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For me it depends on the gun.

With a 1911 the easy to use slide release falls right under my thumb and releasing the slide with it is both fast and reliable.

With almost every other semiauto handgun I use the over the top method as the easiest and most reliable. The exception is my Model 1.0 S&W M&P that automatically releases the locked back slide when a new magazine is inserted. I like that a lot. Unfortunately I hear that the Model 2.0 did away with this feature.