Best browser for Windows 7 64 bit?

[PAH]

Just found out this morning that Chrome doesn't play nice with Windows 7 64 bit and is the reason for occasional lock ups which up until now I was blaming on Virtual Box.

Usually have both Virtual Box VMs and Chrome open most of the time but this morning only had Chrome open, so that is the culprit.

The last entry (from 30/8/2011) on the following thread has a possible workaround:

Windows 7 64 bit freezes when using Chrome - Google Chrome Help

The workarround to solve this mess is to rename chrome.exe in any other name, for example chromeOK.exe

Do not forget to correct any shortcut ;-)

With this solution chrome uses java 32 Bits.
You may uninstall any java 64 bits

Anyone using 64 bit Windows and can recommend a stable browser, preferably 64 bit, that knows how to behave itself?

Is IE the best option?

Maybe I should browse from inside a VM to get better compatibility.

[d000hg]

Weird, I've been using W7 Ultimate 64-bit for a couple of years with Chrome as my default browser and never had issues.

IE9 is pretty neat though if you use add-ons you might miss them. I've no idea how FireFox is on 64-bit.

[doodab]

It's sounds like it's actually Java that's the problem. Just install a 32 bit JVM instead of a 64 bit one.

I use Chrome almost exclusively on 64 bit windows 7 with no problems. But then I don't have Java installed. I did have to get rid of the skype plugin though, that was purebred tulipe.

[PAH]

Weird, I've been using W7 Ultimate 64-bit for a couple of years with Chrome as my default browser and never had issues.

I don't like that answer. It means my PC may be unstable and I haven't even overclocked the fricker yet.

[PAH]

It's sounds like it's actually Java that's the problem. Just install a 32 bit JVM instead of a 64 bit one.

I use Chrome almost exclusively on 64 bit windows 7 with no problems. But then I don't have Java installed.

I don't have Java installed either.

Thought that workaround meant that Chrome had some form of Java engine built in, or installed it without asking, but just done a test and it's not found.

Must be some form of driver incompatibility or dodgy service as it only acts up maybe once or twice a week and I use it for large parts of every day, so not exactly unstable due to hardware fault or crappy ram as I'd expect problems a lot more frequent.

[VectraMan]

It's never happened to me. I've seen more flakiness in Firefox.

[PAH]

One thing I haven't done yet is use one of those Hosts files to block common advert servers and tracking stuff.

Maybe it's not the browser but some of the crappy site content such as Flash.

[craig1]

My main Win7 64bit VM uses IE8. Chrome causes issues as you mention, Firefox gets huffy from time to time, IE9 won't play nicely with Outlook Web Access (seriously!) and I can't be bothered with the other competition so I use IE8 for the limited stuff I need to do on there.

[PAH]

Need IE9 for HTML5 support.

At least it's 64-bit (says so in brackets) so should be as good as anything for stability.

[currently browsing using Chrome, because I like danger ]

[eek]

One thing I haven't done yet is use one of those Hosts files to block common advert servers and tracking stuff.

Maybe it's not the browser but some of the crappy site content such as Flash.

Flash is the usual pain with Chrome. Since installing Adblock Plus I don't recollect any problems within Chrome under 64bit Win 7 and I'm currently running Chrome Canary.