- May 26, 2014
- 1,051
If you like Chrome’s speed and simplicity, but disgust at Google tracking you, or Firefox’s addons and tweaks but hate the Australis, here are some alternatives to these two browsers that borrow the parent browser’s stuff, but fix the bad parts.
Best Firefox Alternatives:
1. Pale Moon
Pale Moon is my favorite alternative to Firefox. Like Chromium is to Chrome, Pale Moon is a slimmed down version of Firefox, focusing on speed more than tweaking, however, it still has the giant about:config tweaks and a large collection of Firefox addons, so what’s not to like to this speed demon? Oh, and no Australis! Yay
2. Waterfox
Umm… Err… Did I mention that Firefox has no 64 bit version? Whatttt
Waterfox comes to the rescue with a 64-bit Firefox, and nothing else. Same version, but 64 bit. Right now there’s no Australis, but it probably will follow suit, but just downloading it for the 64-bit fun would be worth it!
3. Comodo IceDragon
Comodo is your friend when it is lockdown time! IceDragon is a lock down version of Firefox and it works! The awesome interface, tons of addons, and tons of borrowed tweaks are still in. Again, Australis is not included!
What Not To Use:
-Flock It’s discontinued, period.
Best Chrome Alternatives:
1. Chromium Builds
Chromium isn’t based on Chrome, it’s vice versa, so applaud to the granddaddy of them all
You aren’t going to get PPAPI Flash and PDF Reader and missing out on Auto-Update, but it’s small price to pay for a nice, slimmed-down version of Chrome.
2. Maxthon Cloud Browser
This chinese browser is packed with tons of goodies, like screen capture and calculator, and includes lightning-fast surfing, and it’s the HTML5 king, even beating Chrome! There’s no auto-update but it’s not needed as Maxthon doesn’t update their browser often. There’s also built-in and auto-on IE Tab so every website is viewable!
3. Opera (Update v1.1)
When Opera announced its decision to be based on Chromium, a lot of people got a big shock. But.. Opera is still quite good, with unique things like Off-Road Mode and I like the interface much better than Chrome. Although it's not exactly like Opera 12, it's still Opera... and it's enough for me!
4. Yandex.Browser (Update v1.1)
This browser, developed by Russian Search Engine Yandex, offers lightning fast Chrome speed while creating a much more modern and slim user interface. I like that Yandex.Browser doesn't push Yandex as the default browser, in fact, Google is the default browser! All extensions and settings will be automatically transferred from Google Chrome
What Not To Use:
-SRWare Iron: SRware Iron simply is a scam for the developer to make money. The developer simply wants to gain fame so people will want to visit his site so he makes money, from Google’s Adsense! All the features can simply be disabled in the settings if you need to, but the “so-called features” actually aren’t for Google to track you. Pulling out the Auto-Update was simply nonsense, it’s open-source and what the heck would Google track you with an Updater? How fast you click “Yes”? How fast is your connection speed? Which version of Chrome you’re using? See more here.
-360 Safe Browser: It's fishy: It will bundle itself with 360 products, very hard to uninstall, will block other programs from becoming the default, and 360 TS will display constant popups to install this. Read more here.
-Flock 2: Discontinued as far as I know
Best Firefox Alternatives:
1. Pale Moon
Pale Moon is my favorite alternative to Firefox. Like Chromium is to Chrome, Pale Moon is a slimmed down version of Firefox, focusing on speed more than tweaking, however, it still has the giant about:config tweaks and a large collection of Firefox addons, so what’s not to like to this speed demon? Oh, and no Australis! Yay
2. Waterfox
Umm… Err… Did I mention that Firefox has no 64 bit version? Whatttt
Waterfox comes to the rescue with a 64-bit Firefox, and nothing else. Same version, but 64 bit. Right now there’s no Australis, but it probably will follow suit, but just downloading it for the 64-bit fun would be worth it!
3. Comodo IceDragon
Comodo is your friend when it is lockdown time! IceDragon is a lock down version of Firefox and it works! The awesome interface, tons of addons, and tons of borrowed tweaks are still in. Again, Australis is not included!
What Not To Use:
-Flock It’s discontinued, period.
Best Chrome Alternatives:
1. Chromium Builds
Chromium isn’t based on Chrome, it’s vice versa, so applaud to the granddaddy of them all
You aren’t going to get PPAPI Flash and PDF Reader and missing out on Auto-Update, but it’s small price to pay for a nice, slimmed-down version of Chrome.
2. Maxthon Cloud Browser
This chinese browser is packed with tons of goodies, like screen capture and calculator, and includes lightning-fast surfing, and it’s the HTML5 king, even beating Chrome! There’s no auto-update but it’s not needed as Maxthon doesn’t update their browser often. There’s also built-in and auto-on IE Tab so every website is viewable!
3. Opera (Update v1.1)
When Opera announced its decision to be based on Chromium, a lot of people got a big shock. But.. Opera is still quite good, with unique things like Off-Road Mode and I like the interface much better than Chrome. Although it's not exactly like Opera 12, it's still Opera... and it's enough for me!
4. Yandex.Browser (Update v1.1)
This browser, developed by Russian Search Engine Yandex, offers lightning fast Chrome speed while creating a much more modern and slim user interface. I like that Yandex.Browser doesn't push Yandex as the default browser, in fact, Google is the default browser! All extensions and settings will be automatically transferred from Google Chrome
What Not To Use:
-SRWare Iron: SRware Iron simply is a scam for the developer to make money. The developer simply wants to gain fame so people will want to visit his site so he makes money, from Google’s Adsense! All the features can simply be disabled in the settings if you need to, but the “so-called features” actually aren’t for Google to track you. Pulling out the Auto-Update was simply nonsense, it’s open-source and what the heck would Google track you with an Updater? How fast you click “Yes”? How fast is your connection speed? Which version of Chrome you’re using? See more here.
-360 Safe Browser: It's fishy: It will bundle itself with 360 products, very hard to uninstall, will block other programs from becoming the default, and 360 TS will display constant popups to install this. Read more here.
-Flock 2: Discontinued as far as I know
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