What's the deal with Firefox?

[hyjyljyj]

Everyone seems to say Firefox is better, faster and easier than IE for browsing the web. Before I download...Is it easy to go back to IE if you don't like Firefox? Will all your Favorites and everything just as easily import BACK into IE as they do going into Firefox? Do compudopers like Firefox? What's the downside? What's the e-mail like? Will I still be using Outlook, I expect?

Thx

[BabaBooey]

I don't even know if it's possible to remove IE, so you'll have no problem going back. You would still be using Outlook, yes. There's really no reason not to try it out.

[Mr2001]

The downside? Some sites work poorly or not at all in Firefox, although the number is getting smaller every year. Slashdot's comment pages don't look right under FF, and pages with ActiveX may not work at all (e.g. Hoyle online games).

You'll still be using Outlook, because Firefox is just a browser. There's also a standalone email client from the Mozilla project, called Thunderbird, if you want to replace Outlook too.

[Twoflower]

You can't completely get rid of IE -- there are websites than run under no other browser. There are installation and help programs that demand its presense. But you can use it a lot less. I'm sure you can re-import your favorites, but I can't image why you'd want to, once you get to know Firefox.

Among other things, Firefox gives you excellent control over popups, and is generally immune to IE-specific worms. There are an assortment of extensions you can add which allow such things as blocking ads within web pages, or an ability to easily right-click and "Open in IE" for those pages that just insist on it. You tell your browser what you want it to do, not vice versa.

Your option on email. The email companion to Firefox is Thunderbird. Stick to Outlook if you want (though personally, I think that's the most dangerous thing you can do with your computer). One particular feature of T-bird I like is the ability to conditionally prevent loading images in email. Decent, though still imperfect, spam filter.

Gates -> :wally

[Eleusis]

There's a firefox extension called ieview which adds a right click menu item for "View this page in IE". It's come in handy many times.

[kimera]

I got it after many dopers suggested it and I am never going back. I have yet to run into any problems while surfing the web, but I keep IE around just in case. There are websites you can go to to get upgrades and nifty little features that make it so much cooler than IE.

this page has some addons available.

[Airman Doors, USAF]

Since I got the shits of IE and went to Firefox I haven't had a single instance of Crapware on my computer. Not one.

That should be incentive all by itself.

[engineer_comp_geek]

Faster? no
Slower? no
Easier? no
Harder? no
Can you import your bookmarks back to IE later? I don't think so, but your old ones will still be there
Does it block pop-ups (even ones that get through IE with a pop-up blocker)? Yes
Do all web pages work in it? nope

Come on, it's a browser. It does what a browser does, no more, no less. You point and click same as you always have. It's not going to revolutionize your computer. I haven't gone OOH or AHH yet since installing it (though I have gotten addicted to opening things in tabs). I also haven't gotten a virus through an IE exploit (which is where my last 3 viruses came from) or a browser hijack since installing it. I strongly recommend FF just because of how vulnerable IE is to attack. You aren't going to be impressed with its abilities but you are going to be impressed by the fact that its not a buggy piece of crap like IE.

[Johnny Bravo]

Originally Posted by engineer_comp_geek

I haven't gone OOH or AHH yet since installing it (though I have gotten addicted to opening things in tabs).

I suppose that means you haven't really explored the extensions, then.

What really sets Firefox apart from IE is the vast number of tiny little things you can. Extensions like mouse gestures, Adblock, weatherfox, all add to the awesomeness of the browser.

Me, I get slightly frustrated when I have to use IE for whatever reason and keep trying to use the mouse gestures.

As for the email, I Mozilla has a program called Thunderbird that's meant to replace Outlook. I don't use it because I don't get spam anyway.

Do a search on these forums for Firefox Extensions, and you'll find several threads devoted to the best and most populat ones.

[Nightwatch Trailer]

Originally Posted by engineer_comp_geek

Come on, it's a browser. It does what a browser does, no more, no less. You point and click same as you always have. It's not going to revolutionize your computer.

I have to disagree. One feature that Firefox (and my browser of choice, Opera) supports, mouse gestures, has pretty much completely changed the way I use the internet. Honestly, I don't know if I can ever go back to using the backspace and new page buttons instead of right click + back and right click + down.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by Airman Doors, USAF

Since I got the shits of IE and went to Firefox I haven't had a single instance of Crapware on my computer. Not one.

That should be incentive all by itself.

Yep. That's been exactly my experience for about the last 4 months.

I recommend it. It's easy to install and easy to use.

[Shakes]

You know I was about to get rid of my old computer because it was slow and a total peice of crap. but before I did I decided to download windows registry repair, then I down loaded a spybot repair then I down loaded FIREFOX.

Let me tell ya' I'm SO glad I did this. My computer works like it's brand new now.

I already had the spybot but it kept pissing me off because I would have to do a scan damn near every time I signed on to the internet. Ever since I've been using Firefox I haven't had to use the spybot program yet.

Also Firefox has been MUCH better at downloading porn... errr.. uh.. pics from the internet. When I did this with IE, half the time they woud come out looking like Mosaics.

[Reeder]

I don't use firefox per se, but I do use mozilla.

I have never been to web page that didn't work correctly.

[Shakes]

Oh since we're on the topic. I use Net Zero, Is there a way I can get Net Zero to log on using Firefox instead of IE?

[Hail Ants]

Sorry, but on every PC I've installed it Firefox is notably faster. Not an order of magnitude (i.e. 10x) faster, but maybe twice as fast in loading web pages. After using FF, Internet Explorer has a definite 'bloatware' feel to it.

And tabbed browsing does make quite a few things easier as well.

There's also a neat add-on which allows FF to detect ads in web pages and not bother loading them. You don't get any extra space but the page loads faster (again) and is less cluttered.

I'm a very experienced PC user and previously didn't bother with alternative browsers. I tried Netscape and found it to be basically the same as IE. The main reason people used it was to thumb their nose at Microsoft.

Oh since we're on the topic. I use Net Zero, Is there a way I can get Net Zero to log on using Firefox instead of IE?

A browser has nothing to do with establishing an internet connection. Just start Firefox, then go to Tools, Options, General, and have it check to see if its the default browser and make it that. Then the next time you start IE tell it not to set itself to that (and to not ask this again).

[kpinocchio]

Some pages do not render correctly in Firefox. For an example open the following link in both IE and Firefox and compare the difference:

http://www.bestflights.com.au/cgi-bi...indetails=2017

In Firefox the text runs off the right edge of the screen (for a long way) where as in IE it wraps as the web designer intended. I have come accross several pages like this.

Also Firefox often seems to have trouble with drop down menus in web pages. It either doesn't render them at all, or it renders them in an inappropriate location (such as half way down the page).

I used Firefox for a couple of weeks before going back to IE. I know it is more secure than IE but these rendering issues were just too irritating for me. And actually I have never had a security breach of any sort on any of my web connected computers using IE in the past.

[Declan]

Originally Posted by Hail Ants

And tabbed browsing does make quite a few things easier as well.

Whats the skinny on using Tabs anyways , I guess , as opposed to opening a new browser window. I keep hearing folks applaud the feature ,but don't quite find why .

Declan

[Rex Fenestrarum]

Originally Posted by Twoflower

Your option on email. The email companion to Firefox is Thunderbird. Stick to Outlook if you want (though personally, I think that's the most dangerous thing you can do with your computer). One particular feature of T-bird I like is the ability to conditionally prevent loading images in email. Decent, though still imperfect, spam filter.

Troll. Please prove your point using Outlook 2000 SP1 or higher. And Outlook 2003 prevents loading images in HTML mail by default and has a VERY GOOD spam filter.

Originally Posted by engineer_comp_geek

Can you import your bookmarks back to IE later? I don't think so, but your old ones will still be there. Does it block pop-ups (even ones that get through IE with a pop-up blocker)? Yes

Sure you can. Go to Bookmarks > Manage Bookmarks > File > Export and export the bookmarks to an HTM file. Then open IE and select File > Import and Export and select "Import Favorites from a file". I used to have to do this all the damn time when Firefox's "Sort by Name" function was broken in the pre-1.0 betas.

And, as we all expected, the number of pop-up ads that appear when running Firefox is starting to rise a bit. I went from none per week last summer to four or five a week presently. But this is hardly surprising, given the vast numbers of people that have been using SP2's built-in blocker and the Google Toolbar, both of which started off as offering "pop-up free surfing" but are now seeing exploits on a fairly common basis.

And if the numbers of Firefox users continue to rise, this will only get worse. Firefox is slightly better than IE in its security model, but has greatly benefitted from the old "security through obscurity" maxim in the immediate past.

[Mr2001]

Originally Posted by Declan

Whats the skinny on using Tabs anyways , I guess , as opposed to opening a new browser window. I keep hearing folks applaud the feature ,but don't quite find why .

Tabs are much faster to load and easier to manage than new windows. You can open up the index of GQ, hold down Ctrl and click on a handful of threads, and they'll load in their own background tabs while you're still reading. And if you're still using Win9x/ME, tabs use fewer resources than new windows, so you can use them without worrying about crashing your system.

[Trailer Park Casanova]

NBC news said the Firefox is the old netscape browser and far superior in security and operating ability the IE.

Damfino,, it's just what I heard them report.

I love it., not all forums will let you log in on it though.

Ya have to hang on to IE.

[mhendo]

Well, for one thing, it means that the taskbar at the bottom of your screen does not get jammed with heaps and heaps of window buttons if you want to view multiple pages at the same time. This is especially useful if, like me, you often have other programs open as well. No more searching among a whole bunch of tiny, caption-less buttons in an attempt to maximise Word or Dreamweaver or Photoshop.

[mhendo]

That answer was for Declan, by the way.

[Rex Fenestrarum]

Originally Posted by Mr2001

Tabs are much faster to load and easier to manage than new windows. You can open up the index of GQ, hold down Ctrl and click on a handful of threads, and they'll load in their own background tabs while you're still reading. And if you're still using Win9x/ME, tabs use fewer resources than new windows, so you can use them without worrying about crashing your system.

Tabbed windows are nice, but Firefox's memory management sucks. Try this: open a bunch of windows in a single Firefox window. Open Task Manager and note that FF is using 125MB of RAM. Close all but one FF window (preferrably one that has pure, static HTML (i,e, no javascripts or Flash)). Open Task Maneger again. Note that FF is still using 125MB of RAM. Go get a cup of coffee and have a smoke. Come back and open Task Manager again. Note that FF is *still* using 125MB of RAM. Close FF. Open same static HTML page again. Open Task Manager and note that FF is now using only 12MB of RAM. Bang head on table.

This has been the number one bitch about FF at Ars for ages.

[Rex Fenestrarum]

Originally Posted by mhendo

Well, for one thing, it means that the taskbar at the bottom of your screen does not get jammed with heaps and heaps of window buttons if you want to view multiple pages at the same time. This is especially useful if, like me, you often have other programs open as well. No more searching among a whole bunch of tiny, caption-less buttons in an attempt to maximise Word or Dreamweaver or Photoshop.

What OS are you using? 2000? Note that XP's taskbar grouping kicks ass,

[Mr2001]

Originally Posted by Rex Fenestrarum

Tabbed windows are nice, but Firefox's memory management sucks. Try this: open a bunch of windows in a single Firefox window. Open Task Manager and note that FF is using 125MB of RAM. Close all but one FF window (preferrably one that has pure, static HTML (i,e, no javascripts or Flash)). Open Task Maneger again. Note that FF is still using 125MB of RAM.

In the interest of science, I just opened a bunch of GQ threads in tabs. I now have 27 pages open in a single Firefox window, including this one, and Task Manager reports that FF is using 64,216K. (I'm on Windows 2000.)

After closing all but two, the usage has dropped to 51,216K. And still dropping. A few minutes later, it's down to 50,432K.

Now, keep in mind that the memory usage figures in Task Manager are rough and don't mean a whole lot. That 64 MB isn't all in RAM at once; much of it is in the page file. A lot of it is unused memory that the program has freed, but the OS hasn't reclaimed.

[kimera]

The only down side I've noticed is I can't figure out how to open the page in a new browser. When I use IE and do "New Window" the new IE that pops up is on the page that I am looking at. When I do "New Window" on FF the new FF that pops up is my homepage. How do I get it to do what IE does?

Oh, and went I used IE to make sure I was talking about the correct feature, I immediately got a popup - something I have yet to see in FF.

[Mr2001]

Also, feel free to do the same experiment by opening 27 new windows in IE. I'll be surprised if it uses less memory. My IE was using 36 MB after only 7 windows.

[mhendo]

Originally Posted by Rex Fenestrarum

What OS are you using? 2000? Note that XP's taskbar grouping kicks ass,

No, i'm using XP.

But the thing is, grouping is also a pain in the ass, because i often switch back and forth between Word documents, and between browswer windows, and i like to be able to do it in a single click. The grouping used by XP does make the desktop tidier, but it also means that if you want to switch back and forth, you have to click on the group button, and then find the window you want from the list. That's why i prefer to work with tabbed browsing, because it usually means that i have few enough items in the taskbar that the grouping function doesn't even need to kick in.

[John T. Conklin]

Originally Posted by kpinocchio

Some pages do not render correctly in Firefox. For an example open the following link in both IE and Firefox and compare the difference:

http://www.bestflights.com.au/cgi-bi...indetails=2017

In Firefox the text runs off the right edge of the screen (for a long way) where as in IE it wraps as the web designer intended. I have come accross several pages like this.

I ran that URL through the W3C's HTML validator and it returned 130 problems. I know that browsers should be expected to somewhat generous with what input they accept, but at some point some assumptions have to be made that content providers are going to expend a minimal effort ensuring sure their site conforms to the HTML standard.

[mhendo]

Originally Posted by Mr2001

In the interest of science, I just opened a bunch of GQ threads in tabs. I now have 27 pages open in a single Firefox window, including this one, and Task Manager reports that FF is using 64,216K. (I'm on Windows 2000.).

I got almost exactly the same results. I don't think i've ever seen Firefox go over about 65Mb, and it's usually around 30-40 which, on my 1Gig machine, is a pittance.

[Garfield226]

Originally Posted by ava

The only down side I've noticed is I can't figure out how to open the page in a new browser. When I use IE and do "New Window" the new IE that pops up is on the page that I am looking at. When I do "New Window" on FF the new FF that pops up is my homepage. How do I get it to do what IE does?

Try right-clicking and selecting "Open link in new window."

[Rex Fenestrarum]

Originally Posted by Mr2001

Also, feel free to do the same experiment by opening 27 new windows in IE. I'll be surprised if it uses less memory. My IE was using 36 MB after only 7 windows.

I never said that IE would use less memory, but IE will at least give it back when it's done. I now have 10 IE windows open and am using 78,412KB of RAM. I close 3 and am down to 63,256KB. I close 3 more and I'm down to 40,028KB. Down to 2 open windows and RAM usage drops to 36,344KB. 1 window open and I'm down to 30,908KB.

At the same time, I have 2 tabs left in a single window after closing several Cafe Society threads - the main CS page forum page and this reply. TM shows FF as still using 146,365KB of RAM.

Honestly though, this isn't new news. Sure, you can add a tweak via browser.cache.memory.capacity but this is something that should be included in FF's default configuration.

[John Mace]

I'll add the one downside I've noticed. With Firefox I can't get Outlook to embed hypertext in e-mails. I used to be able to click over to IE, then back to Outlook when using the "insert hypertext" feature, but with Firefox it just hangs up. I understand that this problem is not an issue with Outlook Express.

[Declan]

Originally Posted by mhendo

That answer was for Declan, by the way.

Thanks for the reply , I have been switching tween konq and FF in linux , so both browsers are supposed to have it , just did not see the point till now.

Declan

[Eleusis]

Originally Posted by ava

The only down side I've noticed is I can't figure out how to open the page in a new browser. When I use IE and do "New Window" the new IE that pops up is on the page that I am looking at. When I do "New Window" on FF the new FF that pops up is my homepage. How do I get it to do what IE does?

Install the Clone Window extension.

[Rex Fenestrarum]

Originally Posted by mhendo

No, i'm using XP.

But the thing is, grouping is also a pain in the ass, because i often switch back and forth between Word documents, and between browswer windows, and i like to be able to do it in a single click. The grouping used by XP does make the desktop tidier, but it also means that if you want to switch back and forth, you have to click on the group button, and then find the window you want from the list. That's why i prefer to work with tabbed browsing, because it usually means that i have few enough items in the taskbar that the grouping function doesn't even need to kick in.

Oh, OK. I'm more of an ALT+TAB man for different windows myself.

[Savannah]

Originally Posted by SHAKES

Also Firefox has been MUCH better at downloading porn... errr.. uh.. pics from the internet. When I did this with IE, half the time they woud come out looking like Mosaics.

Just wait 'til you get the extension "Down Them All".

Just sayin'.

[gouda]

So which is better? Opera or FF?

[Excalibre]

Originally Posted by SHAKES

Also Firefox has been MUCH better at downloading porn... errr.. uh.. pics from the internet. When I did this with IE, half the time they woud come out looking like Mosaics.

Note that there's several extensions out there if you want to improve your experience and make it easier to examine "artwork" online. They'll load each image-link in a separate tab, or help browse multiple galleries, and it can make the online art experience even better than it was before.

Originally Posted by Declan

Whats the skinny on using Tabs anyways , I guess , as opposed to opening a new browser window. I keep hearing folks applaud the feature ,but don't quite find why .

Declan

Particularly with IE, I've noticed, it's quite slow to open a new window compared to a new tab in FF. And you can configure it to open things in tabs while remaining in the tab you're on, which makes it simple to just click each link you'll want to examine (say, here on the boards) while remaining in the main window. It makes looking at multiple threads on message boards (and just about everything else) easier. It's a different style of use; new windows are fine, but tabs are just easier to manage and at least I found my web use much different when I could easily descend through webpage hierarchies rather than traveling a single path.

Originally Posted by Rex Fenestrarum

Tabbed windows are nice, but Firefox's memory management sucks. Try this: open a bunch of windows in a single Firefox window. Open Task Manager and note that FF is using 125MB of RAM. Close all but one FF window (preferrably one that has pure, static HTML (i,e, no javascripts or Flash)). Open Task Maneger again. Note that FF is still using 125MB of RAM. Go get a cup of coffee and have a smoke. Come back and open Task Manager again. Note that FF is *still* using 125MB of RAM. Close FF. Open same static HTML page again. Open Task Manager and note that FF is now using only 12MB of RAM. Bang head on table.

This has been the number one bitch about FF at Ars for ages.

Yep, and I've noticed this too. In general, it allows one to open so many tabs (and I tend to) that system resources run out (still using Win98; perhaps upgrading would solve this?) and new windows can't be drawn. I wish they could either manage resources better or prevent the user from opening more tabs than it permits.


While we're on the subject, I'll probably ask at the mozilla forums later, but has anyone experienced this strange problem I'm suddenly having with FF? If I have many tabs open (and it only has to be ten or so), suddenly, every time a page is displayed, the whole browser hangs for several seconds while it's somehow parsing the HTML or whatever. It's a longer pause than it normally takes to display a page, and I'm used to using one tab in the foreground while others load in the background. Occasionally a message box will pop up claiming that a script on the page is running slowly and give me the option to terminate it. If I do so, the tab in question seems to continue to operate normally. Except it seems to happen in windows without scripts at all, or ones where the scripts have never caused me trouble before (like here at the SDMB.)

[EmeraldGrue]

Originally Posted by engineer_comp_geek

Can you import your bookmarks back to IE later? I don't think so, but your old ones will still be there. Does it block pop-ups (even ones that get through IE with a pop-up blocker)?

Originally Posted by Rex Fenestrarum

Sure you can. Go to Bookmarks > Manage Bookmarks > File > Export and export the bookmarks to an HTM file. Then open IE and select File > Import and Export and select "Import Favorites from a file".

There's also an extension called Favorites Converter that does this in one click. Awfully handy.

[Jonathan Chance]

OK, then. I'll ask a stupid question...

I converted over to Mozilla and then Firefox. The only problem I have is that when I click on an email-link it attempts to open the internal email client when I would be more comfortable in Outlook. Can you guys advise me how to convince it that my default mail client should be outlook?

[Excalibre]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Chance

OK, then. I'll ask a stupid question...

I converted over to Mozilla and then Firefox. The only problem I have is that when I click on an email-link it attempts to open the internal email client when I would be more comfortable in Outlook. Can you guys advise me how to convince it that my default mail client should be outlook?

If you're using Firefox to open mail links, I suspect the trouble is Windows' default email client; it's not a browser setting. I'd first try running Outlook to see if it asks you to make it default; if not, there's probably something in the Outlook prefs to do that.

[Futile Gesture]

Originally Posted by kpinocchio

Some pages do not render correctly in Firefox. For an example open the following link in both IE and Firefox and compare the difference:

http://www.bestflights.com.au/cgi-bi...indetails=2017

In Firefox the text runs off the right edge of the screen (for a long way) where as in IE it wraps as the web designer intended. I have come accross several pages like this.

The page in question is a mess and poorly coded. Who knows what the designer intended, but it's not Firefox's fault that their messy HTML happens to fluke an ok appearance on IE.

Also Firefox often seems to have trouble with drop down menus in web pages. It either doesn't render them at all, or it renders them in an inappropriate location (such as half way down the page).

This what happens if you put non-standard propriety widgets in your web pages. Basically you are telling all surfers who don't use IE that you are not interested in them being able to read your web site.

I used someone else's computer not so long ago, one without Firefox. I was shocked to see the number of popups. I had almost forgotten what they were like. What, with the constant dread of viruses, trojans and hijacks, the web must really suck if you're an IE user. I feel an almost patronising and smug pity for them.

[Nightwatch Trailer]

Originally Posted by gouda

So which is better? Opera or FF?

People have asked this question before on the board. Most seem to prefer Firefox. I'm big on Opera because it feels tighter and maybe a bit faster, and the mouse gestures seem to work better.

Try out both. I have to switch to Firefox sometimes to open a page that doesn't work properly in Opera (such as Gmail), but having both browsers installed means I very rarely have to resort to Explorer to open a page.

[RandomLetters]

Originally Posted by Rex Fenestrarum

What OS are you using? 2000? Note that XP's taskbar grouping kicks ass,

XP's taskbar grouping is inadequate for serious web browsing. Typically, I will have a couple Firefox windows open at once - one for the SD, one for Slashdot, another for blogs that I read, and one for webcomics, and so on, each window with several tabs open within; usually I have 100 or so web pages open at once, yet I can find any specific page very quickly. Doing so with IE & taskbar grouping would be a pain.

[Colophon]

Originally Posted by Nightwatch Trailer

I have to disagree. One feature that Firefox (and my browser of choice, Opera) supports, mouse gestures, has pretty much completely changed the way I use the internet. Honestly, I don't know if I can ever go back to using the backspace and new page buttons instead of right click + back and right click + down.

Could somebody explain what these "mouse gestures" are? I'm having visions of this kind of thing...

How is what you describe different from right-clicking to go back in IE? Not trying to defend IE, just curious.

[Gary "Wombat" Robson]

Originally Posted by Rex Fenestrarum

Troll.

What do you do, just wander from thread to thread and call people trolls if they acknowledge the security flaws in Microsoft's products?

If Twoflower had been attempting to start a flamewar with that comment, it could have been considered a troll. But it's not. It's just a statement of his conclusion based on a lot of readily-available data.

[Derleth]

Originally Posted by Trailer Park Casanova

NBC news said the Firefox is the old netscape browser

Well, not really but they're probably more right than they know.

Ya see, in 1998 Netscape released the source code to their browser to the world. They did this to prevent Microsoft from owning the Web utterly and mutating it into something only MSIE would be able to use. A bunch of volunteers sprung up around this source code to build an open-source browser. They called it Mozilla, after the name of one of the early prececessors to Netscape. (As it turns out, the Mozilla Project had to toss out all of the Netscape code and start from scratch, because the code they got was badly-written. But there are definite links between Mozilla and Netscape.)

Netscape won this gambit: They prevented Microsoft from locking up the Web and ensured a market for Netscape server software, their real moneymaker. Meanwhile, they pretty much got out of the business of designing their own browser: Later versions of the Netscape browser would be rebranded versions of Mozilla. So for a while, you could reasonably say that Netscape version n was really Mozilla version y.

Netscape was bought out by AOL and the Netscape browser formed the basis of the AOL browser for a while, until AOL decided to go with a rebranded MSIE instead. Meanwhile, the Mozilla Project was attracting some detractors: Mozilla had become a rather heavyweight piece of code, and it still wasn't considered `finished'. Plus, it was designed as a full Web development tool, including its own HTML editor and email client in addition to the Web browser. People wanted something smaller, simpler, and better-behaved.

Enter Firefox. It was designed as a simple Web browser built up around the Gecko rendering engine (later to serve as the basis for a lot of other browsers, Safari among them IIRC) and supporting a simple way to write extensions in a portable, high-level language called XUL (pronounced Zuul, as in "There is no Dana, only XUL."). This wasn't a complete break with the Mozilla Project -- after all, the browser calls itself 'Mozilla Firefox' in its titlebar -- but it was a new development in the codebase. And it would cause a sea change in how people saw non-MSIE browsers. In a relatively short while, it would be seriously eating into MSIE's marketshare and getting the attention of people who would otherwise never have considered jumping the All-Microsoft ship.

Originally Posted by Declan

I have been switching tween konq and FF in linux , so both browsers are supposed to have it , just did not see the point till now.

I do the same thing. Slashdot loads correctly in Konq, and the KDE toolbar RSS crawler only opens pages in Konq.

Plus, FF and Konq handle tabs a bit differently: FF makes them all visible at once, eventually making it impossible to read the text. Konq scrolls the tab bar so each tab maintains a constant size.

However, FF is a lot more configurable than Konq, and it's more willing to open tabs in the background.

Originally Posted by gouda

So which is better? Opera or FF?

Opera is nice enough, but it doesn't have near as many extensions and it really isn't different enough from Konq or FF to make me switch back now. Being able to finely control page rendering is nice, though.

[Nightwatch Trailer]

Originally Posted by Colophon

Could somebody explain what these "mouse gestures" are? I'm having visions of this kind of thing...

How is what you describe different from right-clicking to go back in IE? Not trying to defend IE, just curious.

Mouse gestures are basically a combination of mouse clicks and mouse movement. Like I said, hold down the right mouse button, move the mouse to the left, release the button and voila - you go back one page. It doesn't sound too amazing, but once you get the hang of it I think you'd find that it saves quite a bit of time over a multi-click system. Mouse gestures are the default in Opera, but I think you have to download an extension to use them in Firefox.

Another thing I like in Opera is the ability to search quickly from the address bar. Type in "g straight dope" and you'll get the Google results for the query "straight dope." You can do this in Firefox, too, except replace "g" with "google."

[Garfield226]

Originally Posted by Nightwatch Trailer

Another thing I like in Opera is the ability to search quickly from the address bar. Type in "g straight dope" and you'll get the Google results for the query "straight dope." You can do this in Firefox, too, except replace "g" with "google."

While I definitely enjoy this feature in Firefox, there is an add-on for IE that lets you do the same thing.