Firefox

The little blue "e" with the orbiting ring. Internet Explorer. It has been a staple in my life for almost nine years now, ever since version 3 came out and Netscape was still charging money (about $50) for their browser. Yes kids, they used to charge money for a web browser. I had a brief fling with Netscape, but quickly switched back to IE for good - or so I thought. Enter Firefox, an open source program, that has caught up to and surpassed Internet Explorer in terms of providing a pleasing Internet browsing experience. Why am I so high on the capabilities of Firefox that it has been raised to the status of default browser on my computer? This document will attempt to explain.

The reason I switched to Firefox is because it addressed IE's shortcomings. IE was never perfect, but it was better than anything else available (I'm sure there are those who would quibble). However, it always had some major security issues, leaving it and computer systems vulnerable to attack. Numerous patches have been issued over the years, and the only update of any significance to the current version 6 (released with Windows XP in 2001!) happened in August of 2004 when many of the vulnerabilities were fixed (supposedly) with Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. The significant feature that it added - a pop-up blocker. Well, I liked the pop-up blocker that was included with Google's Toolbar better anyway, so it wasn't much of an improvement. In November of 2004 Firefox 1.0 was released, and I was already considering a switch while using some of the beta versions. Be warned that Firefox isn't perfect either, and some pages won't load properly in Firefox, so you may need to use IE occasionally, but there are even easy ways to use IE from Firefox (see reason #7 below). So, without further ado, here is why I switched:

Reason #1

Tabbed Web Browsing - This feature allows many pages to be loaded in the same Firefox window. Switching from page to page is as simple as clicking on the tabs (like folder tabs). You might think that switching between windows with IE is simple using the task bar, but it's that much more efficient in Firefox. Also, whereas in IE you can have a home page, you can have multiple tabs and therefore multiple home pages that can load each time you start Firefox. To add tabs during your browsing session you can ctrl-click a link for a new tab, or right-click the link and choose “Open Link in New Tab”. You can also press ctrl-t for a new blank tab, and clicking with your middle mouse button (you have one right?) closes a tab.

You can watch a video demonstrating tabbed browsing. You will need the Macromedia Flash Player to view it.
Running time is 3 minutes 55 seconds

Reason #2

Pop-up Blocker - It's as good as the pop-up blocker included with the Google Toolbar, so there's no need to install anything else.

You can watch a video demonstrating the pop-up blocker . You will need the Macromedia Flash Player to view it.
Running time is 2 minutes 9 seconds

Reason #3

Built-in Google Search - Though you can specify another search engine, why would you. Type in a search word or phrase in the Google search field and it will send you to a Google results page. In addition, you can type in your search phrase in the address/location window and it will use Google's I'm Feeling Lucky technology and transport you to the first (best?) search result. It virtually eliminates the need to bookmark Google at all.

You can watch a video demonstrating google searching. You will need the Macromedia Flash Player to view it.
Running time is 2 minutes 6 seconds

Reason #4

Smart/Quick Searching - Try typing dict and then any English word in the address/location field and up comes the definition of your word. How about imdb and Martin Scorsese? Instant information on Scorsese at the Internet Movie Database web site. You can even create your own quick searches. Then, while you are viewing a page, hit ctrl-f and then type to find a word on the current web page. It highlights your word as you type without anything blocking your view.

You can watch a video demonstrating quick searching. You will need the Macromedia Flash Player to view it.
Running time is 2 minutes 30 seconds

Reason #5

Live Bookmarks - This features combines RSS feeds and Bookmarks. It will create a set of Bookmarks relating to any page that has an RSS feed, and it will keep them up-to-date. A great place to store these live Bookmarks is in the Bookmarks Toolbar, a handy place to keep all of your favorite sites.

You can watch a video demonstrating live bookmarks . You will need the Macromedia Flash Player to view it.
Running time is 3 minutes 6 seconds

Reason #6

Simpler Downloading of Files - You specify a place on your hard drive to automatically download files to. One click, hit the OK button, and then it saves in the background.

You can watch a video demonstrating file downloads . You will need the Macromedia Flash Player to view it.
Running time is 1 minutes 53 seconds

Reason #7

Extensions, Extensions, Extensions! - There are numerous extensions that are available to download and add functionality to Firefox. My absolute must have is called ieview. It installs a menu item, that appears when you right-click a link, allowing you to open the link target page in IE. This is for pages that don't work quite right in Firefox (the cause of which is either Active X, which isn't secure anyway, or a poorly coded web page). Extensions also worth mentioning are Foxy Tunes, Download Manager Tweak, and the Google Bar for Firefox.

Reason #8

Themes, Themes, Themes! - Change the look and feel of Firefox to fit your mood. Many themes are available for download.

Reason #9

Keeps IE's Best Features - Bookmarks, which act like the Favorites in IE, a History button, Text Zoom, and Full Screen capability are all there. Also, Firefox keeps my all time favorite feature from IE. The ability to type in a word in the address/location field, like amazon, and by holding down ctrl while hitting Enter, it will add the http://www. and the .com at the beginning and end to transport you, in this case, to http://www.amazon.com .

Reason #10

Firefox is No Slowpoke - Previously, one reason not to use Netscape was that it took FOREVER to load, at least compared to IE (yeah, Microsoft had the advantage of knowing their OS inside and out). Firefox, however, loads quickly and can display pages very fast. It can even be optimized further with tweaks to it's configuration file.

More Reasons?

There are other little reasons to switch. Firefox is one of the best web browsers for standards compliance. Which means it will acurately render pages that are properly coded. IE has more trouble with this. Another reason might simply be that you are a Microsoft hater and can't stand the thought of using anything Microsoft if you don't have to. Whatever your reason, at least try it out. I think you will eventually make it your default web browser.

Special Note: Be aware that Firefox is not currently supported by SCT, the developers of our Banner and upcoming Luminis portal software. ERP systems are vast, and testing takes time. So, you'll need to keep IE around a little longer if only for those purposes until SCT has time to test and certify Firefox for its products.