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Do you like using non apple browsers on the Mac?

jwolf6589 said:
I dont know about you but I hate it when I am forced to use a non apple browser on the Mac such as Chrome or Firefox. Some websites don't work properly with Safari and in these situations I need to use one. I also hate using non apple based email clients and much prefer using apple Mail. MS outlook does have its advantages but in reality it's a better product on Windows. You?
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At home I don't see the point of using non-Mac browsers, as Safari works fine in 99% of the websites I browse.

At work, I already have to use a Windows PC workstation, so any work correspondence (email, browsing, Excel, Powerpoints, the occasional work related research, etc) is done through Windows, Microsoft Edge and Outlook anyways.

And fortunately, I don't "take my work home". My work requires me to be present at the hospital, so there is no such thing as remote work or working from home for me.


P.S. -- I'm not totally anti-Microsoft either. I actually like (prefer) using the Outlook Email client on my iPhone and iPad (it beats the **** out of default Apple Mail). And yes, I would use Outlook anyday over Gmail Whatever.
 
I use Brave, Firefox and Waterfox at home. Brave, Firefox and Vivaldi at work.

I do it to separate my online shopping from banking from entertainment, some browsers I add loads of privacy plugins to and others I leave as is, I find ( for reasons I cannot understand ) Safari seems awkward. Vivaldi is IMO the most customisable browser I have seen in ages, it does have a learning curve.
 
OK, I've installed WIPR, but I'm not sure how safe it is to turn on WIPR Extra, where it can see my passwords etc.

Do the people here who use WIPR, also turn on WIPR Extra ?
 
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jwolf6589 said:
I dont know about you but I hate it when I am forced to use a non apple browser on the Mac such as Chrome or Firefox. Some websites don't work properly with Safari and in these situations I need to use one. I also hate using non apple based email clients and much prefer using apple Mail. MS outlook does have its advantages but in reality it's a better product on Windows. You?
Click to expand...
Let us stop at this statement "Safari is an Apple only product now". So unless all websites of interest are run by Apple there is no need for us to expect that it should work 100% on Safari, because not everyone wants to buy an Apple product and test everything again.

And if it doesn't work then the best browser I know is Chrome, it is fast and very compatible. Even most government (Canadian and most US state websites) don't work well with Safari.

As for MS Outlook if it is just for email POP/IMAP then there could be better alternatives, but if you need Active Exchange services (notes, calendar etc) then it is a must. Have you seen the search functionality in Apple Mail? It is garbage, it really is... wildcards and partial matching is non-functional even in 2023.
 
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StellarVixen said:
I just downloaded Orion. I liked what people said in this thread, that it is better Safari and wanted to give it a try, I loved Safari until it was crippled.

First site that I wanted to visit with it was this forum and already problems, when I click on notifications and click on one of them, nothing happens, just infinite loading.

Not good first impression for me. :(

EDIT: works now. But it says it's in beta, so I guess some things can be forgiven. I'll keep it for now.
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Yes. Oriion is definitely not a finished product. I run into links that won't open. I like Safari because it is a finished browser and because of the integration with iCloud. I am a browser agnostic really. I like Chrome because it quite fast and pages just work. I know that Google harvests data. That is just something that I don't dwell on. I will say that Orion is just a bit quicker than Safari (maybe), and I have been using it for the past couple of days.
 
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Pooneil said:
Yes. Oriion is definitely not a finished product. I run into links that won't open. I like Safari because it is a finished browser and because of the integration with iCloud. I am a browser agnostic really. I like Chrome because it quite fast and pages just work. I know that Google harvests data. That is just something that I don't dwell on. I will say that Orion is just a bit quicker than Safari (maybe), and I have been using it for the past couple of days.
Click to expand...

Originally Orion didn't even work with streaming services like Disney+ until after compatibility mode was turned on for those sites.
 
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Isamilis said:
You can enable wipr extra on certain website only (in my case, on YouTube only).
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Well, I'm sorry to report that WIPR isn't any better than Ad Guard.

It's okay for the main global websites, but once you're off the well beaten track and move to the regional ones, then it's a bit flaky. It would've been good if it was free, but as a paid option, I wouldn't recommend WIPR.

Nothing really beats uBlock Origin, but as you all probably know, it stopped working on Safari since version 13, alas.
 
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cateye said:
I'm not interested in fighting with Safari's quirks just so I can carry a flag for Apple. So, I use Chrome. It works with the sites I want to use, supports the web apps I want to use, and has the full complement of extensions I want to use.

I'm never, ever going to let "the ecosystem" dictate what software I use. Right tool for the job, and all that. But, that's me. The nice thing about the wealth of browsers available is everyone gets to use what works best for them, including Safari.
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Pretty much this. So I ended up with Firefox several years ago, because of ublock origin, container tabs, loads of useful extensions and so on.
 
Isamilis said:
I came from Ad Guard (paid version), and now using wipr + Control-D. It’s been few weeks and the experience is much better (lighter and faster) than Ad Guard (it’s also faster than nextdns.io).
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Magic Lasso for ad blocking is the right choice FYI. Clean, simple, privacy-focused, and independently owned and developed and free of corporate demands and interests.
 
ct2k7 said:
Is Orion faster than Safari or Firefox?
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Faster than Safari, not sure about Firefox: I gave up on Firefox ever since vimperator stopped working on it. I miss Vimperator dearly.

My major problem with Safari is that the Back button is flaky. It appears to load the previous page, but then repaints the current page.

Weird.
 
Sir Desmond said:
Faster than Safari, not sure about Firefox: I gave up on Firefox ever since vimperator stopped working on it. I miss Vimperator dearly.

My major problem with Safari is that the Back button is flaky. It appears to load the previous page, but then repaints the current page.

Weird.
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Works fine for me. My problem with Safari is the lame "out of memory" error I get sometimes on FB.
 
Sir Desmond said:
Faster than Safari, not sure about Firefox: I gave up on Firefox ever since vimperator stopped working on it. I miss Vimperator dearly.

My major problem with Safari is that the Back button is flaky. It appears to load the previous page, but then repaints the current page.

Weird.
Click to expand...
Looks like I might give it a try, but, I’d miss the SMS and Keychain password integration
 
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Sir Desmond said:
Faster than Safari, not sure about Firefox: I gave up on Firefox ever since vimperator stopped working on it. I miss Vimperator dearly.

My major problem with Safari is that the Back button is flaky. It appears to load the previous page, but then repaints the current page.

Weird.
Click to expand...
After updating to latest version of Big Sur, favicon in Safari are all white; since then I use Orion as default browser. It’s lighter than Safari. It has also built in adblocker.
 
To OP,

To each his own but Safari is like the worst of the bunch. I can't give real world test, but apple claims its the "lightest" browser and maybe its most efficient on their devices but other browsers are way superior in the foss, privacy, extensions, and more department.

dumastudetto said:
If you are using anything other than Safari on your Mac, you blew it.

Safari is the best damn web browser offering incredible features and best-in-class privacy and security features.
The idea of anyone using any chrome-based browser makes me vomit.
Click to expand...

You are delusional. Safari is non cross platform (Apple device only) , has the worst extensions, and is closed source software where you never know what is going on in the background or what they are collecting or tracking about you.

Sir Desmond said:
What are you using for ad-blocking ? I find Ad Guard slows down Safari, and don't know of a good alternative, paid or free.
Click to expand...

Isamilis said:
I came from Ad Guard (paid version), and now using wipr + Control-D. It’s been few weeks and the experience is much better (lighter and faster) than Ad Guard (it’s also faster than nextdns.io).
Click to expand...

Which Adguard? the app? or the extension? You are using Control-D as a dns server?
 
MacBH928 said:
I am not network expert, but Private relay (which adds more routes to the network's traffic) in theory should be slower AFAIK
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Yes, that's exactly what I meant by the discrepancy in my usage.

Safari will use Private Relay, when it's turned on, which marginally slows down the connection speed.

Neither Orion, nor Arc Browser use Private Relay, even if it's turned on, hence a better connection speed.
 
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