Of course, you may not suffer the agonies that I have suffered. I’m still 9.2.2, and I have been using IE forever. (I hated it, but it was still better than Navigator.)
Lately the pain and agony of opening web pages and switching between open windows has been, well, agony. Especially here on the SDMB.
Well, I’m saved, and you can be, too. Go straight to Mozilla.org and download the latest version for whatever OS you are using. You will be immediately smitten. The speed, efficiency, amazing design details…it’s beautiful, just beautiful. You can set a preference for NO POPUPS! “Tabbed” browsing, new links load in background…it’s all just a joy, an absolute joy.
And a fabulous advertisement for open source!
And of course, all this is available for PC people too. The only reason I am directing this to Mac folk specifically is because I wasn’t able to get Mozilla to work for me months ago, I thought maybe many Macheads had the same problem.
But to everyone: Mozilla rocks right down to the ground. Fantastic. I am so happy I could cry.
Damn it’s fast… it’s like having a whole new Straight Dope!
I disliked it. I only used it for a short time, then went back to using IE. It took damned near forever to launch for me, slowed my boot time significantly (I still have no idea why it had to load something or the other at startup), and after trying for ten minutes to find a particular setting I gave up. I also disliked how it looked, although that’s probably just a matter of what I’m used to.
I tend to be stubborn and resistant to change, though.
I use Netscape as my primary browser. If that failed for some reason, I would go to Mozilla, then Internet Explorer, then Opera. They’re all fine browsers in my opinion, but I can’t get past the fact that Opera has an advertisement going all the time. All these other companies are giving me free browsers, and Opera wants 40 bucks for theirs, which is on par with the rest of them. Yeah right.
I use Mozilla and Netscape (for PC) a lot, and yes, they are identical.
If startup time is an issue for you, turning on Quick Launch for Netscape makes a big difference. The thing is, IE effectively runs Quick Launch whether you want it to or not, so of course it’s going to start up faster.
I’ve been a mozilla convert for years - couldn’t go back to IE now. I even set it up on my parents PC when i went to visit them a while back and they love it.
the only caveat i’d give it is that downloading all the relevant plug-ins can be for inexperienced users.
The thing I don’t like about NN/Mozilla is that it resembles the cartoonish look of Windows XP default mode.
I like how I can set Opera 7 to look like the nice, clean, easy look of Opera 6, and not have to worry about my browser looking like a Mickey Mouse reject.
Well, IE works for me but I sure as hell have nothing against trying something new. Especially something that doesn’t have the pop-up and nasty Active-X applications.
Well, I use Phoenix, which is based on Mozilla; pop-up blocking is on by default, it runs and loads up faster than both IE and Mozilla, and IMHO, the user interface is much nicer looking than Mozilla. The only disadvantage is that it is missing some of the features found in Mozilla, but I haven’t ever had a problem with it.
Both are nice browsers, but Camino is more compliant with a lot of sites. Camino is an OS X version of Mozilla, minus the bloat, with a nice Aqua interface. Safari being an Apple branded web browser that is really fast, but not quite ready for prime time yet.
I gave up on IE:Mac a while ago. Page rendering is entirely too slow, and it tends to crash for me a bit too often. Not something I look for in a browser.
And yes, tabbed Browsing is really nice. Camino supports it, as do a few of the leaked betas of Safari, so Safari users rejoice, tabbed broswing is coming. (and is already here for those of us with some of the leaked betas.
I know, I know. I bought Jag at the end of last year, switching was going to be happening the first of the year, then I got evicted, tried to find rentals 24/7, then bought a house, had my gall bladder removed, and now we have to actually pack and move.
Installing, learning, and dealing with the incompatible software I’m running, right now, in the midst of all this, just doesn’t seem like a very appealing idea.
So I figure I’ll be making the big switch in summer, after life settles down, and any glitchitude which results can have my undivided attention.
I may grab a copy of Mozilla anyhow (I have a previous edition of it for the X-Window Darwin environment, in fact) but I’m not likely to seriously contemplate dropping iCab as my day-to-day browser.
I’ll switch when they make Google Toolbar for anything but IE. It makes searchs SO much easier (highlight button lights up your search terms on pages).
Like DreadCthulhu, I use Phoenix, too. It just does what I want it to do and nothing else.
Apparently Mozilla is going to be based off Phoenix in the near future (the browser part anyway). If you want to see where Mozilla is headed, give it a look.
