Tell me about FireFox? Why do I want it?

[wyldwolf]

Thanks!

[SlackJawedYokel]

1. Cause it's not Microsoft.

And it's free.

Cletus

[RoyGBiv]

2. It'll make you techno-cool ...

And everyone will sing praises to your name. Seriously. :-)

I use it for three main reasons:

1) Tabbed browsing that works. Get comfortable with tabbed browsing and then just try to go back to IE.

2) Security. No program that maintains an active link to a public network will ever be totally secure. However, Firefox is about as secure a browser as you can currently get. It does *not* support ActiveX, which cuts down on a lot of nonsense right there. It blocks pop-ups well. It has decent cookie management, much better than anything even conceived in IE.

3) Customization. The browser itself is pretty compact and full-featured. However, if it doesn't work exactly like you want, there are extensions that can be easily added that alter some part of its functionality or add features. For example, I have a nifty extension added that allows me to highlight any text in a page, right click, and choose to look up this word in an online dictionary. There are dozens and dozens of ways to change the browser so it does just what you want it to do.

I currently use a custom build of FireFox 1.0, put together by someone who calls himself MOOX. It is optimized for my particular type of processor and thus runs better on my machine. You will find no other browser on the market with which this is possible.

There are other reasons, not least among them is the fact that the browser is supported by a vast community that identifies bugs and works on fixing them, suggests changes and works on making them, and develops the previously mentioned extensions.

A lot of this assumes you are using IE at the moment. Opera is another good browser, but it is a commercial product. Netscape, which is what I used for a long time, has simply become to clunky for my tastes, includes a lot of junk I have no use for and doesn't have other things I do want. If you use a MAC, there's Safari.

I have had a few problems, but then I have had problems with every single bit of software I've ever installed that does more than add 1+1. Overall, FireFox is a superior product, particular when compared to IE.

My two cents...

[Princess Turandot]

3. Actually, Maxthon, a program which used to be called My IE2..

is a shell type program based on IE. It's tabbed, and also has a lot of extensions written for it. I used Opera for years because I was having eye problems, and Opera gives you the ability to change font size or to a custom view on the fly much better than any program.
When my eye problems were resolved, I discovered Maxthon. I also use FireFox, depending on my needs, usually when Maxthon will not open a page properly, since it has several built-in controls and I also run it behind proxy software.

Spyware is starting to appear for FireFox apparently, because Spyware Blaster now includes items to be blocked specific to FireFox. That's started in the last six months or so.

Of the Mozilla platform browsers, I think Opera is the best, but you need to buy it, altho it's only around $40. FireFox would probably not be good for someone who does not have the desire or ability to tinker a lot with the program, because you need to download extensions for many of its features.

[RoyGBiv]

4. FireFox and Opera ...

Spyware will be written to target whatever is popular. It's the nature of the beast. Same with viruses. Windoze is full of holes anyway, but it would not be targeted as much as it is if it weren't used on such a huge percentage of the world's computers. It is only natural, unfortunately, that spyware and viruses will be written that try to exploit weaknesses in FireFox as its popularity grows. That said, IE is more vulnerable due to inherent flaws that Microsoft likes to call features.

At the moment, I think Opera is probably a superior product. I can't say for sure because I don't want to pay that much for a browser when I don't know how much I'll like it. It's too integral to the things I do daily for me to make the investment. I do realize there is a free version that includes advertisements. I used this briefly after I'd decided I had to change browsers, and I liked how smoothly it ran -- I had been using Netscape at the time -- but I don't knowingly keep anything on my system that automatically sucks in advertisments and displays them the way Opera did. I used FireFox and Opera interchangeably for awhile and eventually settled on FF. It seemed to fit my needs better.

I also don't think Opera is quite as responsive to its community of users as the developers of FireFox have been. That said, Opera is a more mature product and thus more stable. So, I suppose it depends on what you want in that respect.

FWIW, FireFox has built-in font-size functionality. (CTRL +/-) It works very well.

I'm not familiar with Maxthon, but if it is based on IE to the extent that it supports ActiveX, I have no real use for it. ActiveX is, imo, the work of the devil. :-)

As for tinkering with the program, this depends on what you want. "Out of the box" version 1.0 works, especially on those systems that have never had a previous install of other versions. My mother, who is almost totally technologically illiterate, was able to download, install, and start using it without a bit of tweaking. I had to walk her through the download process over the phone -- she'd never done this before -- but after the install was done, it's always run smoothly.

[Princess Turandot]

8. Opera just made it easier to see..

Firefox wasn't around when I could not see due to early onset cataracts in my 30's. (Netscape & Mozilla didn't overwhelm me.) Opera lets you change font size or to a 'user defined' view on the fly by clicking on an icon on the browser tool-bar, which I don't think that FireFox extensions provide for. (I do know that you can change font sizes by a key board command in FireFox.)

You can turn off ActiveX via IE's Internet Options, as I'm sure you know. Depending on the webpage, I personally use a variety of browsers, although Maxthon is my primary browser. Between its built in controls & Proxomitron, virii's don't worry me too much.One thing that I like abt it is that you can easily create 'groups' which load a set of webpages at one time. There was a FireFox extension to do this, but it was not as intuitive as Maxthon.(I have the benefit of a video card which allows for 2 monitors, so running multiple browsers isn't a big deal.)

Doesn't tabbing (w/o keyboard strokes) require an extension in Firefox?

[RoyGBiv]

9. Tabbed Browsing, Etc.

Tabbing does not require an extension. It is integral to the program. That said, there are extensions that expand on this functionality, but they are not required for the most common aspects of it.

RE: ActiveX

You can turn it off for all legitimate purposes. You cannot turn off the fact the browser recognizes what ActiveX controls are, which means that the exploits are still exploitable.

That said, ActiveX is the only major thing in IE that makes certain web pages unviewable with other browsers. With it turned off, no reason exists for its use, imo.

Brief story: I've been building my daughter a computer for Christmas. Rather than do the smart thing and load FireFox from a CD after I had Windoze installed, I just used IE to go to mozilla.org to download it. When I loaded up IE, I remembered that the default webpage in IE loads spyware. By the time I got FireFox, my Firewall, and an anti-virus program installed, I had five separate pieces of spyware, one of which was throwing up pop-pops at a rate of once a minute, and a suspected trojan.

It was extremely irritating.

RE: Groups

I'm not sure what you mean here. Grouping a set of links in FireFox is as simple as bookmarking them in a user-defined folder. You can then add or subtract to this group as easily as you can change any list of bookmarks. To open them all -- in tabs, btw -- you go to your bookmarks, the group you want, then use "Open in Tabs" rather than click the links individually.

Again, this requires no extension. It's a part of the basic program. And, again, you can install a simple extension that streamlines the process of bookmarking, which makes this feature even simpler to use.

[DavidMS]

10. I have to disagree

Firefox is architecturally superior because it is (due to its open source roots) modularized and much easier to modify to remove bugs and security holes.

Generaly Open Source software is more secure because 1.) more people have seen the code and sloppy pratices are discouraged as a result 2.) more people can find errors 3.) errors are easier to fix.

IMHO, All things being equal open source software is better.

[RoyGBiv]

12. I agree with that ...

As I said, I can't really say if Opera is a better product at this point because I've only used it on a limited basis.

And what I mean by "better" in this context is "as a finished product at this stage of development." I strongly support OpenSource work, for the reasons you mention as well as others, and overall I do think OpenSource software is superior. That says nothing about whether at this moment in time FF or Opera are better for any particular set of users for any particular set of tasks.

I know software developers don't generally like to think like the end-user -- and thankfully those working on FF seem to be moving away from that philosophy -- but the end-user is what counts. And, there are some end-users that prefer Opera to FF for various reasons. For them, it's a better product no matter the architectural design or the programming philosophy behind it.

[bvar22]

5. Browser TABS.

Tabbed browsing rules!
I didn't understand what the FireFoxxers were talking about when I read the posts here. WTF is TABBED Browsing?????

Now I know. I won't go back.

The rest of the package is cool. FireFox imported all my settings and bookmarks. I still keep a copy of IE on the box for that very rare site that doesn't load on FireFox.

I love my FFox, and converted to Thunderbird also.

[Deja Q]

6. It's sexy!

It's actually more reliable, better at popup blocking, and comparatively secure over IE.

[yellowdog]

7. I love Firefox!

It is my default browser and I can't imagine doing without it. This box has IE, Mozilla 1.73, SlimBrowser, Opera 7.54, and Firefox 1.0 on it, but the only thing I use with any frequency other than Firefox is Mozilla. I like Opera, but I tend to get unexplained crashes with it.

[Moloch]

11. OMG you should really consider switching to FireFox...

Try it, it's free!

[idiosyncratic]

13. 'cause it is not Micro$oft is the best reason, but I use Opera.

Opera is free to use and IMHO is better than Firefox

I've been using it for more than two years.

It is a smaller download than Firefox and comes complete "right out of the box." You don't have to download extensions to get other features you might want. It is very secure and protects you from "phishing." It has Mouse Gestures, tabbed browsing, built-in notes and chat, and many, many other features.

There is a wonderful Opera community with Forums to help you customize it just the way you like.

The Google text ad is fairly unobtrusive, but I bought Opera just a few days after downloading it. All truly excellent software usually costs money. :)

[Berserker]

14. Long Live Open Source

Firefox is one excellent browser. It also has a FireFox community with forums to help you customize it just the way you like it. I have never had a problem with this browser and I like open source. This is a truly excellent Browser and IT'S FREE. Go here and tell this forum that ALL truly excellent software usually costs money. http://www.linuxforums.org/
That kind of reminds me of this:
Claiming that Microsoft Windows system is the best in the world because more people use it is like saying McDonald's makes the best food in the world.

[idiosyncratic]

15. Excuse me!!! I never said M$ Windows is best. :irked:

         

The only M$ software on this computer is the OS. I am more anti-M$ than most consumers.

I never used IE (it didn't exist when I started browsing the Internet). I used Netscape until I discovered Opera).

I've never used Outlook or Outlook Express (I've always use the free version of Eudora).

I've never used Word, PowerPoint, or any of those other truly-crappy programs produced by M$. I don't even use Notepad. I use Notespad, a far superior text editor.


By saying "truly excellent," in my post, I was referring to Opera, which is a Norwegian company. The International flavor of their Forums is one of the things I really like.

Opera is an excellent piece of software that is complete, right out of the box. I did not mind purchasing it.

Open Source software is not always best. There is no Open Source version of AutoCAD or PhotoShop or CorelDRAW.

FireFox is good, but it is not Opera. Download it and check it out. You will be surprised to see all the features it has.

About 50 of Opera's Features Does FireFox have "the Wand"?

Opera Tips

30 Days to Becoming an Opera Lover

[Berserker]

16. Excuse me but I never said you said

Microsoft windows is best. It was just a quote I used.

Yup FireFox does this also:
The Wand

Opera's password manager, the Wand, remembers your usernames and passwords so you will not have to. Log in manually once and use the Wand for later visits to a password-protected Web site.

And yes I have tried Opera but I did not like it and of course thats just my opinion. Arguing about what Browser is best is like arguing about which truck is best.:crazy:

[Eurobabe]

17. spyware, that's why!

we are trying to clean up some shit program called virtual bouncer that got into my hard drive when my bad husband launched IE on Xmas day. I ONLY use FireFox, so the blood ain't on my hands.

Use FF and you won't get spyware shit.

[Berserker]

18. Virtual Bouncer

Yes you are right it is a piece of shit!
http://www.spywareguide.com/product_show.php?id=514
Official Description: Claims to be an adware remover.
Comment: It drive-by installs, phones home after install, gives itself the right (in the EULA) to download and install software from its servers, and you have to *pay them* for a "subscription" with a credit card to have it removed, then opt out of having the "subscription" automatically renewed.

Because you must pay to have to removed, some have dubbed this "extortion ware".

[welshTerrier2]

19. spyWareBlaster

are you running spyWareBlaster3.2 ??

it's an excellent, and free, anti-spyware program ... it "fixed" my computer when i was having all kinds of problems ... i've had no problems at all using both IE and Firefox since I installed it ...

spyWareBlaster includes a whole bunch of specific protections to make Firefox more resistant to spyware ...

don't leave home without it !!

here's a link to download a copy ... make sure you go through all the menus and activate all possible protections ... if you already have the program, run it and click the update button to get the latest protections and then make sure you enable the updates ...

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

oh, and one last thing, a DU'er named Berserker posted this great thread on how to make Firefox run much faster ... it really works !!!

here's the link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=242x1052

[Lex]

20. the Personal Tool Bar -- your favorites on a toolbar at the top

--that's the feature I like. And also the Tabbed Browsing.

[Berserker]

21. 10 Reasons

1. Tabbed browsing.
Using tabs you can display as many sites as you want in single window.

2. Popup blocking.
FireFox will block all the popup ads. Without exceptions. Sure you can still install plugin for IE that will block popups.

3. Easy text zooming.
With FireFox you can zoom text and make it as large as you want. Text zooming works even with fixed pixel sizes.

4. Multiple stylesheets.
You can choose multiple stylesheets for websites. You don't have to suffer because of lame layout - just change it.

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