I'm currently using IE7, which has been fine but has now started playing up, mostly by 'not responding'. So I'm debating either updating to IE8 or installing an alternative browser. My laptop uses Vista, if that makes a difference. Any suggestions?

- Alisha (who has just lost her 'Hack from Nowheresville' status, which she feels sad about because it summed her up nicely!)

Hi Alisha,

LOL re: your "Hack from Nowheresville" comment -- I felt the same way when I became a beat reporter.

I like both FireFox and Chrome. Chrome is faster, but it doesn't seem as stable on my computer. (It is actually supposed to be more stable and, being less popular, is less frequently attacked by hackers.) One reason I like both of them is that they are customizable via add-ons.

Opera isn't anywhere near as popular as the two I use, but it also has its following. The nice thing about browsers is that they are free -- you can always install one and try it out, and then uninstall it if you don't like it.

Edit: Kim Komando has a discussion comparing several browsers. You might find it helpful.

Joy,
Lynn

I've been using Firefox mostly, for a few years now. But it has started to crash quite a lot recently. I've tried Opera and like some elements of it, but others frustrate me.

But, again, it's pretty much a personal choice and, as Lynn says, they're free, so you can try out as many as you like and see what fits. They all have their pros and cons.

LabRat

Thanks for the advice. So far I've tried Chrome and Firefox. Chrome does seem to be faster, but I think I prefer Firefox. I guess I'll just play around with them and see how it goes. Thanks again.

- Alisha (forever a Hack from Nowheresville )

Hi Alisha,

I've been a Firefox user for years but recently I've started using Chrome more and more. I'm very close to moving over to Chrome as my primary browser. On my computers Firefox always loads very slowly and feels slow.

I will always keep a copy of IE around because I keep running into things that just don't work right unless you use IE.

Good luck with whichever you choose.
Bob

It's also hard as heck to remove IE. Nigh impossible. Thanks, Microsoft!

I tend to use Firefox at work, since it's the only tabbed browser that works on Windows 2000. At home, I'm a Safari user.