Mozilla keeps improving Firefox. The improvements keep jamming up my desktop computer. I'm starting to think it's time to find another one and I'm not looking forward to it.
Or is it Firefox? Microsoft Edge is just as crashy.
I'm thinking it's a hardware problem. My desktop machine was old and underpowered when I bought it. Need something fast, cheap and moderately powerful, though I don't run any computer games, so the performance requirements are modest other than the occasional dozen open tabs in Firefox.
Brave Browser replaced Firefox for me. It seems to use Chrome plug-ins and has done pretty well for me thus far - plus Brave blocks a lot of unwanted crud for more privacy.
ReplyDeletede W7GD aka Cap'n Bob
I use the Pale Moon version of Firefox and it's OK for my Amazon ordering but like Cap'n Bob I use Brave for the heavy lifting.
ReplyDeleteIF you buying...
ReplyDeleteI use a MINTbox the first version, the current one if the -2 version ans has a bit more oomph. I be a linux user and generally it requires less than winders to get
stuff done. I have an IBM R40 (ca 2007) with a lowely PII at 1.6ghz and 3gb
of ram running Ubuntu that while not a speed racer is reliable and runs latest Thunderbird and Chrome.
Modern systems are usually quad core, Processor speed in the 1.6ghz range
is actually adequate. For less than rocket science and gaming the actual CPU
is not all that big a deal. Ram is a big thing, generally more is better,
8gb is barely enough and 12gb does it well.
Winders-10 wants lots of ram to run well and a 2ghz quad core cpu will be fine.
There a lot of stuff out there in the 250-600$ range new that meets that or
exceeds it.
Generally under linux and win-10 (work system) I found chrome and Firefox to be
the preferred browser. Edge just annoyed me at every instance.
Eck!
I'm now using Brave. It has ad blocking built in and seems more robust than either chrome or firefox.
ReplyDelete$.02
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Firefox was locking up on me, so I switched to Chrome. Latest Firefox update seems stable on the laptop, so I'm back to only using Chrome for when I need to do work-related web ail, the site won't run on anything but Chrome or Internet Exploder...
ReplyDeleteHave used Pale Moon, I'll check out Brave, but Chrome and Chrome plug-ins/extensions seem pretty limited in my recent experience.
...I hate using Chrome, using anything Google bugs me, due to their willingness to droll over whenever oppressive regimes look at them sideways. Actually thinking of switching to an iPhone!
Thanks for the tip, CapnBob. I'm trying Brave and it seems noticeably faster. I was going to recommend WaterFox, but it only plays in the 64-bit pool.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, I'm running a Dell Optiplex-960 desktop that just celebrated its 10th birthday. I've waved goodbye to Windows 7 and FireFox for Linux Mint and now Brave.
I would use brave before FireFox. It had got old and creaky before.
ReplyDeleteI use chrome a lot now, but about to ditch that as goolge has too many hooks into chrome.
Do you even need a desktop?
ReplyDeleteMeaning, do you need it for anything your laptops (suitably networked to a printer) can't do?
My PC died about three years ago, and since then I have used only my tablet. I don't write like you do, and I keep my financial records uncomputerized, but I have a lot more space on my desk now.
Jeffrey, I like to have a very big monitor, which gets around the excessive screen clutter of most Windows apps by giving me a workspace effectively about as big as an old-time fullscreen editor provided when I was younger and sharper-eyed. The bi screen has all the goofy-cute icon-rich menus around the perimeter.
ReplyDeleteLaptops also run hotter and have shorter lives than a real desktop. I've gone laptop-only before and it was frustrating; plus, the laptop is really vulnerable. I have a small mob of cheap portables and it comforts me to have a "mainframe" clunking away on my desk.
No matter what the system says it will run well with regarding memory, don't believe it. Stuff the maximum into it that it can handle.
ReplyDeleteOn laptops, don't bother with any that doesn't have a cooling fan, unless you are planning on mounting it on an external cooling plate system. Never set any laptop or other small system directly onto a soft surface, such as a bed or couch. Keep the air ports clean. Once a year or so, take the covers off a laptop and vacuum/brush/clean the heat exchanger so it works correctly. Do the same inside a desktop. Amazing how much dust and hair collects in computers. Makes a really good heat insulating blanket.
Laptop was a really bad name for them. They in no way belong on a lap. Portable desktop is a little clunky, terminology wise, but more accurate.
BTW, laptops shouldn't have any problems running an external large screen. Heck, my ~9 year old Dell has buttons to control that setup.
ReplyDelete