections just won't load. Anyway, I've reached my limit and have officially uninstalled Chrome and moved to Firefox. Which I like, its always been a nice stable browser with great user functionality but there's little things I like on Chrome better like the bookmark bar also Firefox doesn't have an official gmail notifier which was really handy. The one on the extension site is user made and it works fine.

I may switch back if google manages to sort it out on it's updates but for now it's gonna have to be Firefox. Also is IE still the worst?

[scottws]

I never used Chrome,  it at this point I just think it's spyware. I don't even use Google Search anymore.  I use DuckDuckGo.  But that is another matter.  I've always been a Firefox user.  I absolutely love it.  I can't live without NoScript, HTTPS Everywhere, and Privacy Badger.

People should probably switch to Firefox or IE anyway because Google is getting ready to implement something in Chrome that will make sites with SHA1-based SSL certificates show up as insecure.  Microsoft is ending support for SHA1 in 2017 but Google is going to start showing this warning in November.

https://community.qualys.com/blogs/securitylabs/2014/09/09/sha1-deprecation-what-you-need-to-know

http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/sha1-certificate-shown-insecure-or-mix-content-warning-google-chrome-39

[Cobra951]

Firefox-only here for many years.  I can't imagine not having the control that it allows over my browsing.  NoScript I use continuously, as well as Adblock Plus; but I hadn't heard of Privacy Badger.  There's something to look into.

Chrome is akin to spyware now, really?  Wow.

Edit:  Ah, OK.  Privacy Badger is based on the Adblock code, but it heuristically shoots down over time the sites that track you across different sites, without you needing to painstakingly configure it.  Sounds like a good idea.  Now to see how it actually works.  It comes from the EFF, so trust shouldn't be an issue.

[Xessive]

I stopped using Chrome for a while when it started giving me false-positives on legitimate stuff like XBMC.

I came back to it and alternate between it and IE now, mainly because the Modern UI instance of IE on the Surface is the best touch interface browser yet.

As much as I liked Firefox back in the day, I just kinda lost touch with it and by the time it implemented a lot of the features I was looking for I had already migrated fully to Chrome.

Admittedly, Chrome has several issues lingering in it. In 2012 it introduced a rendering issue with fonts which caused embedded fonts (like on IGN) to not render correctly. Several websites had pretty bad aliasing on the fonts. They just fixed with v37.xx in mid August 2014. They finally also added in smooth scrolling, so it doesn't look like you're scrolling at 20 frames per second.

The new tab page still loads my most frequently used websites but I still usually use bookmarks anyway.

I generally use Chrome on my phone but Firefox Mobile is pretty good too and now also syncs with your desktop version to resume browsing and share bookmarks.

[idolminds]

Chrome wasnt so bad but there are a few addons I need that chrome doesnt have a replacement for. Also GoogleUpdate.exe would randomly pop up to update Chrome while Im in the middle of playing something and Ill wonder why I'm lagging so much. Thanks for silently using up all my bandwidth, Google.

[Cobra951]

Anything that uses Google Update is not allowed to run here.  I've worked hard to remove all traces of that pest, and I won't allow it to creep back in.

[Quemaqua]

I don't trust Google at all. Even though I still use gmail ... habit, I guess. So Chrome is definitely out for me. I search with Startpage, and I use Firefox for the control, like others have said. It isn't perfect, but I feel like it beats all alternatives even with the downsides. I use Ghostery, Privacy Badger (I really like both of these, actually, and I do support and trust the EFF, which makes PB a no-brainer), and AdBlock Plus. I should probably get NoScript on here too.

[PyroMenace]

I don't really have any trust issues with google no more than I have with any other of the browsers, I don't even put mozilla above any others at this point. I mean I do what I can to stay secure, anti virus, password manager, but outside of those things I could care less, I just want something that's clean, fast, and flexible. I don't even use ad block, I typically just avoid sites with annoying ads and the sites I do like to visit I let the ads load.

[scottws]

I used to use Ghostery, but I found out that it itself is a tracker though I suppose it is still better than allowing yourself to be tracked by all the other advertising and tracking companies without it.  I'm not sure how useful it is to use both Ghostery and Privacy Badger since they have the same goals.

I stopped using AdBlock Plus.  Usually NoScript takes care of the more egregious ads.  The ones that it doesn't block tend to be pretty acceptable.

I too am a bit of a hypocrite with regards to my privacy.  I don't use Chrome at all, but I do use a Google-Services-laden Android phone and Gmail.

[Cobra951]

Any reason not to use Better Privacy?  I installed it, and it found many megabytes of data in LSOs.  Local shared objects are something I remember reading about years ago, but for some reason, never delved into as I should have.  I was horrified by the long list of assorted crap, interrupted here and there by data I want to keep.  So I protected the few legit folders I found, and had it delete everything else upon browser exit.  I fired up FF again, and again I had a long list of unwanted crap.  It didn't get stored here again; it just wasn't deleted because it was in subfolders of protected folders (which are protected by default).  Sneaky, I guess.  So I unprotected the subfolders, and went cherrypicking again.  Exit, relaunch, now it's all finally gone.

[scottws]

I used to use it long ago but stopped.  I figured NoScript and Privacy Badger or Ghostery were enough.  Perhaps not.  I'll look into it when I get the opportunity.

[Quemaqua]

Man, good call. It found a shit-ton of stuff. Thanks for that ... that was apparently a large vulnerability I didn't even know about.

[idolminds]

Guess that explains the little Flash icon Flashblock puts on some pages even though it makes no sense to be there. Sneaky tracking shit.

[Cobra951]

Man, good call. It found a shit-ton of stuff. Thanks for that ... that was apparently a large vulnerability I didn't even know about.

Sure thing.  Just be careful not to blow away stuff you want to keep.  For example I found that some games (like N+ and Machinarium) use SOLs for saving data.  Settings for some pages you want to keep may be in this form too.  I think an example from the author is Yahoo.  It will forget who you are without its SOL.  It's tedious the first time, but look through the list and protect whatever folders you need.  Unprotect subfolders if they're full of icky garbage, and protect them again after you cycle the browser.

Let it delete on exit (the default), not immediately.  That way, whatever gets unhappy without SOLs will work during the browser session, and the objects will go away when you close it down.