Internet Explorer-64.64%

Firefox-24.07%

Safari-4.42%

Chrome-3.58%

Opera-2.17%

(well, “so many” is only 1.42%, but still)

“Harold, on the one hand, that’s sort of what I was going for, but on the other hand, there is some truth to it.”

But is it #1 on iTunes and BitTorrent sites?

Opera can never be the #1 browser (or something most people have even heard of) unless its supporters conduct a strong skywriting campaign.

For instance, if Amazon detects Opera, they don’t have the drop-down arrow next to the wishlist button that lets you pick which wish list to send it to, the scrolling list of other users’ similar purchases, etc. By telling Opera to claim to be Firefox when on the Amazon site, all of those extra features get enabled and work fine. It might have changed, but Staples’ site had similar issues, Comcast’s web mail is a major offender and some online banks refused to let you use Opera. Sadly, lazy and non-standard developers necessitated Opera’s masking feature.

Since Opera can be set to dafault to spoofing IE or Firefox, it’s quite possible there may be a lot of Opera users who have done this to avoid the annoyance of getting a “this browser is incompatible with this website” type message every time they go to add something to a shopping cart.

“Remember that Opera can be set to mask itself as another browser for some or all sites”

This seems like the “Everyone I know watches it on a streaming site or DVR+4 instead of live in a multi-hour marathon of viewing” excuse for browsers.

And partly because I wanted to hurt thedemonhog.

In Internet Explorer, type tvbythenumbers in the address window and press [Ctrl]+[Enter].

I have 9 computers running windows, linux and osx, I have tried firefox, explorer, safari, conqueror, and chrome. I keep coming back to firefox.

In the current iterations Chrome is fastest, I like it’s clean style but it does not have the add-ons and functionality that firefox does.

Plus you can run Firefox on OSX, Windows and Linux. Not sure if safari has a linux version but explorer does not.

Anyways so far I will stick with firefox and I have moved dozens and dozens of people over to it after I fix all the crap on their computers that they get from visiting infected sites that load malware active-x controls on their computers.

I keep my eye on google’s chrome however as it is definitely an up and comer and is currently the speed king.

Every now and then I must use explorer to visit a site and then after I while I realize that my browsing response is bad and that I forgot to switch out of IE and back to firefox.

Funny story, I used to be with a software company that ran on mid-range computers back in the very early days of the internet and we had some stuff running on a PC under netscape at a computer show that was sponsored by Microsoft. Bill Gates came over to the booth and was less than impressed to say that least! We were so green with the internet that we did not even know that Microsoft even really had a browser.

So maybe that means the scores for all those other browsers are actually masks for Opera. For me, Opera wins hands down. Not only is it much more highly configurable than other browsers to suit one’s individual taste in terms of features and skins, but it really is, as it claims, the fastest browser out there. It can sometimes take me half-a-minute to get somewhere on IE, but I’m there in half-a-second on Opera, and that’s at least a second or two better than the overhyped and somewhat bloated Firefox. I tried all kinds of browsers, but bottom line, Opera is the only one to use, especially when speed is of the essence. In fact, here’s a neat trick I only stumbled upon recently. I don’t know if this works for other browsers, but if you just type into the address window where you want to go without using quotes, the http://, www. and/or .com – i.e. tvbythenumbers – Opera will get you there. Definitely no such luck with IE, at least not with version 7.

I’m sad to see there are no Amigas on that list though!

I don’t even understand the complaints about IE actually. I’ve never had any problem with it, function or security wise. If you know anything about online security you know that it’s not up to your browser to keep you safe, it’s up to you! That said, I also don’t understand the VISTA OS hate. I’ve had it for almost 2 years and it works like a dream. Not a single problem.

And to all the Opera fans, here’s something to keep your spirits up. Remember that Opera can be set to mask itself as another browser for some or all sites (I have to do this with Amazon to get it to use the more nifty wishlist interface features). Maybe, just like the dinosaurs in the Dilbert comic strip, all of the Opera users aren’t gone, just hiding.

Oh, we know so much more that that. So. Much. More.

But I’m surprised Netscape still exists! I haven’t seen someone use that in a lonnnng time.

Poor Opera. It’s the oldest of the post IE era 3rd party browsers and it constantly gets passed up by newer brower set ups.