Chrome may be the most used browser, but it isn’t necessarily the best one out there. Alternatives exist that could better meet your needs.
One such option is Firefox. It’s a rare browser not based on Chromium, the project that powers Chrome, unlike other rivals like Edge or Opera. It’s also backed by a team with a long, storied history in browser development and a deep interest in online privacy. As a result, using Firefox can boost your PC’s performance, better protect you on the web, and also make life more convenient, too. You’ll find it offers built-in features that don’t exist in Chrome or otherwise require third-party add-ons.
Automatic blocking of autoplay videos
Many websites have videos and other media that automatically play when you load the page. But not all automatically mute the audio, despite near-universal hatred for having sudden noise blaring in the background. Autoplay video can eat bandwidth unnecessarily when you’re on a connection with limited data.
In Chrome, if you want to block sites that go hard with autoplay, you need to find and install a third-party extension. Firefox, on the other hand, keeps tabs in hand by default. Out of the box, audio is muted, and for YouTube, autoplay for both audio and video are blocked. And blocking autoplay video across the web by default is a easy, fast change in Firefox’s settings.
Speedier website browsing
A fresh installation of Firefox automatically blocks trackers that can make browsing feel slow. The more scripts that must load as part of a website, the more you’ll feel them. Even if they’re running invisibly in the background, they’re still there. Keep them from running and your web surfing should feel much snappier.
Firefox also stops cryptominers from accessing your device, aka cryptojacking—it’s when a website allows malicious code to use your computer to mine for cryptocurrency. Indirectly, this protective feature helps with browsing speed too. If your system resources get tied up by a cryptominer accessing your device, your PC will feel sluggish, including when you’re browsing online.
Lighter on system resources
Chrome has a reputation for hogging system resources—namely RAM, but sometimes it also hits your CPU harder than expected, too. Google has taken steps to curtail these problems, but Firefox hasn’t had the same issues with regular memory leaks. It also generally goes light on system resources. Even when you begin piling on tabs and windows, browsing sessions don’t slow down.
That said, Firefox can occasionally suffer from memory bloat as well, if you like to leave many tabs open for days. But you can quickly fix that problem by using Firefox’s Task Manager to nuke and then bring back a tab gone amok. Or, if you have the browser set to remember your browsing history, closing the app entirely and reopening it. (Your tabs should be automatically restored.) You don’t need to reboot your whole system.
Deeper safeguards for privacy
Beyond automatically keeping third-party cookies and trackers from gathering data about your browsing habits, Firefox also blocks fingerprinting, a more insidious method of monitoring people across the web. A digital fingerprint collates information about your PC’s hardware, software (like your operating system and browser), add-ons, preferences, and sometimes more like themes and customizations. The tracking of a fingerprint can take place over months or even longer, meaning whoever looks at the data can form a clear picture of your private life and habits. Think of it as a more invasive form of someone stalking you via public Instagram and other social media accounts—but instead, they’re learning information you haven’t chosen to share publicly. Maybe not even with your closest friends and family.
Firefox also allows users to enable DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH). Normally when you enter a URL (e.g., PCWorld) into your address bar and hit enter, the lookup of the IP address that the domain name resolves to is done over plain text. Meaning, anyone on your network can see what sites you’re accessing. But if you force the process to happen over an encrypted server, you thwart any such attempts at nosiness.
Open-source code
Ask current Firefox users why they switched, and you’ll often hear “It’s not Chrome.”
What makes Chrome so bad, you ask? The big issue for most is having all of your data locked to a company that makes its money through advertising. (Recall the saying that if a service is free, you’re the product.) That’s a large privacy concern.
But beyond that, it’s harder for the community to vet the security of Chrome, too. Despite being built on an open-source project (Chromium), the official Chrome browser mixes in Google’s proprietary spin on that code and keeps the final results under wraps. Users can’t examine for themselves how things are constructed. Many people don’t think about this as an issue, but knowing how something is made can tell you a lot more about its weaknesses—and any other elements that might not sit well with you. With Firefox, that’s not an issue.
8 reasons to ditch Chrome and switch to Firefox
- Thread starter Imranmt
- Start date
Another thing is that Firefox uses more CPU and pages load a lot slower than on Chrome(ium), the amount of RAM an browser uses is irrevelant if you have 8 GB of ram or more.
Privacy isnt also that great by default
Another false statement.
- Aug 17, 2014
- 11,081
Yeah, this blog is The Holy Grail for "special" users of Chrome, does anyone really believe such nonsense written by an self-proclaimed expert
Well, you are wrong on this point for sure, although may depends how effective is this feature:
Firefox's protection against fingerprinting | Firefox Help
Fingerprinting Protection in Firefox protects you from websites that try to identify you based on a set of unique characteristics.
support.mozilla.org
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If you had actually read the article, you would have come across this:Yeah, this blog is The Holy Grail for "special" users of Chrome, does anyone really believe such nonsense written by an self-proclaimed expert
Well, you are wrong on this point for sure, although may depends how effective is this feature:
Firefox's protection against fingerprinting | Firefox Help
Fingerprinting Protection in Firefox protects you from websites that try to identify you based on a set of unique characteristics.
4. Other Security Researchers' Views on Firefox
Also, use Firefox, go to any site that tests your browser fingerprint and dare to tell me it will report as anything but unique.
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And yet it still beats Google to quote from the same site.
Which is why I said this, I never claimed it didnt beat Chrome, I am just saying it isnt as privacy friendly as most people make it out to be, at default that is.
Also, modern tracking methods use your digital fingerprint, meaning that fancy tracking blocking (Which contains whitelisted trackers) wont do much when you cant protect your users from fingerprinting.
- Jul 27, 2015
- 5,458
- Feb 25, 2017
- 2,585
nearly unique ≠ unique
- Aug 17, 2014
- 11,081
I knew very well this blog, here a former forums member mentioned the same stuff for several times.
Why should I care about all researchers who are listed there, how are those people verified as experts, twitter is not always a real sign
In this article, some points are true but not all, believe it or not, it's up to everyone what he believes...
- Aug 17, 2014
- 11,081
1st, you should quote correctly, the full comment and my username included.
2nd, I don't need to waste my time with research about those people you linked, the short version is clear:
Chrome and chromium based browsers are more secure than Firefox.
I will ignore all further comments from you, but I guess you will continue posting as you want to be always the one with the last word...
- Jul 5, 2017
- 109
I tried the Cover Your Tracks website with three browsers: Chrome, Firefox and Edge.
This is Chrome and Firefox.
This is Edge:
This is Chrome and Firefox.
This is Edge:
I see this page posted a lot when people discuss Chromium vs Firefox. The problem with it is Firefox being less secure in theory doesn't equate to it being less secure in practice, and it certainly doesn't establish Firefox as being insecure (which is generally the implication when this checklist is posted).
Vulnerabilities that're disclosed or being actively exploited are promptly patched, and Mozilla continues to improve Firefox's security architecture (albeit slowly).
Frankly, I find Madaidan's warning against the use of Firefox rings hollow when I and presumably millions of other Firefox users have never encountered a security issue involving the browser.
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Maybe he did, this so called experts are not even aware AutoPlay has been a feature in Chrome for a good while now (no need for addons), that is enough to ruin their so called expertise, no need to read below the first so called "fact".
- Jan 27, 2012
- 371
- May 26, 2014
- 1,339
LibreWolf results (privacy oriented fork of Mozilla Firefox):
Ps: With Brave I got a randomized fingerprint as expected.
Ps 2: This nearly-unique fingerprint is a bit misleading, all LibreWolf users should have the same fingerprint, so its tracking protection is nothing short of stellar.
Ps: With Brave I got a randomized fingerprint as expected.
Ps 2: This nearly-unique fingerprint is a bit misleading, all LibreWolf users should have the same fingerprint, so its tracking protection is nothing short of stellar.
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- Mar 25, 2021
- 515
What settings/extension do you use to achieve that result? I researched for a bit but nothing came up to me.
Thanks
- Feb 26, 2021
- 946
LibreWolf results (privacy oriented fork of Mozilla Firefox):
Ps: With Brave I got a randomized fingerprint as expected.
Ps 2: This nearly-unique fingerprint is a bit misleading, all LibreWolf users should have the same fingerprint, so its tracking protection is nothing short of stellar.
Isn't LibreWolf just awesome?!? Firefox without telemetry...
- Jan 27, 2012
- 371
I use the JShelter extension that will completely block fingerprinting.
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