I've been using Firefox for years now... so when my husband told me to use Chrome instead, I was going to shrug it off. But I just started using Chrome this weekend and am loving it. Everything is so much faster - although the scrolling seems to go a little too fast at times. It was also very easy to import my bookmarks and I was able to get it to spell-check for me while I type.

It really comes down to personal preference. I wouldn't give up Firefox (or Firefox based browser, like Pale Moon) simply because of the add-ons I use and the ability to customize it by altering the open source code.

One reason I wouldn't use Chrome (though I still do have it installed and use it about once a month if that) is because it's Google affiliated. Needless to say I would never, ever, buy a Chromebook or anything like that.

I found the speed difference to be negligible for me.

Glad to hear you like it though ladymacb. I wish more people would just simply try different things when it comes to computer usage...you never really know if you like it or not until you actually try it. Like, *really* try it...not just use it for an hour and decide you don't like it.

The first browser I used was Netscape (back in the day when the version still fit on a 3.5" floppy disk - I think it was version 1.6!). When Netscape became too bloated, I used IE and then tried Opera for a while. Which I liked, but I used it when it was first getting going so there was a lot of coding that simply wasn't compatible with Opera... so back to IE until I switched to Firefox because of how security-deficient IE was.

Personally, I don't worry so much about Google the company. There are worse people who can find out easier than going through Google if they want, so I don't really care if Google knows I googled where to buy tampons last week.

Google Chrome (based on 'Chromium') is a good browser. If Google privacy is a worry, then there are other browsers around that use the same design/engine as Google Chrome. Comodo Dragon for instance.

Browsers based on Chromium have a sandboxed structure. This helps to make them more secure as regards infections that might be encountered while browsing the Internet. Flash Player, a possible source of infections, is included within Chrome's sandboxed structure, so an added security feature. No need to worry about Flash Player updates if using Google Chrome. It is automatically and quickly updated by Google. So, as well as Google Chrome being a fast browser, it does also include some hidden advantages that Firefox doesn't have at present.

As regards privacy, I think the trouble is that, whether Google products/services are used or not, our tracks are all over the Internet anyway. Any site visited includes trackers that interlink with each other no matter what browser is used. This can be reduced by using anti-tracking extensions or other measures but I know from experiments with 'Lightbeam' (an extension available for Chrome and Firefox that shows who is tracking you) that it is just about impossible to block Google and other trackers altogether.

So, Google Chrome or not, Google and other companies will be aware of where our IP addresses have been. They are only interested in the IP address though, not us as people with names and addresses. I think it has to be accepted that if we use the Internet we (our IP addresses) are going to be all over the place. Not sure there's much to be gained by avoiding Google products and services.

I mostly use Firefox but Chrome is installed as well and sometimes used. I use an external sandbox though, so Firefox too can be run sandboxed for added safety.

Well I personally prefer Chrome over Firefox. Reason being its good UI, and ofcourse the speed. But I have found some strange freezing troubles in the android version of Chrome.

Omg! You can import bookmarks?! I've been using Chrome almost exclusively (I have to use IE when I work from home because my work's remote access site won't work in Chrome) for a few months but missing all my bookmarks from IE.

Thank you!!

(also, the only thing that annoys me about Chrome is that it doesn't support the Google toolbar which I loved in IE, but I mostly liked the google search box and the spell check. Once I discovered that the address bar itself is a google search box in Chrome, I was happy).