soveryapt Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 So, IE, the bug bear of most things that likes to throw up random things every so often meaning sites don't work (today being mainly our Mahara Profile Editor page) but then you load the same page in Chrome or Firefox and et voila, all issues have gone. So my question is this, how many of you install alternative internet browsers as standard these days and of those alternative browsers, which do you favour? I'm fancying more along the lines of Chrome over FireFox as it just seems a simpler package, but I'm willing to be converted either way. Thanks Andy T
clareq Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 I've rolled out Chrome, mainly because the GPO is available and so we can manage Chrome as easily as IE. 1
soveryapt Posted September 17, 2012 Author Posted September 17, 2012 I've rolled out Chrome, mainly because the GPO is available and so we can manage Chrome as easily as IE. Indeed .. another reason for liking it .. it's easily managed ..
maark Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 We have rolled out chrome - users can use IE as well. As stated in previous post - GPO's are available and also MSI's from google. Not sure if this is the case for firefox and also there were problems with the version being updated so often. We did it to give better compatibility with google apps. 1
Geoff Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 (edited) Way back when, I used to deploy firefox. However I've preferred Chrome for the last year or two for the reasons outlined above. The MSI and GPO are readily available for Chrome. It's certainly possible to get an MSI and GPO for Firefox too, but you are relying on third parties and jumping through multiple hoops to get to the same place. All taking up valuable time and effort. Additionally on a personal level I've moved from Firefox to Chrome. I've found Firefox to get slow and unstable after several iterations of plugin installs requiring me to nuke the user profile to get it back to a usable state. The other show stopper for me was that Youtube videos would not play smoothly. So that was the final nail in the coffin for me with Firefox. Edited September 17, 2012 by Geoff 1
soveryapt Posted September 17, 2012 Author Posted September 17, 2012 Way back when, I used to deploy firefox. However I've preferred Chrome for the last year or two for the reasons outlined above. The MSI and GPO are readily available for Chrome. It's certainly possible to get an MSI and GPO for Firefox too, but you are relying on third parties and jumping through multiple hoops to get to the same place. All taking up valuable time and effort. Additionally on a personal level I've moved from Firefox to Chrome. I've found Firefox to get slow and unstable after several iterations of plugin installs requiring me to nuke the user profile to get it back to a usable state. The other show stopper for me was that Youtube videos would not play smoothly. So that was the final nail in the coffin for me with Firefox. Yeah, I found the same with Firefox, always get's really slow after a few version upgrades .. I'd prefer Chrome, I just thought I'd offer the alternative thought too and see what people think .. Think I'll go grab the Chrome MSI and get installing ..
SYNACK Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 We push Firefox and default to IE, we have to the dirty 'portable' web apps from the MoE some of which work only with IE, some only with Firefox and some only partially in each. I have to say this web app stuff is 'soooo' much better, now instead of having to install a different application for each task we have to install a different web browser for each application for each task and add another level of lacking support in-between. Standards are a joke and everyone is trying to push the envelope in a different direction. 1
british_government Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 I assume everybody using Chrome is the full google (market research) chrome? Anybody used a clean Chromium deployment? I'm assuming the google GPO's will still work as it is, essentially, the same browser except without google's data gathering!
SYNACK Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 I assume everybody using Chrome is the full google (market research) chrome? Anybody used a clean Chromium deployment? I'm assuming the google GPO's will still work as it is, essentially, the same browser except without google's data gathering! Doubtful, that is likely to be a Google extra but its woth a test.
apeo Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 Am I right in thinking that Firefox profiles can be troublesome, in that it could get quite large.
british_government Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 Doubtful, that is likely to be a Google extra but its woth a test. Just looked through the ADM files, they all have specific google registry keys, it could be rewritten if needed but I guess just going straight with Google is the easiest way.
SYNACK Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 Am I right in thinking that Firefox profiles can be troublesome, in that it could get quite large. Yes, TROUBLE, thanks the nasty *nix habit of writing everything to a billion files that have longer filenames than the content stored on them they can cause havoc with roaming profiles, offline files etc. The problems are usually isolated to a few users but it makes a big mess.
british_government Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 Also on firefox there used to be, and please correct me if this is now resolved, an issue with stored passwords being store in shared profile instead of the users so they were view-able in plain text to all users on a machine.
Arthur Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 Anybody used a clean Chromium deployment? No, because it's missing quite a lot of useful features that Chrome has. wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_(web_browser)#Differences_from_Google_Chrome
Geoff Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 I have Chromium here on my Linux laptop (for obvious reasons) and I can't say it's missing anything I need day to day.
CyberNerd Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 (edited) We install Chrome, Firefox, IE and let the users decide. our webserver stats including BYOD are as follows. I edited this - i sent the wrong data. MSIE 197,294 22.2 % Msie 9.0 No 89,974 10.1 % Msie 8.0 No 55,190 6.2 % Msie 7.0 No 50,919 5.7 % Msie 6.0 No 1,209 0.1 % Msie 5.0 No 2 0 % FIREFOX 119,762 13.5 % Firefox 16.0 No 388 0 % Firefox 15.0.1 No 12,615 1.4 % Firefox 15.0 No 8,581 0.9 % Firefox 14.0.1 No 12,248 1.3 % Firefox 14.0 No 3 0 % Firefox 13.0.1 No 3,185 0.3 % Firefox 13.0 No 268 0 % Firefox 12.0 No 1,832 0.2 % Firefox 11.0 No 466 0 % Firefox 10.0.7 No 393 0 % Firefox 10.0.6 No 2,442 0.2 % Firefox 10.0.5 No 126 0 % Firefox 10.0.3 No 113 0 % Firefox 10.0.2 No 67,714 7.6 % Firefox 10.0 No 73 0 % Firefox 9.0.1 No 956 0.1 % Firefox 9.0 No 13 0 % Firefox 8.0.1 No 215 0 % Firefox 8.0 No 31 0 % Firefox 7.0.1 No 536 0 % Firefox 6.0.2 No 1,294 0.1 % Firefox 6.0 No 16 0 % Firefox 5.02 No 4 0 % Firefox 5.0.1 No 312 0 % Firefox 5.0 No 206 0 % Firefox 4.0.1 No 315 0 % Firefox 4.0 No 7 0 % Firefox 4. No 1 0 % Firefox 3.8 No 1 0 % Firefox 3.6.28 No 2,308 0.2 % Firefox 3.6.27 No 4 0 % Firefox 3.6.25 No 590 0 % Firefox 3.6.24 No 114 0 % Firefox 3.6.23 No 44 0 % Firefox 3.6.15 No 2 0 % Firefox 3.6.13 No 1,715 0.1 % Firefox 3.6.11 No 1 0 % Firefox 3.6.10 No 61 0 % Firefox 3.6.7 No 1 0 % Firefox 3.6.4 No 4 0 % Firefox 3.6.3 No 8 0 % Firefox 3.6 No 7 0 % Firefox 3.5.5 No 208 0 % Firefox 3.5.3 No 77 0 % Firefox 3.0.15 No 17 0 % Firefox 3.0.10 No 60 0 % Firefox 3.0.8 No 1 0 % Firefox 3.0.7 No 1 0 % Firefox 3.0.5 No 25 0 % Firefox 3.0.4 No 63 0 % Firefox 3.0.3 No 12 0 % Firefox 2.0.0.20 No 69 0 % Firefox 2.0.0.6 No 10 0 % Firefox ? No 6 0 % NETSCAPE 1,202 0.1 % Netscape 6.0 No 2 0 % Netscape 5.0 No 64 0 % Netscape 4.76 No 1 0 % Netscape 4.0 No 1,132 0.1 % Netscape ? No 3 0 % OPERA 1,750 0.1 % Opera 9.80 No 1,743 0.1 % Opera 9.52 No 7 0 % SAFARI 169,255 19 % Safari 7.2.0.1 No 332 0 % Safari 7.1.0.398 No 275 0 % Safari 7.1.0.342 No 249 0 % Safari 7.0.0.590 No 59 0 % Safari 7.0.0.530 No 80 0 % Safari 7.0.0.528 No 63 0 % Safari 7.0.0.513 No 202 0 % Safari 7.0.0.400 No 538 0 % Safari 7.0.0.353 No 64 0 % Safari 7.0.0.296 No 63 0 % Safari 6.0.0.668 No 280 0 % Safari 6.0.0.600 No 606 0 % Safari 6.0.0.570 No 249 0 % Safari 6.0.0.546 No 63 0 % Safari 6.0.0.534 No 190 0 % Safari 6.0.0.448 No 189 0 % Safari 6.0.0.246 No 309 0 % Safari 6.0 No 53,154 5.9 % Safari 5.1.7 No 15,861 1.7 % Safari 5.1.6 No 4,456 0.5 % Safari 5.1.5 No 2,424 0.2 % Safari 5.1.4 No 125 0 % Safari 5.1.3 No 372 0 % Safari 5.1.2 No 4,443 0.5 % Safari 5.1.1 No 3,506 0.3 % Safari 5.1 No 60,183 6.7 % Safari 5.0.6 No 2,543 0.2 % Safari 5.0.5 No 3,483 0.3 % Safari 5.0.4 No 320 0 % Safari 5.0.2 No 6,700 0.7 % Safari 5.0 No 63 0 % Safari 4.1.3 No 1,228 0.1 % Safari 4.0.5 No 643 0 % Safari 4.0.4 No 1,643 0.1 % Safari 4.0.3 No 1 0 % Safari 4.0.2 No 162 0 % Safari 4.0 No 515 0 % Safari 3.03 No 1 0 % Safari 3.2.2 No 376 0 % Safari 3.2.1 No 20 0 % Safari 3.1.2 No 26 0 % Safari 3.1.1 No 13 0 % Safari 3.0 No 59 0 % Safari 2.0.4 No 2 0 % Safari 2.0.1 No 1 0 % Safari 1.0 No 61 0 % Safari ? No 3,060 0.3 % CHROME 320,522 36.1 % Chrome 22.0.1229.56 No 70 0 % Chrome 22.0.1229.52 No 20 0 % Chrome 22.0.1229.39 No 98 0 % Chrome 22.0.1229.36 No 12 0 % Chrome 22.0.1229.26 No 276 0 % Chrome 21.0.1180.89 No 270,644 30.5 % Chrome 21.0.1180.83 No 27,067 3 % Chrome 21.0.1180.82 No 2,810 0.3 % Chrome 21.0.1180.81 No 343 0 % Chrome 21.0.1180.79 No 1,948 0.2 % Chrome 21.0.1180.77 No 395 0 % Chrome 21.0.1180.75 No 8,489 0.9 % Chrome 21.0.1180.60 No 187 0 % Chrome 21.0.1180.57 No 171 0 % Chrome 20.0.1150.1 No 4 0 % Chrome 20.0.1132.57 No 651 0 % Chrome 20.0.1132.47 No 154 0 % Chrome 20.0.1132.27 No 4 0 % Chrome 20.0.1096.1 No 7 0 % Chrome 19.0.1100.0 No 416 0 % Chrome 19.0.1084.56 No 257 0 % Chrome 19.0.1084.52 No 77 0 % Chrome 19.0.1084.46 No 10 0 % Chrome 19.0.1084.36 No 155 0 % Chrome 18.6.861.0 No 9 0 % Chrome 18.0.1025.1634 No 19 0 % Chrome 18.0.1025.168 No 135 0 % Chrome 18.0.1025.166 No 1,095 0.1 % Chrome 18.0.1025.165 No 28 0 % Chrome 18.0.1025.164 No 15 0 % Chrome 18.0.1025.162 No 1,059 0.1 % Chrome 18.0.1025.152 No 241 0 % Chrome 18.0.1025.142 No 3 0 % Chrome 17.0.963.83 No 62 0 % Chrome 17.0.963.79 No 1 0 % Chrome 17.0.963.66 No 122 0 % Chrome 17.0.963.56 No 121 0 % Chrome 17.0.963.46 No 10 0 % Chrome 17.0.963.6 No 61 0 % Chrome 16.0.912.77 No 9 0 % Chrome 16.0.912.75 No 3 0 % Chrome 16.0.912.63 No 374 0 % Chrome 15.0.874.121 No 4 0 % Chrome 15.0.874.106 No 1,364 0.1 % Chrome 15.0.872.0 No 3 0 % Chrome 14.0.850.0 No 3 0 % Chrome 14.0.835.187 No 2 0 % Chrome 14.0.835.186 No 64 0 % Chrome 14.0.792.0 No 3 0 % Chrome 13.0.782.112 No 2 0 % Chrome 12.0.742.122 No 270 0 % Chrome 12.0.742.112 No 19 0 % Chrome 12.0.742.100 No 62 0 % Chrome 12.0.742.91 No 74 0 % Chrome 12.0.725.0 No 133 0 % Chrome 11.0.696.77 No 40 0 % Chrome 11.0.696.60 No 61 0 % Chrome 10.0.648.204 No 66 0 % Chrome 10.0.648.133 No 1 0 % Chrome 9.0.597 No 451 0 % Chrome 8.0.552.23 No 4 0 % Chrome 7.0.517.44 No 129 0 % Chrome 7.0.517.8 No 1 0 % Chrome 6.0.472.63 No 64 0 % Chrome 5.0.375.99 No 64 0 % Chrome 1.0.154.36 No 2 0 % Chrome 0.4.154.29 No 4 0 % Others 76,622 8.6 % Unknown ? 48,236 5.4 % Android browser (PDA/Phone browser) No 17,188 1.9 % IPhone (PDA/Phone browser) No 2,894 0.3 % LG (PDA/Phone browser) No 2,254 0.2 % Mozilla No 2,085 0.2 % Sony/Ericsson Browser (PDA/Phone browser) No 2,022 0.2 % BlackBerry (PDA/Phone browser) No 564 0 % Samsung (PDA/Phone browser) No 424 0 % Motorola Browser (PDA/Phone browser) No 403 0 % Microsoft Data Access Component Internet Publishing Provider No 262 0 % Nokia Browser (PDA/Phone browser) No 168 0 % AppleSyndication (RSS Reader) No 61 0 % Wget Yes 26 0 % Curl Yes 13 0 % NetShow Player (media player) No 8 0 % Microsoft Data Access Component Internet Publishing Provider Cache Manager No 8 0 % Microsoft Data Access Component Internet Publishing Provider DAV No 5 0 % Apple iTunes (media player) No 1 0 % Edited September 17, 2012 by CyberNerd 1
CyberNerd Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 here's the O/S breakdown if anyone is interested: Windows 643,483 72.5 % Windows XP 158,849 17.9 % Windows Vista 194 0 % Windows (unknown version) 36,789 4.1 % Windows NT 5,292 0.5 % Windows ME 15 0 % Windows Vista (LongHorn) 50,504 5.6 % Windows Mobile 6,590 0.7 % Windows 7 221,716 25 % Windows 2003 163,530 18.4 % Windows 2000 4 0 % Linux 35,116 3.9 % Ubuntu 73 0 % Fedora 12 0 % Google Android 23,333 2.6 % GNU Linux (Unknown or unspecified distribution) 11,698 1.3 % Macintosh 193,870 21.8 % Mac OS X 193,870 21.8 % Others 13,938 1.5 % Unknown 8,931 1 % BlackBerry 4,043 0.4 % iOS (iPhone/iPod/iPad/...) 594 0 % Symbian OS 290 0 % Sony PlayStation 80 0 %
Arthur Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 I can't say it's missing anything I need day to day. Not even the integrated Flash Player, H.264 support and PDF viewer?
Geoff Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 Not even the integrated Flash Player, H.264 support and PDF viewer? It's a Linux machine, so I have MPlayer and Ghostscript installed. So no.
SYNACK Posted September 17, 2012 Posted September 17, 2012 @CyberNerd - OMG, Netscape. That's like seeing Commodore 64 on the OS list at this point
british_government Posted September 18, 2012 Posted September 18, 2012 @CyberNerd - OMG, Netscape. That's like seeing Commodore 64 on the OS list at this point The Joy of being a modern day web developer having to cater for EVERYTHING, from like IE6 to beta IE10!
SYNACK Posted September 18, 2012 Posted September 18, 2012 The Joy of being a modern day web developer having to cater for EVERYTHING, from like IE6 to beta IE10! IE10 is not beta anymore, I have been running it on RTM Windows 8 for weeks now Just one more subset of crazy 'standards' from the feature pushing 'browser as an OS' crowd of browser devs.
british_government Posted September 18, 2012 Posted September 18, 2012 IE10 is not beta anymore, I have been running it on RTM Windows 8 for weeks now Just one more subset of crazy 'standards' from the feature pushing 'browser as an OS' crowd of browser devs. There you go, im out of date already!
itsmemario Posted September 18, 2012 Posted September 18, 2012 If you roll out Chrome I would suggest to think about turning of some of its information collector features for Google. Everything you type in the address bar goes to Google unless you disable that feature (instant search). Google is a star in profiling you
gshaw Posted September 18, 2012 Posted September 18, 2012 Chrome for us as well, works much better with Moodle than IE and generally quicker. Would set it as the default browser but we need IE for certain online IT exams so it gets a stay of execution... for now. Also watch out for the DNS pre-caching feature, tries to be clever but ends up slowing the browser right down (takes ages to do the lookup for page loads etc)
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