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After some cursory googling around, I can only find benchmarks showing firefox using significantly less ram than other browsers. A couple of examples.

The problem with OSS is that there are just too many choices.

You're entirely right. Thank god that with closed source, there's only one media player to choose from. And only one web browser. I'm so happy that there's only one closed source mail client too!

I would make my point further, but my comment would be rejected as spam...

It's sad, but it's expected.

Firefox, Opera, etc (and even avantbrowser) for advanced users only. Nowadays it's considered "difficult" to install software by clicking "next, next, next".

Do not get me wrong. It's not that Firefox is not user friendly or easier to use, however there are so many "PC users" below "novice" level which will disable an antivirus if they're unable to open an infected file. And there are many "system admins", (which are in charge of internet cafes or school labs) who only knows how to install Windows and Office (and probably from "recovery CDs"). Times are different now.

(Previously everybody not only knew what every file in their C:\DOS and C:\WINDOWS were for, they could also program in at least in one language).

We cannot expect any more growth until PC users are more educated.

I used to switch back and forth between Firefox and IE until I found Avant Browser, which seems to be the best of both worlds. With programs like this freely available, why would MS waste their resources?

Can't say I've ever used "Avant" before, but...everything you've said is available in most other browsers, AFAIK.

Is Avant Browser a secure browser?

Yes, Avant Browser is secure. Since it's based on Internet Explorer, Avant Browser is as secure as Internet Explorer.

sick of hearing firefox fanboys warship their holy browser...
it is not the best browser around, just gets the most publicity and isn't IE,
Avant browser is way better, anyone who has used it and knows the mouse shortcuts knows this. Tabbed browsing is obsolete if you can flip between fullscreen windows with a quick mouse motion.

http://www.avantbrowser.com/

Here is something that has always been broke in IE, but Firefox has right....

In the auto-complete field in IE is not accessible with the TAB key. The list drops down, but you can only access items in the list by using an arrow key which means lifting one's hand up while typing and pressing the DOWN key.

Firefox, on the other hand, allows me to TAB through the autocompletes which is considerably easier.

I assume the IE problem has something to do with accessibility (tabbing through fields, etc), but it's very annoying.

BTW, I use Avant Browser over Firefox because I like it's tab management better....and I can visit those pesky IE-only sites.

Am I the only one that wonders why everybody thinks Tabs make the Firefox UI the seeming pinacle of modern GUI design and innovation?

Is there anybody else who doesn't give a rip about tabs. I really don't give a flying crap about them.

In fact there are several IE based browsers that have had the tab capability for a long time.
http://www.avantbrowser.com/
http://www.mybrowser.web4net.net/en/
http://www.maxthon.com/
. . .and MANY more

IE has been there for a long time people. Get off the tab fetish. If the IE people cared they would already be using one of the many IE tabbed browsers available since way before Firefox.

The funny thing is that Firefox zealots think tabs are innovation?!?!?!?!? Tabs have been around since the beginning of GUI-time.

--- BTW, I use Opera, Firefox and IE for my development testing. I really have no browser-bias. I just think tabs are quite mundane. Talk about browser security or something else worthwhile. Just please get off the tab thing.

I've tried them all!

And believe me, nothing even come close to
Avant Browser.

I usually have 60-120 windows open at the same time. That can't be done with any other browser, not even firefox - nor Opera. (Runs waay too slow)

I occationally use Firefox, but it's quite bad for handling many tabs (don't even have background opening of tabs) - so I always return to Avant Browser http://www.avantbrowser.com/, my number one for the past 5 years!

I am the only hacker I know who actually prefers IE (security zones are a killer feature once you fix the stupid defaults), but I do miss tabbed browsing. A while ago, I went looking for tabbed browsing for IE and came across Avant Browser. It's an MDI interface for IE, each tab containing an IE web browser control. My only complaint is a user interface bug where it loses focus in the browser control itself when I alt-tab to a different application. I'll have to try this new plug-in and see if it's any better.

I guess that means the only browsers with tabs for W2k will be Opera and Firefox.

Yeah I've been using IE with tabs on Windows 2000 for quite a while.

I was an avid Firefox user until I was literally forced to uninstall it at work. Avant Browserhttp://www.avantbrowser.com/ Kicks Ass. Not as expandable as firefox which will instantly lose it's points, but the download is is less than 2 meg, and Speeds up IE HUGE. It uses the core IE engine, without all the crap. Firefox is slow now in comparison. :| Anyone else find it as worthwhile as I do? Yo Grark

Avant uses IE's html rendering and already has tabs and more...

http://www.avantbrowser.com/

No.

The breakdown of the top 15 is:

1 82.63% Mozilla
2 14.70% Microsoft Internet Explorer
3 0.46% Opera/8.0 (Windows NT 5.1; U; en)
4 0.25% msnbot/1.0 (+http://search.msn.com/msnbot.htm)
5 0.25% Googlebot/2.1 (+http://www.google.com/bot.html)
6 0.21% Mediapartners-Google/2.1
7 0.18% Microsoft URL Control - 6.01.9782
8 0.16% Opera/8.0 (X11; Linux i686; U; en)
9 0.10% Opera/8.0 (Windows NT 5.0; U; en)
10 0.07% Opera/7.54 (Windows NT 5.1; U) [en]
11 0.07% Opera/7.54 (X11; Linux i686; U) [en]
12 0.02% Avant Browser (http://www.avantbrowser.com/
13 0.02% Opera/7.20 (Windows NT 5.0; U) [en]
14 0.02% Googlebot/2.1 (+http://www.googlebot.com/bot.html)
15 0.02% Links (2.1pre17; Linux 2.6.10-gentoo-r1 i686; x)

http://www.avantbrowser.com/ Is this a reliable condom for IExploder? Its not open source, but its free, and seems to work as advertised, and if I have to keep IE on XP anyway...

Maybe you're not new, but you if there's one thing you can count on at /., its for fsck'd moderation. Best you can hope for is an occassionally helpful link. If you want to continue to use IE (I beleive its neccessary for windows updates), try http://www.avantbrowser.com/ its a free "upgrade" for IE

For the last year or so, I've run with Flash disabled. I use Avant Browser, which is a shell around IE, and which fixes a LOT of the problems with IE. It provides a very fast way to toggle Flash on and off. Ordinarily, I ALWAYS have Flash disabled, and I only enable it if there is a specific site that I look at. Browsing the web without all those stupid animated ads is SOOOO much better. (I also have animated GIFs/JPEGs turned off, too. No more god damned click-the-monkey ads!)

I like Firefox, but this is one thing I miss. Does anyone know of a plug-in for Firefox that lets you easily toggle Flash on/off?

If you have to use IE for some reason, try Avant [http://www.avantbrowser.com]. It's a BIG improvement over the vanilla IE, and it uses the same rendering engine. So Avant works with sites that only work with IE. Not that I want to encourage that sort of thing (IE lock-in), but sometimes you don't have any other choice.

Here is the correct link for StrokeIt - Mouse Gestures for Windows. Personally, I found it too convoluted to set up, although I do enjoy mouse gestures in my browser.

However... you run a $29 Internet Explorer Shell?

Have you not heard of free shells such as Maxthon? Or even Avant?

Using either over Opera or Firefox is just silly, though.

Yeah, whatever these things are ultimately called, "floaters" seems appropriate for a number of reasons, most of them scatalogical.

But that's why you use a web browser (pretty much any browser that isn't IE) with a button that disables/enables Flash animations at a single click. Just one more reason to migrate to FireFox or whatever, I guess... (And if you must have IE compatibility for some reason, just overlay it with Avant.)

Free Sony PSPs from Gratis.

Avant browser
Maxthon

Have been around as long as Firefox has, both have tabbed browsing, ad blocking and popup blocking, plus mouse gestures and all the other stuff.

The author of this article, is a Linux system Administrator, I can't blame him for not knowing how to secure Windows/ securely use Windows. Linux most likely won't solve the problem, and it also requires tweaking to make it secure. Besides, we still have to deal with IE only websites. Then upgrading to linux is not going to help. Switching browsers will do a better job, especially if she runs programs that only work on MS Windows. And incase switching browsers is not an option, than various IE wrappers exist: http://www.maxthon.com/ http://www.avantbrowser.com/ And there is: http://www.pivx.com/qwikfix.asp I don't have experience with these products, firefox does it all for me.

I use Avant, and there is an option to turn off ActiveX, so that it won't keep asking you about it. I once did this so that music wouldn't play on one site. Not noticing any problems, I then went to http://www.go-l.com/, which has a flash intro. It did not play, and the "Skip Intro" link is in the animation itself, so I could not get to the main page. I finally figured out that ActiveX being disabled was the problem. So no ActiveX = no Flash animations (and no music) in IE & its derivatives. But http://www.avantbrowser.com/ is good.

Using the latest version of Avant Browser, on a fully patched XP SP2 system. It seems obvious since Avant is based on IE but I thought it would be useful to know.

America Online is creating its own standalone browser,

Does stand-alone mean that it wouldnt take the OS with it when it crashes ? :-D.Stop trying to make the shit taste better.There are already stuff available that do that. Try Avant Browser
Maxthon
Netcaptor

Just STOP re-inventing the wheel !

Why would anyone download a browser to browse in IE?

Also, I use Avant, which is based on IE, because it offers features not found elsewhere (such as movable tabs, multiple rows of tabs, and remembering your open tabs when you close it, features Firefox lacks).

Back when I actually needed to use IE to access certain websites, I would always use the free AvantBrowser mod. IIRC, AvantBrowser simply sits on top of IE, so it is actually IE at the core. Regardless, it's got lots of features - tabbed browsing, pop-up blocker, flash filter, key bindings and a bunch of other stuff. Pretty nifty if you _must_ use IE.

I just downloaded it, I've been using Avant Browser, which also has pop-up blocking as well as flash blocking, ad blocking, and tabbed browsing. It runs on top of IE, so it more vulnerable, but the feature it has that I miss so far in Firefox is mouse gestures (right-click then left click to go back, vice versa to go forward). Does anyone know of a way to do this in Firefox?

The new version of Avant Browser includes support for RSS feeds. Avant is a pretty cool "wrapper" for IE.

Firefox is the best non-IE browser I've seen yet. However, it's probably been mentioned multiple times that the kind of people who use IE are the kind of people who don't come to Slashdot. 99% true.

I use IE still because of Avant Browser (www.avantbrowser.com), a great browser that uses the IE engine but adds tons of features. I'm not interested in the IE engine, I'm just interested in the features. (And we're talking just about every conceivable thing you could want in a browser and more--it's easy to turn off the features you don't like.) Firefox already has a huge leg up on IE because of tabbed browsing, but I had to post to a Firefox forum to discover that simply reordering the tabs by click + drag is a seperate component (expansion) for Firefox that you have to download.

Something as simple as this should be part of the core Firefox install. Until you get that Exp, you can't reorder tabs, and it's such a rudimentary feature of tabbed browsing that I think Firefox, great thing it is, is not hooking as many people as it could because this intuitive feature is not present by default.

I'm rooting for Firefox, but until they A) put rudimentary features like click + drag reorder in, and B) Explain what the hell "expansions" are in an impossible-to-miss way, Firefox isn't living up to its full potential. (And I'm rooting for Firefox, I really am. But it's not done growing up yet!)

I will note that I was educated as to the link about Firefox Expansions. It's there, on the website. But it's not nearly prominent enough. Highlight it with background, put it at the top, take it out of the sidebar, but give it some important status. Even if Expansions are not part of the core Firefox code in order to keep the core install file small to download, THAT'S A GREAT FEATURE, and you shouldn't shove it off to the side simply because the authors of several expansions are not part of the core Firefox programming group. Firefox, I love you, and I wish you the best. Keep on track, and you'll have me for a user. In the meantime, I will spread the word as best I can about you.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned http://avantbrowser.com/ Oh, sure, it's not Mozilla, or Firefox, AND it's an "add-on" for IE. But it has a lot of the stuff that the others have. I don't know all the technical, geeky stuff, but it does allow you to block pop-ups, ads, ActiveX, Flash animations, scripts, Javascript, etc etc. And has the tabbed browsing.

Actually, I just switched FROM mozilla to Avant Browser (modified internet explorer). Avant has all of the features I liked most in mozilla (tabbed browsing, popup blocking) and a lot more (plus, some sites are better under avant)

The problem I have with leaving Firefox open is that I prefer the ability to place it on the system tray in Windows than leaving it minimized in the task bar. This keeps alt tabbing quick when I'm not browsing and reduces clutter. Are there any plugins for Firefox that allow this (such as forcing the X or minimize icons to go to the system tray)? I don't like having to use some external application to minimize things to the system tray since a lot of those tools aren't too reliable. This works in Avant Browser, but that relies on IE which we know is a guaranteed deathtrap.

I know this isn't machine learning but how about remembering the pages I had open when I closed Firefox and then displaying them again in tabs next time I open it. That is something I am used to in Avant Browser and I really miss in Firefox.
Another thing I would like is a minimize to tray feature.
One more thing I would like is a nice set of toolbar buttons to enable/disable things like pop-ups, images, javascript and so on instead of having to go through menus. These are also available in Avant Browser.
If Avant didn't use the Internet Explorer engine I would still consider it to be a better browser, but Mozilla is very close.

P.S. I know I can make some of these things myself, but I havn't been able to yet. But I will start in probobly a couple of months.

I know this isn't machine learning but how about remembering the pages I had open when I closed Firefox and then displaying them again in tabs next time I open it. That is something I am used to in Avant Browser and I really miss in Firefox.
Another thing I would like is a minimize to tray feature.
One more thing I would like is a nice set of toolbar buttons to enable/disable things like pop-ups, images, javascript and so on instead of having to go through menus. These are also available in Avant Browser.
If Avant didn't use the Internet Explorer engine I would still consider it to be a better browser, but Mozilla is very close.

P.S. I know I can make some of these things myself, but I havn't been able to yet. But I will start in probobly a couple of months.

Avant Browser and MyIE 2 are both programs that make use of IE for displaying and both contain tabbed browsing.

IE users can use IE with tabbed browsing But the solution is like many in microsoft softwares world, with third part software: avant Anyway, IE still a piece of crap with a poor css2 suport and many many other issues, not only security, but the browser allow the pages to do things the user doesn't want.

Flawless pop-up blocking, the beauty of tabbed browsing

Nothing that IE doesn't have

I then tried avant browser and it worked...

From Avant Browser FAQ:

Is Avant Browser a secure browser?
Yes, Avant Browser is secure. Since it's based on Internet Explorer, Avant Browser is as secure as Internet Explorer.

:)

You are using same rendering engine. I suspect that Scob would get you in Avant Browser too. Same goes to other IE clones.

Mozilla may not work, but you don't have to keep using IE. You might want to try MyIE 2 or Avant Browser a try. They both use IE's rendering engine, so they'd have a higher chance of working.

I use FireFox just as much, though. I do a fair bit of cross-browser testing, and sometimes it's just refreshing to use an all around good product like FireFox.

I prefer AvantBrowser when IE is necessary.

You can do tabbed browsing using Avant Browser. I installed it, used it, uninstalled it, went back to Opera. Looked OK to me, but I like Opera better on the PC, and Safari on my Mac. Firefox is damned fast though. YMMV etc.

Anyone who for whatever reason must use Internet Explorer but would like to have tabbed browsing along with control over what is displayed (sounds, flash, popups, etc.) should try Avant Browser. It uses IE's API, but has many useful additional features.

Avant Browser

Crazy Browser

My IE2

Those are just a few off the top of my head.

Crazy Browser

My IE2

Those are just a few off the top of my head. IE can be hosted as a control inside any other application. You don't like IE? Fine, use the rendering engine in any application you want. Hey, make it open source if you want!

Crazy Browser

My IE2

Those are just a few off the top of my head. IE can be hosted as a control inside any other application. You don't like IE? Fine, use the rendering engine in any application you want. Hey, make it open source if you want...

Avant Browser

Crazy Browser

My IE2

Those are just a few off the top of my head. IE can be hosted as a control inside any other application. You don't like IE? Fine, use the rendering engine in any application you want. Hey, make it open source if you want.

Crazy Browser

My IE2

Those are just a few off the top of my head. IE can be hosted as a control inside any other application. You don't like IE? Fine, use the rendering engine in any application you want. Hey, make it open source if you want.

Opera was nice, but after version 7 it just seemed to lose the attraction, mostly because they STILL couldn't get java working right.

I use Avant, and it behaves very nicely. Pages are rendered by IE, but has good anti-popup/java/flash/activex/etc controls, and its tabbing is right on par with Opera (BOOO, Mozilla!). Has gestures too, but I don't use them so I don't know how good they are.

Cheap techology is great -- make digital cameras inexpensive, offer an SDK to grab their output, and folks will come up with wonderful ideas for how to abuse them. Devices like EyeToy are mostly just oddities now, but I'd like to see them used to popularize gestural interfaces.

Arkane Studios' RPG, Arx Fatalis is one of a handful of titles that offers gestural input, with its mouse-gesture-based spells. But this was more a novelty than a boon for usability -- it would have been easier to cast a spell by clicking icons. Perhaps a sequel will allow you to embellish your runes with serifs to achieve subtle variations on an incantation?

Avant Browser offers up a more useful gestural interface -- and I like it because it allows me to execute common tasks more easily. Rather than having to hit a smallish "new window" icon, I can rudely right-click anywhere on a window and sloppily drag my mouse upwards to open a new window.

EyeToy takes this a step further and does away with the mouse altogether; and though I had modest luck with the thing when I played against the noisy backdrop at Toys "R" Us, here's hoping that it's the first among many such interfaces. Perhaps five years down the road, a) gestures will be common, b) we'll laugh at what Minority Report got wrong, and c) we'll thank goofy gadgets like this one for paving the way.

After all, it was pretty silly to have a "Rat" for the Atari 800.
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