Perfect browsing config...

[LAN_deRf_HA]

It's taken me awhile hopping around from browser to browser to find something that didn't drive me insane. Trying to do anything in safari was like trying to move a mountain, I can't even right click for crying out loud... and they linked the search bar and the navbar! Can't even customize it properly. Chrome... let's just say Adsweep doesn't even come close to adblock, not to mention what a pain it was to get working. Firefox... well it's just a bit slow. As for Opera, nice scrolling... but again with the adsweep. Both Chrome and Opera with adsweep actually loaded pages slower than firefox with adblock. Real browsing > synthetic benches, apparently.

So what worked? Minefield! Firefox minefield, with a few tweaks. It's rather noticeably faster than regular firefox. First, I had to find a stable build. One that worked in all instances I could think to test. Then I disabled the auto updating so it would continue to work (new build everyday!). Next I added the following add-ons.

Adblock plus, off course.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865

SmoothWheel, opera scrolling in firefox!
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/357

Chromifox Extreme 2.3.1, very good chrome theme.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10674

Chromifox companion, adds chrome menu arrangement.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10339

Hide Menubar, does what it says. No longer need it with the companion ^ (can bring it back by pressign alt)
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4762

ChromiGlass, adds transparency around the tabs like in chrome (will be intergrated into chromifox later).
http://www.noisp.me.uk/chromiglass/chromiglass-1.1.1.0.16-fx-win-modified.xpi

Doesn't get much better than this, ad-blocking that works. Speed that at least on the sites I visit beats chrome and opera... and lastly, the good looks and menu arrangement of chrome. Topped off with the endless customizations you get with firefox. Seems to cover all the bases. Only issue might be that some of your add-ons might not work with minefield, but there are workarounds for that.

 

[thraxed]

What do ya mean a stable build of firefox? A few tweaks what are these? Though with cable, its kinda hard to notice the 1 sec it might differ to load a webpage. Only used IE and Firefox, so some screens show how this is beneficial might help.

 

[kyle2020]

Well opera seems unable to work with certain sites for me, and ive just stopped using chrome - might have to try FF again, I do miss adblock.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

By stable I mean it doesn't crash or give me errors on pages. Since minefield is the absolute latest build of firefox, it has very limited testing. However, there are builds that are flawless, once you've found one of those just disable updating so you don't get updated to something less stable. I don't think a screen shot would do it. The other option would be synthetic tests... which I find to not reflect real usage. Perhaps fraps could help, do two videos side by side of two browsers loading the same page. I'm not too good in the video editing department though, and frankly even if it was minutely slower I'd still go with Minefield for the overall package. On another note I'm happy to find stylish now works with minefield.