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I am really sick of IE crashing on me. I need to experiment with new browsers. Suggestions?
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I am really sick of IE crashing on me. I need to experiment with new browsers. Suggestions?
Comments
Mozilla. Built-in pop-up blocking and spam filtering (if you're using the email client, too); plugins for everything from news readers to calendars to page editors. And all of it can be turned on or off, as is your preference, which is the best part.
:) Erica
Posted by: Erica | November 15, 2003 05:40 PM
Mozilla is good. Also check out http://www.opera.com
Posted by: TNAR | November 15, 2003 05:52 PM
Avant browser. Free; blocks pop-ups; multiple pages in one application; very customizable. You won't regret it.
Posted by: david | November 15, 2003 05:57 PM
Mozilla again. Skinable (I love the orbit skin, it just looks right), tabbed browsing, pop-up blocker, a good email client that can be disabled if you use another client (I use Outlook XP). The best part is that 1.5 is stable as a rock.
Posted by: SteveB | November 15, 2003 06:49 PM
Mozilla or Mozilla Firebird. Avant browser uses the IE rendering engine whatsit thingie.
Posted by: Andrea Harris | November 15, 2003 07:03 PM
If IE is crashing on you all the time, you have system problems, not IE problems. There is nothing wrong with Mozilla, Opera, or even NetScape, I suppose. Moving to one of them may well solve your crashing problem, but you'll still have the underlying issues that created the problem.
You may want to (gasp!) rebuild your system from scratch. Yeah, not a pleasant thought, but sometimes it's a bullet that ya gotta bite.
Then again, I rebuilt my wife's system from scratch, in part because Adobe Acrobat Reader got confused, especially when asked to print something. Now with a brand new OS and the latest version of Acrobat, it still refuses to print. Go figure.
Posted by: Hank | November 15, 2003 07:07 PM
Sorry, Hank - your suggestion is typical of the Microsoft "solution" to any problem.
Mozilla is good, stable, and supports the W3C standards on HTML / XHTML and CSS better than Microsoft's offerings.
Posted by: Ken | November 15, 2003 07:20 PM
I like Mozilla Firebird as an option - you may also just have a version problem with IE. Some versions of IE are, well, clunky.
I have issues with my computer crashing whenever I visit Misha. Explain that one. Happens every time. I moused over his link at Scrappleface once, and, boom, crash.
hln
Posted by: hln | November 15, 2003 07:32 PM
I just started netscape and my ie problems stopped, no pop ups either
Posted by: carol | November 15, 2003 07:39 PM
What? You are still using IE? Mozilla rules by far. I haven't seen a popup had is six months I bet.
Posted by: Mace | November 15, 2003 07:45 PM
Tell ya what. Download Mozilla Firebird. I mean its a lot better than mozilla because its smaller and has none of the unnecessary apps, but still has all the functionality. And for that person that said to rebuild from scratch? DONT! I did it once, and I came to figure out that the problem was a small file that I had changed.
But really, stick with Firebird, I use it, and I love it!
Posted by: Phoenix | November 15, 2003 08:00 PM
Firebird rocks!
Posted by: Candy | November 15, 2003 08:08 PM
mozzila firebird
Posted by: Jim | November 15, 2003 08:10 PM
A note on Mozilla vs. Firebird:
I would have suggested Firebird, but it's still beta software and I had some issues with it, especially involving it crashing when used with my newsreader also running. Mozilla isn't beta, and it hasn't been doing that, and I like the extra apps, so it's what I use. But I suggest listening to what everything has to offer then making a choice based on what you want, of course.
:)
Posted by: Erica | November 15, 2003 08:17 PM
I say buy a Mac!
Seriously, I weaned myself off IE a while ago with Firebird and Camino (Mac-only) and Safari.
Good luck.
Posted by: bryan | November 15, 2003 08:18 PM
I still use IE but I have added Mozilla Firebird and it works fine. It even imports all the IE favorites automatically.
Posted by: Starhawk | November 15, 2003 08:22 PM
Count me in as another Mozilla user -- at least, when I'm using the PC at work. When I'm on my beloved Mac, I've got Safari to rely on for addictive web surfing.
Give Mozilla a try -- it's nice, clean, and has a lot of good features that make web surfing more managable and fun. :)
Posted by: Mariann | November 15, 2003 08:25 PM
I prefer Mozilla Firebird, mainly because it has a "home" button, Mozilla's isn't as convenient. You can get the latest installer here and some neat doodads like the Google taskbar and a calendar for it here.
The only downside to it is it doesn't play .asf or .wmv files, but the tabbed browsing and auto pop-up blocking way more than make up for it. Tabbed browsing is fantastic, I can't imagine surfing without it. Especially when it comes to blogs. WOW.
Posted by: scott h. | November 15, 2003 08:44 PM
"It's not a bug, it's a feature." (Microsoft)
I love my Avant browser.
Posted by: margi | November 15, 2003 08:54 PM
Well, ya see Ken, last year I watched a Mozilla user. He really liked Mozilla. About every other web site he went back to IE because his Mozilla browser couldn't dispay the page properly.
So it's not like I don't like Mozilla, I just never saw any real reason to get all slobbery about it.
Perhaps it's changed since then. Dunno. Don't care. I've worked my way through a few browsers and in general I've found IE covers more cases than any other browser. If I were to stumble across a better browser I'd use it. Ain't seen one yet. I'm not a fanatic about it, however.
Posted by: Hank | November 15, 2003 09:02 PM
Opera. Now at version 7.21, free with a small ad in the corner, or pay and it goes away. Does lots of tricks, too. My wife loves the download manager.
Still about 3.5meg download, too, if you already have Java.
Posted by: htom | November 15, 2003 10:25 PM
Firebird, baby.
Ctrl-K has changed my life, and on the rare occasion that I use IE, I'm simply amazed by the prevalence of popup ads. I had forgotten.
If you're looking for integrated everything, then Mozilla 1.5 or maybe Netscape 7.1 is a better bet.
For those that mentioned Firebird's beta aspect, the most recent release (0.7) fixed a whole bunch of stuff and it has been rock-solid on my machine.
Posted by: Matt | November 15, 2003 10:58 PM
I don't think anyone has mentioned it yet, but Mozilla and Mozilla Firebird are both excellent. ;)
Posted by: Scott | November 15, 2003 11:51 PM
Hank,
Firebird has a neat little extension (not sure if it's also in Mozilla or Netscape proper) called Open In IE. SO... you can do your primary browsing in Firebird, and if you hit an IE "Optimized" site, open it with two clicks in IE.
That said. CrazyBrowser is also a pretty decent front end for IE. Not as many features as AvantBrowser, but it's a free license, has integrated popup blocking and tabbed single window browsing.
Posted by: Sal M | November 16, 2003 12:03 AM
Yeah, I suppose I'll have to look into Firebird one of these days...see what's new and different in it and some of the other browsers.
Oddly enough, the first browser I really took to was Netscape, but I eventually moved away from it.
Posted by: Hank | November 16, 2003 12:08 AM
It's your OS that's crashing. IE is just the symptom. Getting a new deck chair won't save the boat.
Posted by: Kevin | November 16, 2003 12:10 AM
Actuallly, it happens at work as well, always in the same way. No other programs crash, ever, on this computer.
Posted by: michele | November 16, 2003 12:16 AM
Opera! It is a great browser and easy to use. Go to
opera.com
and download. I have used it for several years now and the features are great.
Posted by: Robert | November 16, 2003 01:48 AM
Ask Stacy and I for our extended thoughts on Mozilla. ;-)
Posted by: robyn | November 16, 2003 04:31 AM
If you have to use a PC the only decent one is Opera. If you are a on a Mac then Safari is damn good with Camino has a back-up (for the few sites that just wont do Safari). I only use IE now when I am on the PC.
Posted by: Andrew Ian Dodge | November 16, 2003 10:57 AM
My system (Win2K) never crashes when I'm using IE. But then, I have, like, 384 megs of RAM.
My wife is stuck, temporarily, with 128 megs on her WinXP machine, and not only does IE never crash it, but Netscape, which for some reason she insists on using, gums up the works something fierce if she leaves her browser and e-mail windows open and walks away from the computer and forgets to go back and shut 'em down. I'm on the verge of refusing to be her free tech support as long as she keeps Netscape.
MyIE2 has a pop-up killer built in, but with MSIE I've found SafeGuard's pop-up blocker to be just as good.
Posted by: McGehee | November 16, 2003 05:26 PM
Michele--
Both computers, in different places, and only IE crashes?!? Sounds to me like there is a second, non-typical program interfering. Popup bloker, spam filter, AV or some other plug-in you've got on both machines. In which case changing the browser might help. I assume you've checked for spyware and other malware?
I've run IE/OE on more than a dozen machines, ranging from Win98SE to WinXP and not had much issue with IE. I have installed/uninstalled several programs that messed things up.
Note: I used to run Netscape long ago, but they didn't really improve the program after 97 or so, it refused to use the Windows Registry to open files, and couldn't handle multiple email accounts. Maybe I'll look at Mozilla again when it's out of beta (rev "0.7" isn't enticing to me).
Posted by: Kevin | November 16, 2003 06:20 PM
At the risk of re-opening the Opera/Uma thread, my recommendation is: Opera.
Posted by: Stefan Sharkansky | November 16, 2003 08:54 PM
Opera. Or NeoPlanet. [I like both]
Of course, both Opera and will occassionally crash for no apparent reason if you browse anywhere near as heavily as do...
Oh, never mind. Just give up browsing - it's the only way to be safe. ;]
Posted by: Ironbear | November 16, 2003 09:53 PM
Without Mozilla, my weblog would be twice as difficult to assemble. I depend on this browser the way I depend on electricity, water and Trader Joe's.
Posted by: Dirk Deppey | November 17, 2003 12:15 AM
Firebird kicks all ass.
Posted by: Avdi | November 17, 2003 10:28 AM
I agree with the folks questioning what's actually behind the IE crashes.
For myself, I use SlimBrowser now. Yes, it's built on the (dreaded) IE engine, but I find that solves as many compatability problems as it introduces. And with tabbed browsing and an built-in popup blocker, it does just what I needs and I can still backtrack to IE without any problems.
YMMV, natch.
Posted by: *** Dave | November 17, 2003 01:21 PM
Mozilla is excellent, especially the bookmark management, adherence to HTML standards, and amount of stuff you can tweak in the preferences. This won't affect you, but the Blogger interface is conpletely different (and much easier to use) on Mozilla than IE.
BTW I'm on OSX.
Posted by: Yehudit | November 17, 2003 04:06 PM