I recently started using a new browser. I started looking for a new browser because of how slow and memory-draining Firefox is. Internet Explorer is better in these areas, mostly because it shares memory with the rest of Windows (which is kind of cheating, and an issue in itself), but I wasn't willing to switch back to Internet Explorer and further foster the monopoly of a browser that's not developer-friendly. (As a developer myself, that's important to me.)
So I started looking for a new browser, and this is the result of my search: Opera. It is supposedly less memory-intensive and even more standards-compliant than Firefox. I'd used it at work before, but not extensively and only to test my web pages and see if they worked. Previous versions of the browser advertisingted by a built-in advertizing bar, so that was kind of a deterrent to give it much of a try. The newest version, though, is completely free, so now I'm going to give it a chance and see if it can live up to my expectations.
The first thing I noticed about switching to Opera is that it is different. The interface is unique in a lot of subtle ways, so I've been having a harder time switching from Firefox to Opera than I had switching from Internet Explorer to Firefox. It might be a process and I'm not sure if I'll stay with it, but I'm excited to be giving it a try.
5 comments:
apparently windows' tabs use up more memory than firefox.
have you tried firefox 2? if not, it would not be fair to compare opera to firefox 1.5
No, I haven't tried Firefox 2, but it is still in beta, right? Opera 9 is the official release. Not a test stage.
bryant, i thought you were some kind of computer savy guy. no. you are so lame. firefox 2 was officially released on tuesday. get with it.
Dang. I am eshamed. Ok, so now I'm trying Firefox 2, too.
Ok, here's a handful of links that I thought might be interesting. The articles are about the beta releases of both Internet Explorer and Firefox, so those might have improved since their writing:
ExtremeTech comparison of the three new versions, with a second look.
PC Magazine's comparisons of speed, memory, and standards compliance
Cnet reviews of IE 7, Firefox 2, and Opera 9 (These are actually about the official releases.)
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