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I know - there are tons of questions comparing Google Chrome and Firefox but so far none seem to answer the question - which is better? I'm looking for personal experience here from "real people" comparing the pros and cons of both.

I use Firefox for personal browsing and at work - apart from the slow start up time I'm pretty impressed, especially with all the add ons. So, why is anybody going over to Chrome?

And, no, I don't consider IE an alternative... =:-)

Update: this question IS similar but not a comparison of pros & cons.

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It's not been asked because one of the close reasons here is "subjective and argumentative" :) – Phoshi Jul 5 '10 at 18:57
Subjective and argumentative questions are to avoid on these sites. This is not a discussion board, this is a place for questions that can be answered! Voting to close. – Gnoupi Jul 5 '10 at 18:59
"the simple question"? You say that as though one of them is undeniably better than the other and users of the inferior browser are just trying to cover it up – Michael Mrozek Jul 5 '10 at 18:59
Really? I've asked subjective questions before without any problems (on meta & SO). – Wikis Jul 5 '10 at 18:59
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"It's fast." Answer given by the folks who built chrome. – Pramod Sep 12 '12 at 12:45
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closed as not constructive by Gnoupi, Phoshi, Mehper C. Palavuzlar, techie007, Ivo Flipse♦ Jul 5 '10 at 20:57

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2 Answers

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Chrome.

Of course you maybe would ask: in what respect. But I consider Chrome better in nearly all respects. Also, you should keep in mind that the comparison is mostly about current Chrome and current Firefox. The upcoming Firefox 4 resolves many of the old problems (but still is not up to Chromes quality in my opinion).

Speed: Clearly won by Chrome.

Stability: Clearly won by Chrome. Esp. when you use multiple tabs. If one page on one tab sucks, it would take down whole FF or at least make it very slow. You will never ever see sth like that in Chrome.

Security: Also won by Chrome. Sandboxes etc.

Technology: Also won by Chrome. I won't go into details here (unless you wish so). Also you don't need to restart the browser when you disable/enable/install/uninstall some extension/addon.

Usability: Also won by Chrome. It's just simpler. It also has an inbuild PDF reader which just works and is extremely fast (just as loading any other webpage) (to be fair, I think it is not in the current stable yet).

...

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@Albert, thanks clear concise answer. But isn't FF way ahead on add-ons? – Wikis Jul 5 '10 at 19:07
You mean by the amount of existing addons? I dunno. FF has a much longer history than Chrome, so probably there are more addons around. But take a look at their archives, the amount of addons is growing very fast. chrome.google.com/extensions – Albert Jul 5 '10 at 19:09
@Albert, nice link, thanks. Though the fact that FF is older would only imply it is a more mature (and therefore probably superior) product. Any idea which has the fastest rate of new addons? – Wikis Jul 5 '10 at 19:19
No, not really. Probably still FF because of still bigger user base. But the growing rate of the rate of new addons is probably higher for Chrome. :) – Albert Jul 5 '10 at 19:29
@Albert - The "addon acceleration"? =:-) Seriously, sounds like Chrome is still for "early adopters"? – Wikis Jul 5 '10 at 19:39
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I'm considering going over to Chrome just because of speed. Speed tests done in Chrome have been more successful than Firefox tests (Don't take my word as me saying, 'Chrome IS more successful, it's just what I read).

So it just goes down to what you really want. A little more speed at the cost of less customizing. Or stick with something just as fast with a lot of customization. Btw, you can always disable add-ons that are slowing your Firefox down.

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@BioXhazard - are you referring only to startup speed or more generally? Startup takes ages, but browsing seems fast enough (opening a new tab is faster than IE). Thanks also for your answer. – Wikis Jul 5 '10 at 19:09
Ehh...that's a good question. I'd say more of in-browsing than start-up. I've never had a problem with slow Firefox start-up. Could have to do with disabling a lot of unused add-ons as well, who knows. – BioXhazard Jul 5 '10 at 19:27
@BioXhazard - thank you. I suspect it is to do with disabling add-ons - that's a good tip. – Wikis Jul 5 '10 at 19:29
Also startup of Chrome is much faster, at least here. – Albert Jul 5 '10 at 19:30
@Albert - yes, I thought it would be faster. What about if you stuff Chrome with addons - is it still faster (comparing like with like, i.e. FF also with addons)? – Wikis Jul 5 '10 at 19:40
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