Google Chrome V/S Mozilla Firefox

jntdroid

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First off, just FYI, there is a ChromeToPhone firefox addon, and I actually like it better than Chrome's because it allows "send link to phone" in the right-click menu, which comes in very handy if I don't want to actually go to a link or if it's a download link.

These are my main reasons for sticking with Firefox:

1) Firefox Sync (formerly "weave") is what keeps me with Firefox - tabs, history, preferences, bookmarks, passwords (though I use xmarks and lastpass for the latter two). It's awesome being able to go to any computer I own and have the same history, same settings, and accessibility to any tabs I've opened on my other computers. Chrome now has some syncing features, but not near as thorough as Firefox Sync.

2) Faster navigation with keyboard - this one is probably more due to me being used to Firefox, but still, it's an annoyance when I use Chrome. There are two aspects to this one - first, I can hit "ctrl-L" and type "gmail blog" or "hotmail" or "google finance" or "droid forums" and it goes straight to whichever one of those I'm typing, and so far it's 99% accurate. I believe this can be built into Chrome by modifying the default search engine, but haven't figured out how yet. The second aspect to this category is that I can hit "ctrl-L", start typing something, and then simply hit "tab" to navigate through whatever drops down. In Chrome, tab doesn't do that, so I have to move my hand over to the arrow or mouse to select whatever I want that's dropped down. Sounds small, but I don't have to move my hands in Firefox, I do in Chrome.

3) Memory - this one can be debated all day I'm sure, but load up a fresh version of Firefox and a fresh version of Chrome, make sure you have the same addons installed on each, open the same web pages, look in your Windows processes and tell me which uses more memory, total. In my experience, they both get bloated, but Chrome is by no means better in this area.

4) Google - I love that Firefox is simply Firefox and their single goal is to build a great browser. I don't love the fact that Chrome is tied in with Google. It's silly, but my life has enough Google in it with this phone and all other things Google - the last thing I need is a Google influenced browser! This one is by no means a deal killer for me, if Chrome worked out the three above.

5) Compatibility - it's not often, but Firefox is still compatible with more sites and services (like LogMeIn) than Chrome.

What does Chrome have on Firefox, for me anyway? Snappiness - it's definitely snappy, and DOES do a better job of "closing down" memory when tabs are closed than Firefox does. Screen space as well... though I've tweaked Firefox to where it uses less screen space than even Chrome.

This went much longer than I initially intended - sorry about that! I just kept thinking of things.
 
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jntdroid

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Also, everyone is missing a HUGE feature Chrome has over every browser out right now! When one tab crashes, the rest don't! You don't lose every tab in the window when one goes down. Just reload that tab and you're back to where you were. I love it!

You're right - and Firefox has been behind on this. But I believe the latest release does have the "sandboxed" tabs.
 

DarrellM5

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Firefox, predominantly, although I use Chrome sometimes.

Also, google now has nice art 'themes' and a bunch of good add-ons (one being chrome to phone that I use for maps and stuff I want to bookmark on my Droid quickly).

Firefox also has art 'themes' and, as already mentioned, 'chrome to phone'.
 

granitemon

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Ok, dumb question here. I just did the manual 2.2, and I would like to use chrome, but all I know about it is what I've read. I'm not yet rooted, do I need to root to install chrome? Can someone please tell me how to download this.
Thanks,
Mark
 

drpurp

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I use Firefox for the majority of browsing. (NoScript is the dealbreaker)

I do sometimes use a "Chromium" browser though.
 

eliassami5

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Ok, dumb question here. I just did the manual 2.2, and I would like to use chrome, but all I know about it is what I've read. I'm not yet rooted, do I need to root to install chrome? Can someone please tell me how to download this.
Thanks,
Mark

This discussion is for desktop browsers, it has nothing to do with our Droids. So no...you dont have to be rooted to run Google Chrome or Firefox on your PC...lol
 

pc747

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i like and use them both.
 

leadhead

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I used Firefox forever and switched to Chrome when it came out, I do think Chrome is faster but I can back to Firefox anyways. I'm gonna stick with FF because I'm slightly paranoid about Google taking over the world:icon_eek:
 

drpurp

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I used Firefox forever and switched to Chrome when it came out, I do think Chrome is faster but I can back to Firefox anyways. I'm gonna stick with FF because I'm slightly paranoid about Google taking over the world:icon_eek:

If you do some searching there are several Chromium browsers built from source removing some of the Google stuff; like Google Chrome without Google.
 

granitemon

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Dear eliassami5,

You know, in the time it took you to quote my original message, and follow it upwith a smartass reply, you could easily sent that in a private message pointing out that I was on a completely wrong track.

Oh, and ps, I've left a few typos and grammatical errors in this post, just in case you feel the need to poke fun at something else.
Chears!
 

dan j

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I use Chrome on my netbook because of its size/speed. On the rest of our computers we use Firefox. I really like the cookie blockers that Firefox has - it's amazing how many cookies I delete every night.

Oh, where is the Chrome to Phone extension for my netbook? I've tried downloading chrometophone-extension-v1.1.crx and keep getting a signature verification failure.

Thanks
 
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