Fast, Safe 32-bit Browser for XP?

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by Cruise, Jul 26, 2014.

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  1. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    My son's friend is using an old Dell laptop running XP-SP3 x86 and at this time he can't afford to upgrade. Noticing that his friend is using IE8 my son asked me if I can recommend a faster and safer browser. Well it's been a very long time since I've used XP, so I thought I'd ask that question of those of you who are still running it.

    Cruise
     
  2. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

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    I have two weak machines running XP with Chrome and one with XP and SeaMonkey. Both browsers are very fast and safe IMO. I would like to add that the slowness of the computer may have other reasons than the choice of the browser, running an AV with little RAM for example...
     
  3. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    Good points. My son tells me that his friend's laptop has a 2GB PentM and 1GB RAM (seems to me that's ample for XP). I would think Chrome is a good choice, if nothing else it's sure to be safer than IE8.
     
  4. SirDrexl

    SirDrexl Registered Member

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    You might want to look into Pale Moon (32-bit of course). This may not make much of a difference, but it's optimized for later processors (as opposed to Firefox which will run on a Pentium 1 if you actually have enough RAM), and the list includes the Pentium M.

    Adding NoScript with automatic whitelisting of top-level domains might be a decent default setting to cut down on Javascript some. Although he'd probably have to learn how to enable scripts when needed.
     
  5. Sampei Nihira

    Sampei Nihira Registered Member

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    If the file system is FAT32
    no browser Chrome-based.
     
  6. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    Why is that? Chrome is having problems with FAT32 file system?
     
  7. Sampei Nihira

    Sampei Nihira Registered Member

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  8. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    Thanks, didn't know that.
     
  9. Sampei Nihira

    Sampei Nihira Registered Member

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    :thumb:
     
  10. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    My son tells me it's NTFS.
     
  11. Sampei Nihira

    Sampei Nihira Registered Member

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  12. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    For fast and secure browser on Windows XP I think that Google Chrome is a right decision.
     
  13. Wendi

    Wendi Registered Member

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    I love Maxthon Cloud, but I can't say if or how well it would run on XP (it's been quite a while since I used that OS)!
     
  14. Pliskin

    Pliskin Registered Member

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    On old Dell laptop Opera v12 is the only way to go.
     
  15. Sampei Nihira

    Sampei Nihira Registered Member

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  16. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    On old machines, Opera v12 is indeed the only way to go. :thumb:

    EDIT: And it´s also less attacked, thus safer.
     
  17. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    Thanks guys (and gal) -- it looks like consensus here says go either with Chrome or Opera 12.
     
  18. monkeylove

    monkeylove Registered Member

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    I think Maxthon uses the webkit engine by default.
     
  19. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    Wouldn't Chrome's per-tab processes make it somewhat of a memory hog? That may affect performance on an older machine.
     
  20. Tarnak

    Tarnak Registered Member

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    I have been using Opera for years, and currently Opera v12.15 Build 1748.
     
  21. Sampei Nihira

    Sampei Nihira Registered Member

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    Yes.
    Is best Firefox + SBIE.
    (With the usual extensions)
     
  22. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    After reading all of your comments, my son suggested that his friend try Opera 12. He installed v12.17 yesterday and is now in a learning phase. ;)
     
  23. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    Nice to hear, but don´t forget, not all sites will work correctly in Opera v12, so as a "back up" browser, you can always use Firefox. :)
     
  24. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    Thanks Rasheed, I'll pass that info on. My son's friend already has a question. He wants to know if/how he can place a 'Send Link' button on Opera's toolbars that would work with his default email client?
     
  25. bo elam

    bo elam Registered Member

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    Cruise, in my old Xp, running Firefox under Sandboxie gives me same feeling as wearing an old pair of Levis. :cool:

    Pages don't hang, they open fast and can watch videos with no problem. I see people around the internet with newer computers and faster connection than me complaining about watching videos in Youtube. I don't have that problem. NoScript plays a big part on that, if your sons friend can handle it, it make things open up a lot faster. For play time, I prefer to use my XP than my W7. Firefox with NoScript under SBIE works great.

    Bo
     
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