Which browser is safer (less prone to virus): Chrome or Internet Explorer?

[me]

Also, which is better in general & why (faster, etc.)? If you don't use these, what do you use & why do you recommend it? And are all browsers free or is there pro paid versions like a lot of software programs? Sorry if stupid. This is for windows pc.

[Bob]

All browsers are free, dont pay for a browser. Depending on your computers specs can depend on slowness of the browsers, but, Chrome is most likely going to be faster than IE, however i haven't had a chance to try IE 11 only 10 so they may have fixed some issues. That being said chrome can get kind of slow itself, firefox is reportedly faster than chrome so if you want speed then i would get firefox, but speed also depends on your actual connection speed, the browser could be running fine but if your connection is slow it will take a while. None of them are more or less safer, it just depends on your browsing habits.

[Jim]

Protection from viruses come from anti-virus programs. You can't rely on just the browser. Three popular free anti-virus programs are:

Microsoft Security Essentials
AVG
Avast

There are many more, but this is a start.

[DunbarPappy®ϟϟ]

You're opening a floodgate for opinions friend, but for what it's worth:

All browsers in 'stock' settings are liberal regarding what they allow, and that relates directly to security.
Ideally, browsers would not allow anything by default, and the user would make a case by case allowance for things from a source, back in to do whatever.

This state of affairs won't work mainly because users don't know what the hell's going on, and they don't want to...they just want a website to 'work'. And so browsers must have liberal allowance to accommodate that.

The bad guys (and even the legit ones) leverage these various 'allowance pathways' to deliver payloads ranging from annoying ads, thru the most ingenious and destructive virus/Trojans and what have you.
Users must tweak and refine what's being allowed if they want meaningful security.

Firefox in IMHO has the greatest range and user settable plug-in's or add-on's to counter-measure potential incoming asset misbehavior. (My own tweaks are here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...40AADboHl)

Chrome was blazing fast, but is getting bloated; and the degree of Google spying on users (with all the warm and fuzzy diversions conceivable) grows to astonishing depths every day.
The gratification of instant page displays (nearly identical in Firefox BTW) can't outweigh the preponderance of Google invading and Zeroxing your life...at least not for me.
That places it well behind a modified Firefox in my opinion.

Internet Explorer is without question the worst at controlling incoming asset behavior.

This would apply to any operating system, not just Windows.