Internet Browsers: What are YOU using? (And why?) (2 Viewers)

[jcroy]

If you want FF to using a specific profile, use the -Profile *path to particular profile* flag to your FF executable link.

 

[jcroy]

How could I have one version of FF running with Auto Updates turned off and then another version running with Auto updates turned on?

I keep different Firefox directories separate for different versions I'm using.

For example, I keep the Firefox Nightly stuff in one of my junk directories. ie. I don't install it in c:\Program FIles

 

[jcroy]

Basically for anything I'm test running, I keep everything in a junk directory where I can just delete everything easily.

 

[jcroy]

To avoid further proliferation of junk, I also run browsers inside a sandbox. (For example, such as Sandboxie on windows).

When I'm done with a web surfing session, I just delete all the new junk accumulated in the sandbox all at once. The next time I run the browser inside the sandbox, it starts anew with my personal "default" settings.

 

[Tony Bensley]

After repeated crashes with Google Chrome on the Mrs PC Laptop, I've installed Opera on her system.

While Opera is running pretty well for her so far, I've run into a possibly unresolvable issue.

I've tried changing the settings so that she can play Facebook games. Below are the options that SHOULD appear,according to a recent online tutorial:

However, these are the limited options that I actually get:

Why in blazes am I getting ONLY 2 options instead of 4? Is there a workaround, or is this some recent annoying (And apparently, unreported?) change on Opera's part? I don't want my wife to have to deal with an annoying message box asking whether she wants to allow a site to use Flash EVERY time she wants to play an online game, and I KNOW damn well she doesn't either!

HELP!!!!

EDIT: To provide further clarification, the top screen capture is supposed to be for Windows based systems. The bottom screen capture for the Opera Browser setting page for Flash is identical on my Windows 10, and the Mrs. Windows 8.1 setup.

 

[theJman]

Since Opera is essentially Chrome with a different hairdo you may find it has the same issue that plain old Chrome had, so unfortunately whatever plagues your wife's PC could reappear with Opera. Where you able to reinstall all the extensions you had used previously?

Is the on-line tutorial screen shot from the same version of Opera you have? I've noticed that options have been changing seemingly at random in many browsers, and what was consistent for many versions all of the sudden disappears after an update.

Are all the games she plays in Facebook. If so, perhaps you can set it to block all Flash but then add facebook.com as an exception.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Since Opera is essentially Chrome with a different hairdo you may find it has the same issue that plain old Chrome had, so unfortunately whatever plagues your wife's PC could reappear with Opera. Where you able to reinstall all the extensions you had used previously?

Is the on-line tutorial screen shot from the same version of Opera you have? I've noticed that options have been changing seemingly at random in many browsers, and what was consistent for many versions all of the sudden disappears after an update.

Are all the games she plays in Facebook. If so, perhaps you can set it to block all Flash but then add facebook.com as an exception.

The wife's Google Chrome is pretty much bare bones regarding any extensions. In fact, she visits very few sites other than her Facebook, and the 1 or 2 games that she plays from within that site, and yet she's experiencing these silly problems with her Browser randomly and repeatedly crashing! We've tried doing virus checks, defragging her hard drive (Which doesn't have a lot on it!) and uninstalling/reinstalling GC, but nothing really seems to help much, at least long term.

I don't know whether the screenshot is from the same version of Opera that I installed in both PCs, but based on the differing options, I would guess quite possibly not, and I haven't been able to find any online examples with just the 2 nearly useless options for Flash, which cause me to guess this might be a very recent change. In any case, why would any Browser that allows for Flash Player suddenly get so damn restrictive in regards to available options? It doesn't make any sense to me.

What Browser would you recommend for someone who uses mainly Facebook, Facebook type gaming, and YouTube? Ideally, it should be user friendly without a lot of annoying popups, and crashes, and of course, a reasonable selection of options for the implementation of Flash!

I just reread the end of your post and noticed your suggestion to make Facebook an exception. I'm just thinking why should I have to block every site from using Flash to begin with, when allowing it for every site SHOULD also be an option? I certainly don't think that's an unreasonable expectation! My god, these Browsers are getting to be so bloody annoying! Anyway, thanks for your suggestion, Jim!

CHEERS!

 

[BobO'Link]

How does one do this?

How could I have one version of FF running with Auto Updates turned off and then another version running with Auto updates turned on?

Run different profiles. Add the -P flag to the your FF executable link to force Firefox to bring up the profiles menu.

Running different profiles doesn't provide for different versions of Firefox if it's a normal installed version.

The easiest way is to run Firefox "portable." You can get it at portableapps.com.

Once you have the app "installed," simply make a copy of the folder in which it resides. Everything, including the user profile, is inside the "portable" folder making it very easy to backup and/or run multiple copies/versions. Just create a shortcut to the respective folder's app to run different versions. You can't run two copies simultaneously but you can easily keep two versions around with different settings, plugins, profile settings, etc. and run whichever version you want/need at a particular time.

I have one copy where I backup the "app" folder before updating FF so that if there's an issue I can simply restore that backed up app folder to get back to where I was.

 

[BobO'Link]

RE: Ad blockers.

With the impending "upgrade" in the method FF uses for plugins and the likelihood that many of my favorites will no longer be available I've been checking for alternatives. One that supposedly is being converted is NoScript but I decided to look for an alternative just in case.

I accidentally found "uMatrix" as a possible replacement for both Ablock Plus and NoScript. Best part is it's also available for Chrome, which up until now had no JAVA/Flash/scripting blocker that I knew of. It takes some training but I'm liking it, especially with Chrome. It shows you what sites are trying to load making the "whack a script" game easier to play. Not getting graphics? Enable one of the sites attempting to load images and reload the page. Just don't forget to save your settings (using the "lock" icon) once you find the right combo as they will revert if this is not done (caused me some grief before I discovered this simple thing). Another thing I like is you can make several changes/allowances and then reload the page. NoScript reloads after every change making some discovery sessions take quite a long time. BUT NoScript directly attacks/blocks JAVA which isn't exactly done by uMatrix.

So... I like it but wouldn't put it on my wife's computer for the same reason I disabled NoScript on hers. She wouldn't take the time to learn how to use it and constantly yelled for me to "fix this site/make this site work."

 

[BobO'Link]

The wife's Google Chrome is pretty much bare bones regarding any extensions. In fact, she visits very few sites other than her Facebook, and the 1 or 2 games that she plays from within that site, and yet she's experiencing these silly problems with her Browser randomly and repeatedly crashing! We've tried doing virus checks, defragging her hard drive (Which doesn't have a lot on it!) and uninstalling/reinstalling GC, but nothing really seems to help much, at least long term.

I don't know whether the screenshot is from the same version of Opera that I installed in both PCs, but based on the differing options, I would guess quite possibly not, and I haven't been able to find any online examples with just the 2 nearly useless options for Flash, which cause me to guess this might be a very recent change. In any case, why would any Browser that allows for Flash Player suddenly get so damn restrictive in regards to available options? It doesn't make any sense to me.

What Browser would you recommend for someone who uses mainly Facebook, Facebook type gaming, and YouTube? Ideally, it should be user friendly without a lot of annoying popups, and crashes, and of course, a reasonable selection of options for the implementation of Flash!

I just reread the end of your post and noticed your suggestion to make Facebook an exception. I'm just thinking why should I have to block every site from using Flash to begin with, when allowing it for every site SHOULD also be an option? I certainly don't think that's an unreasonable expectation! My god, these Browsers are getting to be so bloody annoying! Anyway, thanks for your suggestion, Jim!

CHEERS!

You might want to try a full Chrome uninstall/reinstall - including removing her user profile. Many issues with Chrome can be traced to "broken" or "corrupt" user profiles.

On a Windows machine, look here:
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\

The folders in "User Data" are the user profile folders.

"AppData" will be a hidden folder so you'll have to enable those *or* put "chrome://version" (no quotes) in the URL bar and press Enter. In the returned information, the “Profile Path” shows the location of the current profile. You can simply copy/paste that folder location into Explorer to get to it easily and without having to show hidden folders/files. If you want to keep it just in case, rename the "Default" folder to something like "ORG-Default" or "Default-ORG" or just move it to a new/backup location. When you restart Chrome it'll create a new user folder.

Plugins can also cause browser crashes. If you log into Chrome and have sync set up it'll pull all your plugins from any other browser session you've used and loaded plugins on. There are lots of plugins in the Google store that can cause crashes and/or deliver junk to your browsing experience. Get rid of old/bad plugins and keep only those you're actively using. To see if any are the cause of crashes, remove them all and put them back one at a time until you start to see crashes again. The last one loaded is likely the cause of the issues.

 

[Tony Bensley]

You might want to try a full Chrome uninstall/reinstall - including removing her user profile. Many issues with Chrome can be traced to "broken" or "corrupt" user profiles.

On a Windows machine, look here:
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\

The folders in "User Data" are the user profile folders.

"AppData" will be a hidden folder so you'll have to enable those *or* put "chrome://version" (no quotes) in the URL bar and press Enter. In the returned information, the “Profile Path” shows the location of the current profile. You can simply copy/paste that folder location into Explorer to get to it easily and without having to show hidden folders/files. If you want to keep it just in case, rename the "Default" folder to something like "ORG-Default" or "Default-ORG" or just move it to a new/backup location. When you restart Chrome it'll create a new user folder.

Plugins can also cause browser crashes. If you log into Chrome and have sync set up it'll pull all your plugins from any other browser session you've used and loaded plugins on. There are lots of plugins in the Google store that can cause crashes and/or deliver junk to your browsing experience. Get rid of old/bad plugins and keep only those you're actively using. To see if any are the cause of crashes, remove them all and put them back one at a time until you start to see crashes again. The last one loaded is likely the cause of the issues.

Thanks Howie, but I've been down that route before, in which I've completely wiped everything off of the "old" Google Chrome. In my experience, all that seems to accomplish is a few weeks more without Google Chrome crashing, which is why I personally got rid of it on my Laptop a little over a year ago. However, in my case, I log a ton of time and visit a lot of sites, so in my case, periodic issues may at least be somewhat expected, whereas the wife's daily use is much more limited. In my opinion, when a browser is acting up a ton DESPITE relatively little use and reasonable attempts to rectify issues have been repeatedly made, it's time to try something different.

CHEERS!

 

[CraigF]

Anybody tried Firefox Quantum yet? I'm afraid to (I have had to revert FF versions numerous times lately), though a "dedicated" FF user in general. Windows 10, maybe 7 too if it's any good...

 

[jcroy]

I'm currently running FF57 in a sandbox from a junk directory. Haven't officially installed it yet for general usage.

Quite a bit faster than 55 and 56. Though I already knew this, since I've been running Firefox Nightly for awhile.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Anybody tried Firefox Quantum yet? I'm afraid to (I have had to revert FF versions numerous times lately), though a "dedicated" FF user in general. Windows 10, maybe 7 too if it's any good...

After checking the few add-ons I use and only finding one legacy add-on that I could do without, I decided to roll the dice on Quantum and installed the upgrade today. My first impression is that it is rather snappy -- definitely a noticeable improvement in performance. The Adblock Plus add-on I use seems to be working fine, too. So far, so good.

 

[questrider]

Just throwing out the warning that I received the alert for the update to Firefox 57 tonight. I denied accepting the install. I don't know how long I'll hold out—from a security standpoint—since 6 of the 11 add-ons I use have not been updated to the new way of handling them and are "LEGACY".

Amazon Assistant
Bookmark Favicon Changer (LEGACY)
Classic Theme Restorer (LEGACY)
Context Search (LEGACY)
Downloads Window (LEGACY)
Enhancer for YouTube
Forecastfox
Google Similar Images (LEGACY)
Reddit Enhancement Suite
Tab Mix Plus (LEGACY)
The Camelizer​

It would be difficult for my workflow to lose Classic Theme Restorer, Context Search, Google Similar Images, and especially Tab Mix Plus.

 

[BobO'Link]

Thanks Howie, but I've been down that route before, in which I've completely wiped everything off of the "old" Google Chrome. In my experience, all that seems to accomplish is a few weeks more without Google Chrome crashing, which is why I personally got rid of it on my Laptop a little over a year ago. However, in my case, I log a ton of time and visit a lot of sites, so in my case, periodic issues may at least be somewhat expected, whereas the wife's daily use is much more limited. In my opinion, when a browser is acting up a ton DESPITE relatively little use and reasonable attempts to rectify issues have been repeatedly made, it's time to try something different.

CHEERS!

I refuse to use Chrome on my desktop computers (I only use it on a work issued Chromebook that I mainly use for generic browsing and testing purposes - using it now because I don't want to sit at the desk plus can't see the TV easily from that location). It's fairly stable, but it's also a dedicated browsing device and can be quickly and easily "fixed" (i.e. wiped and re-enrolled in our management system).

Just today I was doing some debugging for a website a teacher couldn't get to display properly. It was "broke" in her Chrome, Firefox, and IE installs (all the latest builds) but worked on my desktop in Firefox. My boss was sitting there watching so I showed him how it worked for me but not her. He asked "Have you tried it in Chrome?" to which I replied "I don't have it installed on this system but it's working on my FF install and not on any of her browsers, Chrome included, so the browser isn't the issue."

We have more issues with Chrome than any other browser but people continue to use it. We even tell them "For site (fill in the blank) you *must* use either FF or IE - Chrome will not work/display properly." and they still try to use Chrome - repeatedly. My boss won't let us uninstall Chrome for them because he likes it and uses it for almost everything. Many of our users don't understand what a browser is and that there are different ones available - and that includes the students who supposedly are "tech savvy" (if it's not facebook/phone/texting/youtube they're mostly clueless). If they have a web site issue I always ask "What browser are you using?" and generally get a "What's that?" or "That one with the circle." response.

 

[Mike Frezon]

It would be difficult for my workflow to lose Classic Theme Restorer

Amen. This one thing alone might keep me from rushing into the upgrade.

Or maybe, the new version is really user-friendly and adaptable to the look that we want (he says hopefully)??

 

[BobO'Link]

Amen. This one thing alone might keep me from rushing into the upgrade.

Or maybe, the new version is really user-friendly and adaptable to the look that we want (he says hopefully)??

Same here. And I'm not holding my breath. FF designers, like others, are so arrogant that they think everyone wants what they think is "best" whether or not it's logical or has a good workflow.

Supposedly there are "solutions" that will make UI customization possible. I have a few bookmarked but haven't yet had time to explore them to see if they'll do what I want (the main thing is "tabs on bottom" - although I also detest the "awesome bar" and disable it as well).

I find it somewhat humorous that after forcing "rounded corners" on tabs, necessitating yet another UI mod from me to "fix," they're returning to tabs with "square corners" as it has a more "modern" look and is more efficient use of space (the reason many complained when rounded corners were introduced and wasted space with poor design). I call it designers justifying their jobs with more change for change's sake. They'll go back to "rounded corners" in a couple of years and it'll be hailed as a great design change (just as soon as phone processors can actually handle decent graphic designs with speed). At least, for now, it appears they're no longer fully chasing Chrome's UI as the be-all-end-all in design. Of course, the new design will bring cries of "They're just copying Edge."

 

[jcroy]

Amen. This one thing alone might keep me from rushing into the upgrade.

Currently I probably will not update to FF57, until at least the first bugfix update 57.0.1

At least not for general usage.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I use FF on a few different machines and may try the new flavor out on one (probably my work PC) in order to kick the tires.

I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would want the tabs ABOVE their bookmarks toolbar or URL address bar. Page tabs should work just like those on physical manila folders and sit atop the open internet page. Being able to customize a preferred "look" should be a priority (I would think) for the developers--if they want people to use THEIR browser.

But I also understand that what I want is not what everyone wants.

I like colorful tabs to differentiate my open pages. I like squared off corners on my tabs (but I'm not overly passionate about them).

What does "Tab Mix Plus" do, Brian?

I am really encouraged, however, to hear the comments about FF 57 being fast.