Alternative Browsers


My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 22631.3447
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Trycoo
    CPU
    Intel(R) N100 800 MHz
    Motherboard
    WI-6
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel UHD Graphics: 8086-4E61
    Sound Card
    USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP E241i
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Other Info
    http://speccy.piriform.com/results/NwxSjHiPVH0y4XLSt8D2NvS
Is it different from the MS Edge split screen?
I think so..., the last time I had Edge, the Split Screen function seemed to mount separate overlays in the same window, with an annoying border around them..., I could be wrong now though, been a while since I ran Edge.
The address bar pertains to whichever tab has focus.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS ROG Strix
  • Operating System
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS VivoBook
Brave can also block any element of a web page. Such as banners (not advertising ones).
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 26100.2894
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Swift SF114-34
    CPU
    Pentium Silver N6000 1.10GHz
    Memory
    4GB
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SSD
    Cooling
    fanless
    Internet Speed
    150 Mbps
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    Webroot Secure Anywhere
    Other Info
    System 3

    ASUS T100TA Transformer
    Processor Intel Atom Z3740 @ 1.33GHz
    Installed RAM 2.00 GB (1.89 GB usable)
    System type 32-bit operating system, x64-based processor

    Edition Windows 10 Home
    Version 22H2 build 19045.3570
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.2506
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Mini 210-1090NR PC (bought in late 2009!)
    CPU
    Atom N450 1.66GHz
    Memory
    2GB
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    Webroot
Interesting one -- no ads etc is a TEXT based browser(Lynx and derivatives).

Opera used to be an OK "classical type" browser with a built in VPN but it's gone all chromium based.

I still like firefox -- especially with the menu option and the toolbar arrangement seems far better than other browsers for accessing your most popular sites.

As for things like Netflix -- why play them in a browser at all -- use the proper app.

cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP,7,10,11 Linux Arch Linux
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2 X Intel i7
Yes, I know it's been discussed in the past, but, let's go again!

Got any favorite alternative browsers?
Feel free to list a few, and why you like them.
There is also this very good (so far) Firefox (Gecko) derivative (written by Japanese students) which enables multiple tab rows (see below) on that as a feature (go to preferences>design). See review here. And with Floorp, I found you can concurrently run multiple installations of Floorp just by placing it in a different folder and running Floorp\floorp.exe from there. I will have to pray that they do not go the Chrome imitation route.

Reviews: https://www.fastcompany.com/9103875...ps://discuss.getsol.us/d/10747-floorp-browser



Besides two installations of the above, as my main browser(s), I am blessed to be able to (have 128GB of RAM and) run multiple Firefox portable installations (Mozilla Firefox, Portable (browser) | PortableApps.com), each install for its own general but organizational purpose. and which load separately. Athough to enable them to run concurrently, in your profile folder you need to place and edit a copy of the FirefoxPortable.ini from Other\Source to the main folder of FirefoxPortable (in Windows, not Linux, you canjust right click on the shortcut Firefox icon, then hit Properties,then Open File location which is where you want to placeFirefoxPortable.ini, which is to be found and copied from in theOther>Source folder). Paste and then edit/change thatFirefoxPortable.ini to AllowMultipleInstances=trueDisableIntelligentStart=true.

As for the best Chromium-based browser, IMO it is Vivaldi. ,and you can enable multiple tab rows on that, as you can for Firefox via various instructions, none of which are official options. I foundthat The Patcher works well (though FF updates sometimes broke it,thus needing an update).

Below ismy multilevel Taskbar in W/11 232H2 (using Explorer Patcher, and 7+Taskbar Tweaker beta), and below that image is one of FF with multiple tab rows.
TB-12-12-24.webp
ISODark-FF-theme-by-Isobit[1].webpI thank God for such tools, hopefully used to what is Good in His eyes.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro, Ver. 23h2 build 22631 (as of 11-24)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home built:
    CPU
    Ryzen 3200G CPU;
    Motherboard
    MSI B450 Pro
    Memory
    128 GB Patriot 3200hz
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon Vega (integrated)
, I am blessed to be able to (have 128GB of RAM and) run multiple Firefox portable installations (Mozilla Firefox, Portable (browser) | PortableApps.com), each install for its own general but organizational purpose. and which load separately. Athough to enable them to run concurrently, in your profile folder you need to place and edit a copy of the FirefoxPortable.ini from Other\Source to the main folder of FirefoxPortable (in Windows, not Linux, you canjust right click on the shortcut Firefox icon, then hit Properties,then Open File location which is where you want to placeFirefoxPortable.ini, which is to be found and copied from in theOther>Source folder). Paste and then edit/change thatFirefoxPortable.ini to AllowMultipleInstances=trueDisableIntelligentStart=true.
Been using AllowMultipleInstances=true for years, and I agree that DisableIntelligentStart=true can also come in handy sometimes, but so can BrowseRouter. GitHub - nref/BrowseRouter: In Windows, launch a different browser depending on the url
Another thing is that you can register any portable browser as an app, then set it as your default browser on Windows. Set Firefox Portable as default browser | PortableApps.com
But the real power and flexibility of using Portable Firefox in this way IMO still comes from running it under the supervision of Sandboxie-Plus (with multiple sandboxes as needed). Some say Firefox is less secure than Chrome due to the latter having better sandboxing. But I like to have my cake and eat it too. So, I say every problem can be fixed because all you really need to know to fix it is that Sandboxie-Plus exists. lol

The AllowMultipleInstances=true works also for multiple instances even if they are identical. Just start the same instance multiple times, each in a different sandbox (with different sandbox settings for each different sandbox, also as needed). You don't actually even have to make multiple different copies of your FirefoxPortable folder to achieve this. Instead, what I like to do is use only one FirefoxPortable folder (i.e., one for each different version of Portable Firefox) most of the time, although this still sometimes depends on what exactly I want to achieve. This is possible due to the fact that Sandboxie-Plus keeps multiple (sandboxed) copies of the folder automatically for me.

So, each time when I want to change a setting (or install an addon or etc.) in Portable Firefox, I can choose to make this change only temporarily, i.e., only in the sandbox where it gets reset back to its original setting immediately the moment when I decide to clear the sandbox. ('Original' here not necessarily meaning 'Default', as this only refers to what's stored in the original folder, outside the sandbox.) Or choose to make it on a more permanent basis, in the original folder that is located outside the sandbox. To be able to differentiate between modifying the browser's settings in the sandbox and modifying them outside the sandbox, all it takes is to choose between starting the browser sandboxed and starting it not sandboxed, before using it to make the modifications.

As another bonus, by using Sandboxie-Plus to frequently avoid making multiple copies of the Portable Firefox and modifying them each, the total amount of storage space can be significantly reduced, which can tend to be extremely useful in those specific situations where the sandbox location is on a Ramdisk. (I use Romex Primo Ramdisk with DMM + compact, which helps to save even more RAM space than the ImDisk, and the performance is right up there.) Sandbox content can be copied also, and, I use my own script code to automate copying data between the Ramdisk and the SSD back and forth. So, it isn't just about how much RAM you have installed. Rather, it's also about how you use it.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus TUF Gaming F16 (2024)
    CPU
    i7 13650HX
    Memory
    16GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Cooling
    2× Arc Flow Fans, 4× exhaust vents, 5× heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
  • Operating System
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Medion S15450
    CPU
    i5 1135G7
    Memory
    16GB DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    2TB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
Brave can also block any element of a web page. Such as banners (not advertising ones).
Seems like Brave had a big update recently? It has supplanted Vivaldi as my #2 browser after FF and it renders a lot of pages that FF doesn't.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Ryzen 7 7700X
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte B-650 Aorus Elite AX
    Memory
    32GB DDR5 G.Skill
    Graphics Card(s)
    RTX 4060
    Sound Card
    On-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U2518 Dell U3223
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160
    Hard Drives
    1TB M.2 AData, Samsung 860 EVO, WD 5000AADS, WD10EZEX
    PSU
    EVGA 850
    Cooling
    AK400
    Keyboard
    Logi MXKeys
    Mouse
    Logi MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    200 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox, Vivaldi, Brave

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    Arctic Liquid Freezer III 420 RGB + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge , Arc
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
3) I can copy the Mozilla folder from PC and save it on my laptop in the same location.
C:\Users\xxxx\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla
I would then run Firefox in the laptop as adminstrator.
This would clone by Firefox in the laptop.

This is not unique to Firefox by any means.

Every time I clean install Windows, I grab all the relevant profiles from all the relevant browsers and restore them this way - Edge, Firefox, Chrome, and more. I never use the "log in and let it restore my data" function of any of the browsers because they all have some limiting factor - but this copy and paste during Windows setup after installation and in a couple of minutes all my browsers are exactly as they were before the clean install.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    Arctic Liquid Freezer III 420 RGB + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge , Arc
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
Running multiple different instances of the same browser concurrently side by side under the supervision of Sandboxie-Plus by running multiple different sandboxes at once is still unique to Portable Firefox with the AllowMultipleInstances=true in FirefoxPortable.ini AFAIK.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus TUF Gaming F16 (2024)
    CPU
    i7 13650HX
    Memory
    16GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Cooling
    2× Arc Flow Fans, 4× exhaust vents, 5× heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
  • Operating System
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Medion S15450
    CPU
    i5 1135G7
    Memory
    16GB DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    2TB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
Of the same profile?

Because IIRC you can already run multiple instances of Fx with different profiles without changing a setting, and that should work in portable Fx as well.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    Arctic Liquid Freezer III 420 RGB + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge , Arc
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
Same profile, different settings. (Optionally, different sandbox settings also in addition to that, albeit that is not unique to Portable Firefox of course.) That plus running your own automation scripts for making multiple copies of the same FirefoxPortable folder and of the multiple different sandbox folders to manipulate their contents in a whole bunch of different ways a lot of which cannot be done without using the combination of Portable Firefox, its AllowMultipleInstances=true setting and Sandboxie-Plus.

Sandboxed-Firefox-64px.webp
 
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My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus TUF Gaming F16 (2024)
    CPU
    i7 13650HX
    Memory
    16GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Cooling
    2× Arc Flow Fans, 4× exhaust vents, 5× heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF
  • Operating System
    11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Medion S15450
    CPU
    i5 1135G7
    Memory
    16GB DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    Eastern Electric MiniMax DAC Supreme; Emotiva UMC-200; Astell & Kern AK240
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia XR-55X90J
    Screen Resolution
    3840×2160
    Hard Drives
    2TB SSD internal
    37TB external
    PSU
    Li-ion
    Mouse
    Logitech G402
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Internet Speed
    20Mbit/s up, 250Mbit/s down
    Browser
    FF

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