New to RPi but I'm seeing a lot of stuff about how it has struggled in the past to web browse -- particularly on heavy-js sites and with video and such.
Is this a problem of the past? Especially now with RPi3? Is there a default/RPi-specific browser (some version of Epiphany) that comes bundled with Raspbian? I'm also assuming Raspbian is installed on all RPi's by default?
Thanks for taking the time to educate me. =)
The RPi's architecture and speed is getting better with each new release. If you look at the spec page for the new processor, it specifically mentions higher performance with Javascript and web browsing. It certainly won't rival the x86 in your desktop/laptop, and we can't yet say if it's a thing of the past. Time will tell.
Currently, Epiphany is the default browser shipped with the RPi.
I've played with Raspbian and Ubuntu on a rpi2, and although Ubuntu has Firefox, the Ephinay browser in Raspbian runs a lot faster. It may not be able to play youtube above 320p, not even in fullscreen.. but as for simple browsing, it does the job.. similar speeds of an old pentium 2 machine. I've used it a few times while working on my main desktop pc. I mainly run a dual-boot though.. Raspbian and LibreELEC (Kodi), and I only boot into Raspbian to grab things or info needed for Kodi, configure my media drives, or just quickly grab emails.
As far as i can tell it is not a problem of the past, and i also know that both github and google docks have problems with the browser preinstalled on rasbian. which is in fact some version of epiphany. as for an SD card coming with rasbian only if you buy an sd card from the "swag store" does it come with an os. however there are plenty of other viable options of os wich are very good and can be downloaded here https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/.
