Browser Wars

[Limey]

For a while now, I have used Safari on my office Win/PC.  I have it at home (natch), so I prefer the familiarity of the layout, and it is a totally functional browser for grown-ups.  No giant multi-coloured buttons or stupid clicking like IE, whose interface was designed by Fisher Price.  However, I have noticed that Safari has a tendency to hang on occasion, just for a few seconds, but long enough to be irritating.  It doesn't lock up my PC, but it locks up itself.  So I wanted an alternative.

IE is obviously not an option.  I tried and dismissed Chrome - just something about the layout that I didn't like.  So it was back to Firefox, which I used prior to the release of a Windows version of Safari.  I installed the new 4.0 version of the Fox, and it worked perfectly well.  Not annoying and retarded like IE, and without the hang-ups of Safari.  Then Java stopped working.

WTF?  No site with Java would work.  I'd get error messages saying that Java was disabled, so I went to my options and confirmed that it was clearly enabled, because the check box next to "Enable Java" was checked.  Java was installed and working properly on my PC because it would work with both IE and Safari.  Weird.  A google search turned up no discussion of this issue - so it was just me.  Firefox' website had nothing.  It's support pages had nothing.  Better yet, adding a question to their discussion section requires...you guessed it...Java!

So it's back to Safari for me.  It still hangs from time-to-time, but it's all I got at this point.

[Lurch]

For a while now, I have used Safari on my office Win/PC.  I have it at home (natch), so I prefer the familiarity of the layout, and it is a totally functional browser for grown-ups.  No giant multi-coloured buttons or stupid clicking like IE, whose interface was designed by Fisher Price.  However, I have noticed that Safari has a tendency to hang on occasion, just for a few seconds, but long enough to be irritating.  It doesn't lock up my PC, but it locks up itself.  So I wanted an alternative.

IE is obviously not an option.  I tried and dismissed Chrome - just something about the layout that I didn't like.  So it was back to Firefox, which I used prior to the release of a Windows version of Safari.  I installed the new 4.0 version of the Fox, and it worked perfectly well.  Not annoying and retarded like IE, and without the hang-ups of Safari.  Then Java stopped working.

WTF?  No site with Java would work.  I'd get error messages saying that Java was disabled, so I went to my options and confirmed that it was clearly enabled, because the check box next to "Enable Java" was checked.  Java was installed and working properly on my PC because it would work with both IE and Safari.  Weird.  A google search turned up no discussion of this issue - so it was just me.  Firefox' website had nothing.  It's support pages had nothing.  Better yet, adding a question to their discussion section requires...you guessed it...Java!

So it's back to Safari for me.  It still hangs from time-to-time, but it's all I got at this point.

This may be as lame as "reboot" suggestions, but I would uninstall and reinstall all Java instances.  It's sick how many versions of Java I have to run to get different enterprise web apps to run, so apparently it doesnt uninstall old versions when you dl new ones.   You may have a rouge early version that the browser is seeing.

New IE9 is nice so far, fwiw

[Ty in Tampa]

It's a shame you dismissed Chrome. It's a far superior browser.

[austro]

It's a shame you dismissed Chrome. It's a far superior browser.

I've been quite happy with Chrome myself (except that some of the Luddite insurance sites I have to deal with won't play with it). I'm not sure what layout issues displeased Limey. I find it mildly annoying to have to go to the wrench drop down to do some things, but I do those things only occasionally, and that annoyance is more than offset by the absence of other problems.

[Gizzmonic]

Chrome rocks.  I like Firefox 4 too.  Competition is good.

[Lurch]

It's a shame you dismissed Chrome. It's a far superior browser.

Doesnt it have some serious security flaw?  We're not even allowed to d/l in in my office.

[Ron Brand]

I find it mildly annoying to have to go to the wrench drop down to do some things, but I do those things only occasionally, and that annoyance is more than offset by the absence of other problems.

It's as annoying as going to that little 'Firefox' box in the upper left on 4.0, but other than relearning locations, isn't a problem at all. Chrome is nice and clean and quick, but I use a lot of Firefox plugins for work so that's my work browser.

[Ty in Tampa]

Doesnt it have some serious security flaw?  We're not even allowed to d/l in in my office.

Not that I'm aware of, but I'm our IT department and I don't know shit.

[Limey]

This may be as lame as "reboot" suggestions, but I would uninstall and reinstall all Java instances.  It's sick how many versions of Java I have to run to get different enterprise web apps to run, so apparently it doesnt uninstall old versions when you dl new ones.   You may have a rouge early version that the browser is seeing.

I did.  No joy.

New IE9 is nice so far, fwiw

Ew.

[MusicMan]

Limey, show the jury on the teddy bear where Bill Gates hurt you.

[Ron Brand]

Then Java stopped working.

WTF?  No site with Java would work.  I'd get error messages saying that Java was disabled, so I went to my options and confirmed that it was clearly enabled, because the check box next to "Enable Java" was checked.  Java was installed and working properly on my PC because it would work with both IE and Safari.  Weird.  A google search turned up no discussion of this issue - so it was just me.  Firefox' website had nothing.  It's support pages had nothing.  Better yet, adding a question to their discussion section requires...you guessed it...Java!

So it's back to Safari for me.  It still hangs from time-to-time, but it's all I got at this point.

Fucking Macs.

[Waldo]

Doesnt it have some serious security flaw?  We're not even allowed to d/l in in my office.

It did in its infancy, but I think the majority of the leaks have been plugged by now.

Chrome is my preferred browser as well.  Built-in sync using Google Account is hard to beat.  IE9 is okay.  Couldn't care less about Firefox anymore.

EDIT: Also, I like how Chrome transparently updates itself without nagging you all the time like Firefox did/does.  And being able to install new themes/plugins without restarting the browser is a huge plus.

[chuck]

I find that Safari works great on my PC and doesn't work worth a shit on my Mac.

[Limey]

Limey, show the jury on the teddy bear where Bill Gates hurt you.

"Here and here."

"Let the record show that the witness pointed to his eyes and his wallet."

[Ty in Tampa]

EDIT: Also, I like how Chrome transparently updates itself without nagging you all the time like Firefox did/does.  And being able to install new themes/plugins without restarting the browser is a huge plus.

Being able to kill a tab without killing the browser is nice as well.

[remy]

Chrome all the way.

[HudsonHawk]

Being able to kill a tab without killing the browser is nice as well.

You can do this on IE too.

[Waldo]

You can do this on IE too.

I think all of the major browsers have it now.

[chandler44]

I've been running the various iterations of FireFox for years now.  I've used Chrome here and there, and I like it, but there's nothing I've seen yet to make me jump ship from FireFox, especially with 4 out now.

[Noe]

I did.  No joy.

Java has nothing to do with your browser and everything to do with your OS.  So, what OS are you running?  Windows 7, Windows Vista (ouch) or Windows XP?  And is this a clean install or a custom install OS?  Does your company issue the computer to you with the OS installed and is said installed full of security locks that prohibits alterations such as JAVA installs or upgrades?  One oddity of JAVA updates, sometimes the newest upgrade is not the most *stable* version of Java.  It can screw with the functionality of a browser, an open source application and a load time for an open source application.  If, for example, you have Java version 6.1 and the application or browser is 4.1 enabled, the stability that 4.1 provided for load times is gone in 6.1 because of various reasons.

If it's a company issued machine and they limit what you can do with the Java installs, then you have to go ask them why the OS is quirky.  They probably have a patch for you to make it all better.

[Noe]

Doesnt it have some serious security flaw?  We're not even allowed to d/l in in my office.

The newest version of Chrome does not have this issue any more.  Very stable, very clean, still very fast.

[Noe]

A google search turned up no discussion of this issue - so it was just me.  Firefox' website had nothing.  It's support pages had nothing. Better yet, adding a question to their discussion section requires...you guessed it...Java!

You mean like this?
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Using%20the%20Java%20plugin%20with%20Firefox
(looks pretty comprehensive to me).  BTW - a guy at work was advocating all of us running NoScript on Firefox just to make sure we were safe surfing at work.  He was extremely paranoid too.  Too funny.

or

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Java-related%20issues

Vista, not a good OS.  Registry problem as it sounds like from what they said and what you described.  So get a better OS (if it's Vista) and/or reload Firefox and hope the registry gets updated correctly.

If not a registry problem, then it is Firefox not accepting the security risk that is any version lower than 6 for your machine:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070925120112AAziMa2

Also, read this:
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Java

If Java is installed and enabled but does not work

Even if Java is enabled in the browser, it can be blocked in security software such as ZoneAlarm Pro [2] or in a browser extension such as NoScript [3]. The old Adblock extension can also cause Java to stop working if OBJ-TABS are enabled [4][5]. On Mac OS, extensions with content policies (e.g., Adblock Plus, NoScript, Greasemonkey) can prevent Java from working in Firefox 4 Beta (fixed in Firefox 4 Beta 8 ). [6] To troubleshoot Java issues with installed extensions, go to the Add-on manager Extensions tab (e.g., "Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions), click the Disable button for each extension and then restart the browser. Alternately, test for extension issues by restarting the browser in Safe Mode, which temporarily disables all extensions.

Note: Outdated Java files in the browser plugins folder can also prevent Java from working (see below).

And this http://www.thought-after.com/2006/05/firefox-and-java-jre-update-problem-fixed/
A conversation about XP/Firefox (1.5) and Java 3 (I believe).  Lots of machinations to fix a simple problem it seems, but if you're running XP, you may be facing similar problems with your extentions.

Your google search turned up nothing? Hmmmm...

[Ty in Tampa]

You can do this on IE too.

I don't mean just close a tab, I mean kill a process as each one is a separate process. If one of your tabs locks up, it shouldn't lock the entire browser.

http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95672

[Waldo]

I don't mean just close a tab, I mean kill a process as each one is a separate process. If one of your tabs locks up, it shouldn't lock the entire browser.

http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95672

Yes, all the major browsers support this now.  IE8 may have actually been the first.

[Ty in Tampa]

Yes, all the major browsers support this now.  IE8 may have actually been the first.

Gotcha. Did I mention I don't know shit?

[Astroholic]

For a while now, I have used Safari

Wow that really is shocking.