When comparing Firefox Nightly vs Iridium Browser, the Slant community recommends Iridium Browser for most people. In the question“What are the best desktop web browsers?” Iridium Browser is ranked 14th while Firefox Nightly is ranked 23rd. The most important reason people chose Iridium Browser is:
* Disable "Use a web service to help resolve navigation errors" * Disable autocomplete through prediction service when typing in Omnibox * Always send "Do-Not-Track" header * Network/DNS prediction is disabled by default * Block third-party cookies by default * Link auditing (<a ping="...">) is disabled by default * Fetch plugins list from iridiumbrowser.de where it will be updated regularly * Site data (cookies, local storage, etc.) is only kept until exit, by default * Passwords are not stored by default * Input form autofill is disabled by default * For IPv6 probes, use a DNS root server instead of Google * The default search provider is Qwant * Load "about:blank" on new tabs instead of the currently set search engine and/or promotions. * Don't report Safe Browsing overrides. * Don't use autofill download service. * Disable cookies for safebrowsing background requests. * Disable the battery status API.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Access to new features
Nightly comes after beta which means you get access to more features.
Pro Blazing fast
Short load times. Quick tab switching. Fast rendering.
Pro Private and secure
Made with privacy and security in mind, even Tor based their browser on it.
Pro Privacy enhancements over Chromium
- Disable "Use a web service to help resolve navigation errors"
- Disable autocomplete through prediction service when typing in Omnibox
- Always send "Do-Not-Track" header
- Network/DNS prediction is disabled by default
- Block third-party cookies by default
- Link auditing (<a ping="...">) is disabled by default
- Fetch plugins list from iridiumbrowser.de where it will be updated regularly
- Site data (cookies, local storage, etc.) is only kept until exit, by default
- Passwords are not stored by default
- Input form autofill is disabled by default
- For IPv6 probes, use a DNS root server instead of Google
- The default search provider is Qwant
- Load "about:blank" on new tabs instead of the currently set search engine and/or promotions.
- Don't report Safe Browsing overrides.
- Don't use autofill download service.
- Disable cookies for safebrowsing background requests.
- Disable the battery status API.
Pro Lots of extensions available
Due to access to the Chrome Web store.
Pro Simple installation
Provides installers and packages for the most operating systems and linux distributions.
Pro Security improvements over Chromium
- Increase RSA keysize to 2048 bits for self-signed certificates (used by WebRTC)
- Generate a new WebRTC identity for each connection instead of reusing identities for 30 days
- Generate a new ECDHE keypair for each WebRTC connection instead of reusing them for multiple connections
- Disable using system-provided plugins (i.e. Java, Flash, etc.)
Pro BSD license
You are in control and you can do almost anything with the code.
Pro Fast
It is fast since all background services have been disabled or removed.
Pro Disabled features
- Disable background mode
- Disable EV certificates, so they are shown just like "normal" certificates
- Disable Google cloud printing
- Disable Google hot word detection
- Disable Google experiments status check
- Disable Google translation service
- Disable Google promotion fetching
- Disable Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) status check
- Disable Google Now
- Disable automatic update check
- Disable profile-import on first run
Pro Extensions are updated manually
They won't update automatically in the background.
Pro Based on Chromium
Supports all the modern web features.
Cons
Con Not intended for general use
This browser was made for testing purposes for future versions of Firefox, and it can easily crash. Most people should use the stable release of Firefox.
Con Buggy; performance issues and crashes
Because you're accessing new Firefox features, bugs and crashing comes. Firefox Nightly is meant for developers and it's for PCs that have low chance of getting attacked. If Firefox is for you, go for the normal one or beta at least. If you use Nightly, checking updates regularly is recommended.
Con The icon is ugly
Con Slow updates
Since the whole Chromium Release need to be scanned, PC users may wait half a year while the Chrome base gets updated five or six iterations.
Con Extensions MUST be updated manually
Con Buggy
Sometimes, removing extensions won't work. Some websites downright refuse to load, no matter the settings.
Con Poor debian support
current versions miss support for debian-based distributions which is by far the most widely used group of linux distributions.
Con Definitive unique browsing-fingerprint
Con Google Safebrowsing enabled by default
Con Based on Chromium
Since iridium is based off chrome, it is depend on all of Google's decisions.
