Browser(s) in 2021

What browsers(s), does everyone here use, in 2021?

Me:

Chrome mainly, across machines (and phone).

Also:

Trying to use Edge more, to experience it’s features!

Conversation 49 comments

  • jt5

    Premium Member
    16 March, 2021 - 9:43 am

    <p>I use Edge mostly. I use firefox and chrome to verify websites. Occasionally I will check it in Safari- but that is more of an afterthought.</p>

  • oasis

    Premium Member
    16 March, 2021 - 10:15 am

    <p>I use Firefox, Phone and Desktop/Laptop</p>

  • navarac

    16 March, 2021 - 10:25 am

    <p>As I have a Windows Gaming Box, a Linux PC, a Linux SP3 and an Android phone, I have stuck with Chrome. Anyone who worries about Google after all of these years is a bit late to worry!!!</p>

  • jlv632

    16 March, 2021 - 10:35 am

    <p>Brave. Add the image to your collection. </p>

  • StevenLayton

    16 March, 2021 - 10:37 am

    <p>Hey, you missed IE11 ;)</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      17 March, 2021 - 8:54 am

      Nobody has ever missed IE. 🙂

  • arnstarr

    16 March, 2021 - 10:49 am

    <p>Edge, all platforms. Firefox emergencies only! </p>

  • wright_is

    Premium Member
    16 March, 2021 - 10:50 am

    <p>Firefox and Brave – Firefox stopped working with my password manager on Android, so I switched over to Brave as the only browser on Android and I'm trying it out on my home PC, at work I'm still using mainly Firefox.</p><p>Edge as a backup / for Microsoft 365 admin at work, but it keeps ceasing up when viewing the Microsoft 365 pages.</p>

    • dftf

      16 March, 2021 - 4:37 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#618326">In reply to wright_is:</a></em></blockquote><p>You could try <em>Vivaldi</em> on Android, too.</p><p><br></p><p>Unlike <em>Brave, </em>where the ad and script-blocking lists are maintained by Brave themselves, and all you can configure is types of content you want to block, and to turn blocking off on a per-domain basis, in <em>Vivaldi </em>you can subscribe to different tracker and ad-block lists.</p>

      • wright_is

        Premium Member
        17 March, 2021 - 6:21 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#618405">In reply to dftf:</a></em></blockquote><p>I do that through my PiHole anyway, which blocks around 2.5 million sites – and 99% of my surfing is done at home.</p>

  • angusmatheson

    16 March, 2021 - 10:51 am

    <p>When I heard how much Firefox had fallen in usage, I started trying to use it. I is likely hopeless as everyone moves to WebKit but the idea of maintaining some diversity in the browser makes sense to me. Maybe I should care more about saving real endangered animals than an endangered browser. I really haven’t seen any real performance differences. I was trying to get away from chrome because I thought it was slower, but I think it is all in my head.</p>

    • dftf

      16 March, 2021 - 4:35 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#618327">In reply to Angusmatheson:</a></em></blockquote><p>At this rate, I reckon before 2030 <em>Firefox </em>will either cease-to-be, or will just switch to <em>Chromium </em>also. I'd imagine most of its marketshare thesedays are simply Linux users, where it is often the default browser.</p><p><br></p><p>It always seems slow to me on Android, and given I can't think of a single add-on thesedays that would be exclusive to Firefox, why bother to continue to use it "just-because"?</p>

  • yaddamaster

    16 March, 2021 - 10:56 am

    <p>Brave – 80%</p><p>Edge (Chromium) – 20%</p><p><br></p>

  • erichk

    Premium Member
    16 March, 2021 - 11:10 am

    <p>Pretty much for the most part on most of my machines, I use the Big Three: Edge, Chrome, and Firefox.</p><p><br></p><p>I also have used Opera a bit.</p><p><br></p><p>Oh, and Safari on my iPad.</p>

  • mcerdas

    Premium Member
    16 March, 2021 - 11:44 am

    <p>Chromium Edge in my desktop and laptop , and Edge in my Android phone</p>

  • darkgrayknight

    Premium Member
    16 March, 2021 - 12:10 pm

    <p>Browser: work, home</p><p>Firefox: 70%, 5%</p><p>Edge: 30%, 80%</p><p>Brave: 0%, 15%</p><p><br></p>

  • red.radar

    Premium Member
    16 March, 2021 - 12:21 pm

    <p>I was using Edge nearly 100%. However, I had to switch to Firefox at work because the Chromium project enforced TLS transport for a whitelist of domains. Apparently my corporate domain was swept up and it broke internal sites that do not use HTTPs. Firefox was effected as well, but there still existed an ability to override this enforcement. </p>

  • miamimauler

    16 March, 2021 - 12:34 pm

    <p>Google Chrome as my default and Brave in a private window with DuckDuckGo behind NordVPN when performing privacy minded duties.</p>

  • F4IL

    16 March, 2021 - 12:48 pm

    <p>chromium on workstations and firefox on mobile.</p>

  • j5

    Premium Member
    16 March, 2021 - 1:10 pm

    <p>Right now I'm using Edge because I'm on a Windows laptop. I'm waiting for my Mac Mini to arrive. After that, I think I'll be using Safari full time because I have an iPhone and iPad Air. But I'll probably install Edge at some point as a 2nd option and sync it across all my devices.</p><p><br></p><p>For a while, I was using Vivaldi as my daily but went back to Edge. </p>

    • dftf

      16 March, 2021 - 4:31 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#618360">In reply to j5:</a></em></blockquote><p>On your macOS device, sure, give Edge a try on there… I'm sure there is a native M1 build of it (there is an ARM64 version for Windows on ARM, so there should be by now!)</p><p><br></p><p>But on any iOS/iPadOS device, it's only really worth it if you will sign-into Edge and sync data. As otherwise every browser on iOS/iPadOS is essentially Safari under their interface, as Webkit is the only rendering-engine allowed on those platforms.</p>

      • j5

        Premium Member
        16 March, 2021 - 8:21 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#618403">In reply to dftf:</a></em></blockquote><p>Yeah, I'll try Edge on it for sure. I think it's good to have at least a 2nd browser installed just in case your main goes wonky from an update or highjack malware etc.</p>

  • winner

    16 March, 2021 - 1:55 pm

    <p>Firefox on Windows due to anti-tracking and privacy. Plus I want to support the littler guy.</p><p>Chrome on my Chromebook of course.</p><p>Brave occasionally.</p><p>Almost never Edge.</p><p>Firefox on mobile since my extensions still work and it makes the mobile web actually usable.</p>

    • dftf

      16 March, 2021 - 4:29 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#618365">In reply to Winner:</a></em></blockquote><p><em>"Plus I want to support the littler guy"</em></p><p><br></p><p>You could just make a regular donation to Mozilla, instead. Simply having <em>Firefox </em>installed does nothing to support them (in a financial-sense) unless you don't change the default search provider (both in the address-bar, or on the new-tab page) from their customised Google one, as they get paid a little for each search done in there.</p><p><br></p><p>Assuming like most privacy-conscious users of Firefox, changing away from Google is one of the first-things you do, then how-else does simply having the browser installed or using it financially help Mozilla?</p>

      • Paul Thurrott

        Premium Member
        17 March, 2021 - 8:50 am

        It’s like a carbon offset!

  • earlster

    Premium Member
    16 March, 2021 - 2:30 pm

    <p>Firefox, both on Android and Windows</p><p>Edge for some sites that just render better on chromium (I used to use Chrome for those)</p><p>Chrome, only on sites that I need a google account for</p>

  • wunderbar

    Premium Member
    16 March, 2021 - 2:45 pm

    <p>at work due to the sheer number of accounts I need to deal with I use Safari, Chrome and Edge, and I do have Firefox and Opera installed, mostly for one off situations.</p><p><br></p><p>for personal use its Chrome.</p>

  • Chris_Kez

    Premium Member
    16 March, 2021 - 2:47 pm

    <p>Chrome for pay, Edge for play. Though we're soon switching to Edge at work as well.</p>

    • dftf

      16 March, 2021 - 4:26 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#618377">In reply to Chris_Kez:</a></em></blockquote><p>Same here work-wise. Anything that comes built-into the OS doesn't have to undergo the same security-vetting as anything we add to the image, so it's a non-brainer to ditch <em>Chrome</em></p>

  • anoldamigauser

    Premium Member
    16 March, 2021 - 3:19 pm

    <p>For day to day work, I use Edge. When I need to check a problem site, or want to login with a different account, I use Firefox. For searches that I want to have some privacy for, mostly medical, generally for others, I use Tor.</p>

  • scoop

    16 March, 2021 - 3:46 pm

    <p>Win 10 work laptop: Firefox mostly, Edge now and then, Chrome for gmail</p><p>Win 10 home laptop: Firefox mostly, now and then Pale Moon or Chromium (Chromium rather than Chrome except on the work laptop). Edge once in a blue moon</p><p>Xubuntu laptop: Firefox, some Pale Moon; Chromium for a few sites that render better </p><p>Ancient Win 7 desktop: Pale Moon, Firefox</p><p>Android phone: Firefox 68.11; Chrome only when needed for site rendering</p><p>Fire 8 turned into Android tablet: Firefox 68.11</p><p><br></p><p>Notes: Have used Opera and Brave in the past. Generally prefer the Firefox/Pale Moon 'feel' over anything chromium-based, but recognize it's just a matter of time. While current Firefox is my go-to on Win 10 or Linux on desktop/laptop, I much prefer the older Firefox 68 on Android mobile. Not sure what I will do when that becomes unsafe to use.</p>

    • dftf

      16 March, 2021 - 4:24 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#618392">In reply to scoop:</a></em></blockquote><p><em>"I much prefer the older Firefox 68 on Android mobile. Not sure what I will do when that becomes unsafe to use."</em></p><p><br></p><p>Would it not be unsafe right now? I know on desktop platforms, there is an ESR version of 68 (though I think support may have ended for it?) but I wasn't aware they offered the ESR at-all on Android?</p>

      • scoop

        17 March, 2021 - 12:04 am

        <blockquote><a href="#618400"><em>In reply to dftf:</em></a><em> </em></blockquote><blockquote>APK install. No ESR version for Android that I know of.</blockquote><p><br></p>

  • lwetzel

    Premium Member
    16 March, 2021 - 4:00 pm

    <p>In order of preference.</p><p><br></p><ol><li>Edge</li><li>Vivaldi</li><li>Brave</li><li>Firefox</li></ol>

  • dftf

    16 March, 2021 - 4:13 pm

    <p>For what I personally use:</p><p><br></p><p>On Windows 10, near-exclusively <em>Edge</em>. I may use <em>Firefox</em> occasionally "just-to-see-what's-new" but honestly I might just move to <em>Edge</em> exclusively. Given all the same add-ons are available for both, why bother maintaining bookmarks and settings in both? And it's not like just by using <em>Firefox</em> they get money — that only happens if you are happy to search using the default Google page, via their customised URL. But given most people who use <em>Firefox</em> are privacy-conscious, I am sure this very-quickly gets changed. So… yeah, why bother?</p><p><br></p><p>On Android, mostly <em>Brave</em>, but sometimes also <em>Vivaldi</em> or <em>Opera </em>(the full <em>Opera</em>, not <em>Opera Mini</em>) as sometimes pop-ups or ads get-through Brave's filters, or their filters break content on a site (such as an embedded video not working). I'd only use <em>Google Chrome</em> if I need to access the website version of a Google service, as it'll sign me in automatically (and I don't wish other browsers to be linked to my Google Account whatsoever). <em>Edge</em> on Android is currently awful UI-wise, so maybe once they release their refreshed version I'll revisit it.</p><p><br></p><p>And on some wider thoughts:</p><p><br></p><p><em>Firefox</em>: what do people think will happen first — it dies completely, or also becomes a Chromium browser? As looking at any market-share stats clearly shows it's only going in one direction…</p><p><br></p><p><em>Using multiple Chromium browsers on a desktop platform (Windows, macOS, Linux, etc):</em> why? On Android, sure — they don't support add-ons, so any ad and script-blocking is what is provided, so makes sense to switch between them for different sites. But on a desktop OS, you can get the same add-ons for each one. So unless you are say a web-developer, and have to have each installed for testing-purposes, as an average user why bother when they are all essentially the same thing?</p><p><br></p><p><em>Internet Explorer 11</em>: I wonder if this will be present in the upcoming "Windows 10X", given it's aimed at being a Chromebook competitor running modern Web Apps?</p><p><br></p><p><em>Safari: </em>as I'm not a macOS or iOS/iPadOS user, I can't comment here, given they did have a Windows version years back, but it's long-since been abandoned. For macOS, where you have a choice of browser-engine, how many macOS users here run it as their main browser?</p>

  • samp

    16 March, 2021 - 6:54 pm

    <p>It seems like the extreme minority using chrome on here (strange – I did a report for a qualification recently on google and they have approx 85% share, depending on who you believe). Seems like the more techy / geeky people get the more they swing to Edge. I use chrome for all, but I'm considering going to Edge for home :)</p>

    • dftf

      16 March, 2021 - 7:08 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#618443">In reply to samp:</a></em></blockquote><p>You will always find lower <em>Google Chrome </em>use amongst users on IT/tech sites like this, yes.</p><p><br></p><p>Though to correct you, in general: "the more techy / geeky people get the more they swing to <em>Firefox</em>" as the ultra-techy or ultra-geeks are likely running Linux, FreeBSD or some-other "Unix-like" OS and Firefox fits-in-better with the ethos behind why people generally choose to use them.</p><p><br></p><p>But yeah, if you use <em>Google Chrome </em>now, definitely give the new <em>Edge </em>a try.</p>

      • samp

        24 March, 2021 - 6:23 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#618445">In reply to dftf:</a></em></blockquote><blockquote>give the new&nbsp;<em>Edge&nbsp;</em>a try</blockquote><p>I was going to, but found Bing less accurate for niche searches and with more ads, so I'm going to stick with chrome because there is not much point using Edge with Google. For a while anyway ?</p>

      • samp

        31 March, 2021 - 6:34 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#618445">In reply to dftf:</a></em></blockquote><p>I have bowed down to the inventible … as of today I'm an Edge user </p>

  • hrlngrv

    Premium Member
    16 March, 2021 - 7:28 pm

    <p>Firefox for most things. Windows and Linux. I switched to Edge as my secondary browser, Windows and Linux, to see how it holds up. I only use Chrome on my Chromebook because there's no alternative. For me, I just don't like Chrome aesthetics.</p>

    • miamimauler

      16 March, 2021 - 10:02 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#618450">In reply to hrlngrv:</a></em></blockquote><p>"I only use Chrome on my Chromebook because there's no alternative"</p><p><br></p><p>I've never used a Chromebook and wasn't aware of that. Can you not install other browsers on ChromeOS?</p>

  • Usman

    Premium Member
    17 March, 2021 - 9:32 am

    <p>Edge mostly on PC and Mobile, Brave for those weird edge cases (no pun intended) with local endpoints that use Basic Auth (sometimes it just doesn't work on Edge). </p><p><br></p><p>I used to use Opera Chromium back when they introduced some nice features like free VPN, Sidebar chat apps. But their mobile app just wasn't that great.</p><p><br></p><p>I'm a full-stack software engineer, so I do just stick to Chromium-based browsers since they are the most used rendering engines, and use browser stack to test Safari on iPhone / iPad </p>

  • ghostrider

    17 March, 2021 - 1:49 pm

    <p>Boy there are some MS luvvies on here aren't there – what's the interest in Edge all of a sudden? MS collect as much data in Edge as Google do in Chrome, and MS are no more trustworthy. If you really just want to stick two fingers up at all the data collection and monetization, use Firefox or base Chromium.</p>

    • wunderbar

      Premium Member
      17 March, 2021 - 2:28 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#618602">In reply to ghostrider:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Yeah, it's real strange that a website that covers Microsoft products, with people who are more likely to be more invested in the Microsoft ecosystem than the general public might prefer using Microsoft's web browser.</p>

  • bkkcanuck

    17 March, 2021 - 2:16 pm

    <p>I run Firefox on my Mac and Windows machines… I use to run firefox long ago, left it and used Safari and Chrome for a while (I tend to use Safari on a laptop) and then returned to Firefox after the redevelopment of the application. It is by far my preferred browser now.</p>

  • dmclaurin

    01 April, 2021 - 12:53 pm

    <p>I'm using MS Edge Dev edition 100% of the time now. Simplifies my entire life. I also use it on my phone.</p><p>When COVID began a year ago, I was using Edge about 40% of the time, with Chrome about 40% and Firefox at 20%…in 2019 I was using Opera at 40% and Chrome at 60%.</p><p>Now 100% usage and not going back.</p><p><br></p>

  • megamuffin

    01 April, 2021 - 1:33 pm

    <p>Firefox 90% mostly, more so for Facebook container, also use Edge as well, try to stay away from Chrome er Google, even tho I use Gmail, slowly transitioning to Outlook.</p>

  • kcarson97404

    Premium Member
    01 April, 2021 - 1:58 pm

    <p>I'm using Edge exclusively, for work, for home and on my Android. </p>

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