What are the advantages of Chrome over Firefox?

[ztarwuff]

So, based on today's raocow video... what are the advantages of Chrome over Firefox?

I had a go at Chrome, but I preferred Firefox's private browsing features over Chrome's insistence on being Google's eyes and ears. Mind you, I have noticed that Youtube videos crash a lot more with Firefox... which is why I installed GreaseMonkey and ViewTube.

[Sorel]

I prefer Firefoxes (if its written like that) add-ons and user-customisations.

[Alice]

Firefox is far more customizable, about as fast (depending on the specific update it can be a little slower or faster, though it's such a small amount as to be basically identical anyways), has more issues with Flash, and has more issues on Google's sites since Google can specifically tailor Chrome to properly support their own sites better.

Chrome supports more features (HTML5 support is more thorough on Chrome, although it's mostly stuff that won't be commonly used anyways, it also has supported WebGL longer than Firefox has), is usually a little bit faster, and it uses separate processes per tab which some people like. Though apparently in the more recent updates Chrome has taken over Firefox's lead in poor memory management. Last I heard Chrome actually uses more memory than Firefox does. (Not by much though but worth noting.)

[onpon4]

Chrome's advantage with Flash is that it uses the Pepper Plugin API, rather than the dated Netscape Plugin API. You Windows users notice this as Flash crashing less often and performing better. GNU/Linux users notice it a lot more than that, because Adobe doesn't develop Flash for the Netscape API on GNU/Linux anymore; so the only way to get the latest Flash Player on GNU/Linux is to use Chrome.

[Aposke]

...then there's also the whole issue of Chrome logging each and every one of your key strokes in the search- and URL bar by default, as well as it being able to audio-log your conversations because of the super awesome and totally useful speech recognition feature (even if it's turned off, just like the Xbox One!)

[Leet]

why doesnt anybody just download chromium if they like chrome's features so much

also

You Windows users

lol

[Ashan]

...then there's also the whole issue of Chrome logging each and every one of your key strokes in the search- and URL bar by default, as well as it being able to audio-log your conversations because of the super awesome and totally useful speech recognition feature (even if it's turned off, just like the Xbox One!)

Google has personally come after me at least 427 times while using Chrome. I continue to use it anyway but it's important to know that Google has one employee for every person using their browser that works 24/7 watching everything you do so when you slip up they'll immediately tell Obama and he'll send out a raid on your house.

[Aposke]

...then there's also the whole issue of Chrome logging each and every one of your key strokes in the search- and URL bar by default, as well as it being able to audio-log your conversations because of the super awesome and totally useful speech recognition feature (even if it's turned off, just like the Xbox One!)

Google has personally come after me at least 427 times while using Chrome. I continue to use it anyway but it's important to know that Google has one employee for every person using their browser that works 24/7 watching everything you do so when you slip up they'll immediately tell Obama and he'll send out a raid on your house.

Because doing bad stuff is only bad when it has bad consequences!!!
...
...right?

[onpon4]

I don't know if Chrome spies on you, but it's very true that it's a possibility, because we can't check Chrome's source code. Mind you, that's also true of Windows.

[onpon4]

Opera... doesn't spy on you

You can't know that. Opera, just like Chrome, is a proprietary program: how it works is a secret. Proprietary software often contains malicious features including spyware, and you can't know if a program is malicious unless you find proof that it is.

The only mainstream web browser that you can know is not mistreating you is Firefox. You can also know that Chromium is not mistreating you, but I don't think Chromium is mainstream (Chrome users don't count). Of course, there are also several less popular free/libre browsers (like QupZilla and Midori, which are my favorites after Firefox).

[Ivy]

I use Opera. It's now built on the same stuff as chrome, but doesn't spy on you and has access to all the same extensions as Chrome.

And I get to support a smaller company so that's nice.

I tried using Opera, but it was basically Chrome and I'm just not a fan. Plus you had to install an extension to install Chrome extensions; the Opera store itself is miniscule.

Currently I'm using the Firefox Aurora builds; the new GUI is really neat. Since YouTube is actually using HTML5 now, I don't have to worry about Flash and its crashing.

[Leet]

I don't know if Chrome spies on you, but it's very true that it's a possibility, because we can't check Chrome's source code. Mind you, that's also true of Windows.

literally everybody knows that every single google thing ever spies on you

windows could i guess but microsoft is too incompetent to do it right im assuming

google's the actual antagonist of the story and microsoft is anime team rocket who keeps trying to carry out their evil plans to steal pikachu but are too stupid to actually do any damage ever

[Bean]

Firefox's main issue is that it is a mighty resource hog. I still prefer it over the other browsers since it has the best customization to it from what I've seen.

[kilon]

I use firefox because I can't be bothered figuring out if/how to customize Chrome to my individual needs. Especially the privacy options just seem more limited. But maybe I didn't look good enough.

With that said, the upcoming firefox update freaks me out. This Australis design eliminates a LOT of customization. For instance, the buttons on the url bar like the refresh button are fixed. And worse, they move the bookmarks tab around. That is one of the main reasons I don't bother with Chrome. Now it's going to happen with Firefox too. I hope that before the official update, they fix this shit. If not, I'm afraid I have to look into a new browser anyway.

[onpon4]

google's the actual antagonist of the story and microsoft is anime team rocket who keeps trying to carry out their evil plans to steal pikachu but are too stupid to actually do any damage ever

Don't underestimate Microsoft. They're not incompetent. Past Windows systems were badly designed because they didn't have to be well-designed. Microsoft has, for a long time, made efforts to eliminate competition, and they succeeded, twice. They succeeded with Windows (which is still the most popular OS today), and they succeeded against Netscape with Internet Explorer (which isn't so dominant today, but still, it was a victory for them at the time).

Also, take a look at this page, which records incidents of known malicious features in proprietary software. Windows has not one, but three examples of known surveillance, as well as a known back door.

Google probably does snoop on you more than Microsoft, but this snooping has absolutely nothing to do with Google Chrome. Google's way of tracking you involves exploiting certain web browser behaviors (e.g. cookies) and tricking people into creating Google accounts, which demand to know your real name, no less. Of course, by not having a Google account and taking some precautions, you can avoid this tracking; the easiest way is to use the Tor Browser Bundle (which makes you completely anonymous, to the extent that it's possible), or you can get more limited protection with extensions like Disconnect or RequestPolicy.

tl;dr: If I may make a Yu-Gi-Oh reference to counter your Pokemon reference, Google is like Bakura, and Microsoft is like Dark Malik. Google certainly seems to be the bigger threat, especially in the long run, but Microsoft can't just be ignored.

[Frozelar]

I've used Chrome for the longest time because I like how fast it is and how simple it is. You have your tabs, URL bar, back and forward buttons, refresh, and home. That stuff takes up a really small amount of space and I like how un-cluttered it is. I don't really care about the customization too much because, hey, this is all the stuff I need.

[Willhart]

I have a total of 1613 bookmarks on firefox. Some of them are over five years old.

[Alice]

I use firefox because I can't be bothered figuring out if/how to customize Chrome to my individual needs. Especially the privacy options just seem more limited. But maybe I didn't look good enough.

With that said, the upcoming firefox update freaks me out. This Australis design eliminates a LOT of customization. For instance, the buttons on the url bar like the refresh button are fixed. And worse, they move the bookmarks tab around. That is one of the main reasons I don't bother with Chrome. Now it's going to happen with Firefox too. I hope that before the official update, they fix this shit. If not, I'm afraid I have to look into a new browser anyway.

Are they seriously planning on changing things to be less customizable? What the hell. Do you have any idea what update that change will be coming out on? I'd like to avoid it as long as possible or until they fix it. If I wanted to use a browser that I couldn't really customize I'd use Chrome or even IE.

[Frozelar]

How come it seems Internet Explorer is growing more and more unpopular? Is it because the developers of other browsers are more tentatively adding features or something? Or just that other browsers have more features/faster/etc in general?

[kilon]

I use firefox because I can't be bothered figuring out if/how to customize Chrome to my individual needs. Especially the privacy options just seem more limited. But maybe I didn't look good enough.

With that said, the upcoming firefox update freaks me out. This Australis design eliminates a LOT of customization. For instance, the buttons on the url bar like the refresh button are fixed. And worse, they move the bookmarks tab around. That is one of the main reasons I don't bother with Chrome. Now it's going to happen with Firefox too. I hope that before the official update, they fix this shit. If not, I'm afraid I have to look into a new browser anyway.

Are they seriously planning on changing things to be less customizable? What the hell. Do you have any idea what update that change will be coming out on? I'd like to avoid it as long as possible or until they fix it. If I wanted to use a browser that I couldn't really customize I'd use Chrome or even IE.

Next one, 29.0.
https://blog.mozilla.org/ux/2014/03/int ... australis/
There is already an add-on that keeps the classic look though. I don't know if that is perfect though.

[onpon4]

That link doesn't say anything about being less customizable. It doesn't even talk about the minor interface change...

[Alice]

Next one, 29.0.
https://blog.mozilla.org/ux/2014/03/int ... australis/
There is already an add-on that keeps the classic look though. I don't know if that is perfect though.

I'm really not a fan of those tabs. They look like the ones in Chrome which I've never particularly cared for.

Hopefully there's no big loss in functionality though. The customization of Firefox is one of the biggest reasons I refuse to switch to anything else currently.

[Ashan]

How come it seems Internet Explorer is growing more and more unpopular? Is it because the developers of other browsers are more tentatively adding features or something? Or just that other browsers have more features/faster/etc in general?

Internet Explorer was pretty slow compared to other browsers for a while, so that's part of it. I'll give credit where it's due, the weird full screen internet explorer introduced in Windows 8 was decent in terms of speed, but... It's fullscreen. Which I'm not going to use on a desktop.
The other issue is basically they were in the lead for a while and then competition came and started making web browsers way better and they thought they were invincible, so Microsoft sat around and did nothing while Firefox and Chrome grabbed pretty much all their users.
They really haven't done anything to make it good since then either. Still no proper browser extensions, and even if they did introduce Chrome/Firefox-style extensions, there would be nobody developing for IE because nobody uses it any more.

Next one, 29.0.
https://blog.mozilla.org/ux/2014/03/int ... australis/
There is already an add-on that keeps the classic look though. I don't know if that is perfect though.

I'm really not a fan of those tabs. They look like the ones in Chrome which I've never particularly cared for.

Chrome tabs are the best. I still think that Chrome has the best UI/UX of any browser. It kinda just stays out of the way. Every other browser has followed the same weird tacky looking glob of stuff at the top of the screen. It basically shows all you need, and it keeps it all neatly tucked up at the top.

[Alice]

Chrome tabs are the best. I still think that Chrome has the best UI/UX of any browser. It kinda just stays out of the way. Every other browser has followed the same weird tacky looking glob of stuff at the top of the screen. It basically shows all you need, and it keeps it all neatly tucked up at the top.

This is pretty much completely subjective though. I personally can't stand Chrome's UI at all. The way I have Firefox setup though is perfect for me.

[Mata Hari]

I use Chrome because I've basically come to terms with the fact that corporations know more about me than I do.