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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I don’t use firefox per se, but I do use mozilla.
I have never been to web page that didn’t work correctly.
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?
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. :rolleyes:
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).
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-bin/203/flights?maindetails=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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.