cyphr

Join Date 04/2004

Mozilla Firefox

or how I learned to stop worrying and ditch IE

Alright, there seems to be a common myth among the general populace that Internet Explorer is the only way to browse the Internet. You're wrong. Absolutely wrong. QUIT IT.

What you need to do first is go here and click the "Download Now!" button in the upper left. It's a bit big, so if you don't have broadband, you may want to start this download before you go to bed and let it work overnight. Once it's downloaded, run the setup program. I'll trust you can all figure this out on your own. Congratulations, you now have Mozilla Firefox installed on your computer. Welcome to the real world.

So what's so great about this Firefox thing?

1. No more popups. Ever. Firefox has a built-in popup blocker, and it will show you a dialog box ONCE saying that it blocked a popup. After that, you'll never see the damn things again.

2. Tabbed browsing, a.k.a., Internet from God. Press Ctrl+T to open a new tab, and Ctrl+Tab to swtich between tabs. No more will you have scores of tiny little Internet Explorer windows on your taskbar to switch between. All of your sites can be in the same window. And here's the best part - if you middle-click on a link (that's when you click the mouse wheel), the new site will open in a tab BEHIND the current site. So, you can click on a link, keep doing what you're doing, and read that new site whenever you feel like it. It may not sound like much, but once you get used to it, you can't go back. And once you're done with a tab, you can just middle click on it up in the tab line to get rid of it.

3. Extensions and themes. Customize your browser to work and look however you like. Open source - it's a beautiful thing.

4. No more spyware crap. You know all of those "Search toolbars" and "Helper bars" that infested Internet Explorer? Doesn't happen with Firefox. Of course, you still might have the stuff around from your Internet Explorer days, but that's your own damn fault.

5. It's a HELLUVA fast browser. I'm serious, use it, and you'll see what I mean.

6. Proper support for W3C standards. I don't know if you know what that means, but it's a Good Thing (tm). Internet Explorer is notorious for not properly implementing these standards.

So, in short, please just give this browser a try. It'd be a much better world if we could all quit using Internet Explorer and get rid of spyware and popups forever. Fight the power!......or something like that.

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i've heard a little about firefox. We have it on the computers in the ffa computer room. I'm not an expert on it but it is nice to have. I really don't know a whole lot about computer programs though so im just gonna leave it at this.

~carebear~

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Ironically, if you removed "Firefox" and replaced it with "Safari" you would have had a perfectly valid article. However, Safari being produced by Apple, it has a refinement and ease of use that Firefox (they can't even keep their name for more than a month) will likley never have. Too bad some of the best software is only made for Mac OS X

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I'm sure Safari is a wonderful browser, and I've heard from many people that it is. But some of us don't have the resources to buy a system that's priced about a thousand dollars more than it's worth. Plus, let's count the number of good games that are available for OS X.

...

What, 2 or 3? Yea.

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Firefox is a great browser. Of course I still use IE for most of my browsing. With the Google toolbar I don't have any problems. Sure, some folks would say that it is stupid to have to install something to get IE to block pop-ups, but since you have to install some of the extensions to get Firefox to run do some things that IE does I figure it is even.

But I do like and use Firefox. It is a very solid bit of programming.

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"I'm sure Safari is a wonderful browser, and I've heard from many people that it is. But some of us don't have the resources to buy a system that's priced about a thousand dollars more than it's worth. Plus, let's count the number of good games that are available for OS X."

Well, it all depends on what you want. If you want a gaming box, let me the first to tell you not to get a Mac. If you are a content creator on the other hand, a Mac is the best thing to get. Besides, Macs are often cheaper than equivalent Windows boxes because they are so low maintenance. Remember, computers aren't just for games.

So, I'm enjoying that built-in spell checker in all of Mac OS X (including Safari of course). Does Firefox have one?

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Nah, but, I never make spelling errors

I'll agree that Macs are great for artists and other content creators. Incredibly easy to use, powerful, and versatile. So lots of points there. I, however, am a gamer, so I'm almost always going to choose Windows. Plus, I like to build my own computers (cheaper, and you know a lot more about your system), and if you take care of it, Windows can be just as low-maintenance as a Mac.

Actually, I dual-boot Windows and Linux, but that's another story.

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Firefox is a damn nice browser. Certain things don't work on it like IE does. I don't know what the technical term for it, but Rich Text Format emails on Hotmail won't work and some types of video clips don't work (movie trailers, shockwave gamespaces).

But the lack of pop-ups is B-E-A-UTIFUL.

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I am a content creator and use Windows. I create video games, so it would be pointless to have a Mac.

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I use Firefox for virtually all my Internet activities. It is stable, and not subject to the problems caused by ActiveX. The only thing I can't do is get my Windows updates, but then, If Windows were written as well as Firefox, we probably wouldn't need the vulnerability updates at all!

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I like Firefox, I use it a lot.
The tab thing is real cool.
I still like Internet Explorer, and still use it a lot.
I like using both.
Just one thing about firefox that I want is, I want it to display image alternate text as a tool tip message like explorer.

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joeKnowledge

Join Date 03/2004

I love it. I do wish there were some of the good tool bars like Google and Yahoo on it. That would make my day.

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Fuzzy Logic

Join Date 05/2002

+493

I use both - both have their uses. The only thing wrong with IE is inept users...

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I've been preaching this same message of internet salvation ever since Firefox was known as Phoenix. Firefox is THE better browser. Tabbed browsing will change the way you surf the internet (for the better) and I dont even remember what a pop up looks like!

Safari is an ok browser. Funny how the pro-Mac comment sounded a little arrogant, with no room for any other software to be as good. This is a common attitude among Mac users. Go ahead and love your Mac, I'll be creating content and earning a living with my PC while you enjoy your love fest. Macs do not have the same caliber of software when it comes to certain areas of engineering. Make all the pretty pictures you want on a Mac, I'll be designing things that bring the owrld into the 21st century.

I have NO idea why anyone would still use IE. It's slow, prone to spam, and requires a seperate window for each internet page you have open. How very 90's of it.

Right click the Firefox menu toolbar, choose customize. You should have a search field in the dialog that slides down. Drag that search icon into your toolbar, then close the customize dialog. You can then choose google as your default search engine! Built in, ready to go.

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danioc

Join Date 07/2001

+121

I just love Firefox features and i never use IE, never. Before Firefox i was using Netscape cause it's faster to me, IE auto install adware, many kinds of horrible bars and don't have tab navigation or another kind of useful plugins. But i'ts just my opinion

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Personally I use and prefer Opera, but I whole heartedly agree that if you are currently browsing using IE then you really *really* should change to something else, be it Mozilla based or even my beloved Opera.

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I agree with the above poster that Opera is better than anything else. And that anything is better than IE.

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