If you want privacy, it is not enough to clear files, cookies, search and other histories, it is a litte bit more complex.

If you don’t worry about all the little metrics taken, you shouldn’t worry about some rauchy search terms or some cookies from explicit sites on your harddisc, anyway you can remove them with firefox, chrome or whatever tool, but the web mectrics taken aren’t so easy to remove.

If you are a guest on a hosts notebook and insist on privacy, the so called privacy or porn mode is a nice idea, but your host could also eavesdrop in the lan or wlan or with surveillance software, so there is no privacy in that scenario.

Maybe you like to explain your need for privacy or secrecy a little bit more, to give qualified assistance.

YT

When I am at the reference desk (a public workstation)., I always use FF Smart Browsing or Chrome Incognito mode. I’m not worried about who sees my IP, I’m worried about what my colleagues who use this same workstation see. I’ve also got a USB with the PortableApps version of both Google Chrome and FF installed and will sometime use that.

Also, out of first hand I know that the problems that cause FF3.5 to crash were solved in FF3.6beta. The main reason was external software that directly installed into the FF install directory. When the new FF version came out, that software was still there, but didn’t work with 3.5 anymore. This caused the crashes. Now they use whitelists -> problem solved. Another problem is/was Adobe Flash, but we (the internet) is working on it’s replacement right now. (e.g. open video, html5, processing.js ).
And I don’t think FF is bloated. Probably the best thing to do is erase your complete Firefox folder and install it all new. It’ll be as fast as Chrome!!! And remember – FF is made for the internetz and NOT for the moneyzzz.

First stop on your porn adventure http://www.sandboxie.com – simple to run, right click the tray icon and run the browser then delete everything from it after. Nothing leaves the sandbox, not even spam! One downside though, you have to memorize your bookmarks again (just like any true porn surfing legend!).

For the concept of using Chrome there is a very serious problem with it’s RAM-whorage. Every tab will be called upon like a seperate instance of the program. Just as though you’d opened 12 seperate instances of the application itself, the beginning tab and each subsequent one will be using independant amounts of RAM depending on the site and the active scripting or “fancy, blinky things” that are there. For video sites, even with a 3d-animator’s computer this can be a bit much so avoid multiple tabs if possible.

If you’re going to go the full incognito route and use vmware of any kind (Sandboxie & etc.) Try for a tabbed browser that’s like Firefox but without all the bloat; yes they do exist.
Flock (http://www.flock.com) has a nice version that’s only slightly lacking in the plug-in department; other than a quick flash update it’s like Firefox only less mess. For the fashion conscious, there’s Opera (http://www.opera.com); it’s been a mainstay for those who wanted to seem geeky without sporting a penguin tattoo of their favorite distro. Just a note from a long time user though, ignore the “web accelerator” it’s pretty much useless if you’re not on dial-up.

But more seriously, one of the quotes mentioned the “right firefox extensions”. I just wanted to point your readers at some of these – namely Tor, Privoxy and Vidalia. I believe Tor can be run as a standalone browser. These take a bit to configure but can offer a high degree of anonymity as your traffic is shuffled through a network of proxies. On the downside, this means much slower browsing, which sucks if you’re trying to browse HD quality porn pics and clips. More info here: https://www.torproject.org/overview.html.en

I use Mozilla Seamonkey ( the revamped version of Netscape) for my NSFW browsing. The advantage is that while everybody recognizes IE or Firefox icons, you can assign different icons to SM and nobody will think to open it as a browser.

Additionally, it has a built in email reader, so you can send and receive emails under your alias accounts (c’mon, everybody has a couple of them, right?) and you won’t leave a history trail in the more obvious spots.

And while SM does not have a stealth mode, it can be easily set to delete history and cookies when you shut it down. The new version (2.01) is built on the Firefox engine, and does a good job in handling graphics, Flash, and video.

You might not want to install this on your office PC if you have a snoopy IT department, but it’s an excellent alternative for small offices and home PCs. My kids and friends will often plop themselves into my chair and instead of logging into their own accounts, will just use my browser (usually FF or Chrome). By doing all my X-rated work in SM, I don’t have to worry about an inappropriate site coming up.