Firefox article (edit: articles)

[WalkerInTheWoods]

Watch out IE here comes Firefox.

http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/0,17863,714129,00.html?cnn=yes

[G3MM4]

I use Firefox, but it isn't perfect, however is is a massive improvement on IE 6 IMO.

[Nick]

Nice informative article. Thanks for posting it, fallnangel77.  


All the best,
Nick

[WalkerInTheWoods]

Thank you, Nick. Here is another one, though not as detailed as the first: http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/11/09/mozilla.firefox/index.html

Firefox seems to be making the news.

[Tayesin]

I use Firefox, but it isn't perfect, however is is a massive improvement on IE 6 IMO.

I agree.  Been using Firefox now for about two months and found that once I set it up to work how I like things to, it's been great.  It does have one or two minor imperfections, but it's so much better to use than IE6.

I also uninstalled IE6 off my computer, completely.  It was a bit of a shock to find every version of IE that I had updated too was sitting on top of the previous version and taking up hard drive space.  Lazy old dogs !

So I got me IEradicate and removed the dastardly beast known as Internet Explorer 4, 5, and 6+SP1.   It cleared up 46 MB straight away and the old 166 compaq is running faster on 98 than it ever has !!

Here's a link to IRadicate for Windows 98...
http://www.litepc.com/getieradicator.html

There is one available for XP, but I don't have a link to a clean version.

Good Riddance to Internet Explorer !  

[Nay]

Thanks for that tip Tay.  I'm not computer savy, so this might seem like a stupid question, but I install the firefox BEFORE deleting all of the IE?  I too notice all of these updates and patches that are taking up a boat load of space and cannot wait to get rid of them!

Nay

[Tayesin]

Thanks for that tip Tay.  I'm not computer savy, so this might seem like a stupid question, but I install the firefox BEFORE deleting all of the IE?  I too notice all of these updates and patches that are taking up a boat load of space and cannot wait to get rid of them!

Nay

Tay waves at Nay.  

Yes, install Firefox first, so you have a browser to use while deleting IE... the only IE related functions remaining will be those for Outlook.  

Also, it says in the spiel that once you have deleted IE from the system you won't be able to view your desktop as a web page... no real drama there.. I use Webshots anyway.

And, without IE you won't be able to see a thumbprint of a selected jpg or gif file on the left of the open window.  If you want to look at a jpg pic just clik on it to see it in a new window with Windows Explorer.  This won't work with viewing gifs though.

Anyway, those small hassles aren't a real problem.

good luck with the changes Nay.

[WalkerInTheWoods]

One thing I suggest if you get rid of IE complete is to get the user switcher (I am not sure what it is called exactly) extension for Firefox. It is rare but some websites will not work at all with Firefox. This seems to happen most often with banking websites. This extension will allow you to switch Firefox to act like IE or Netscape so the website will work. The only place I have had to use this is when I want to look at my bank account online. It would not let me do it with Firefox but when I choose IE with this extension it worked fine.

I have not tried it, as I have not been using Windows, but when wanting to view a .gif can you not just open it with Firefox like you could with IE?

[Tayesin]

I hadn't thought of using Firefox to open a gif.  Thanks.

And isn't the switcher for when you kept IE and use it through the 'Switch to IE' button for sites that won't display in Firefox ?

[WalkerInTheWoods]

And isn't the switcher for when you kept IE and use it through the 'Switch to IE' button for sites that won't display in Firefox ?

I am not sure how the extension I am referring to actually works, so I am not sure if you have to have IE or not, but I would think not. This extension gives you another menu under Tools (I think) with the option to switch to IE and Netscape, but you are not actually switching to them. You are still using Firefox. In Linux with no IE this works fine for those few sites. I am not sure if the Windows version would be any different. I used the Windows version and it worked too, but I still had IE installed. This does not do anything for formatting issues as far as how a site looks. It just allows you to access sites that will only allow certain browsers access.

[Nagual]

It just changes the "User Agent" string in the HTTP request...
By example, by faking IE6 on WinXP from Mozilla, instead of sending:

Code Select Expand

User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.7.3) Gecko/20040910

to the web server; it sends:

Code Select Expand

User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1)

That's it!

http://www.chrispederick.com/work/firefox/useragentswitcher/
http://uabar.mozdev.org/

[Tayesin]

Thanks again Falln, and Nagual for clearing up my misperceptions there.

[halfphased]

Safari for Mac is just about hthe best browser I have ever used.  So many great features.  Pop up ad browser built into the browser.  Ability to turn off history cache.  Okay, so it has 2 great features that I can think of...  I know there is more.  Really.

[Nay]

I crossed over!     I also used the link you (Tay) gave and it took IE out.  I didn't get as much space you got but I'm still pleased.  

Thanks for the help.  

Nay

[Nay]

Well, I found one problem.  It isn't compatible with the firewall I have.  

Does anyone know how I find one that will work with Firefox?

Thanks!   Nay

[WalkerInTheWoods]

Nay, have you checked out Firefox's support pages and forum? They might be able to help you configure Firefox to work with your firewall or recommend you one.

http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/

[Nagual]

It isn't compatible with the firewall I have.

What firewall are you using?

If you use zonealarm (free for personal use), the first time firefox tries to connect to the Internet, it (zonealarm) displays a pop-up with something like "do you want to allow 'xxx' to access the Internet" yes/no question...  You check the "remember this choice" check-box and answer yes.  There is a tab in zonealarm that lists all the programs allowed or denied.

It should be more or less the same with other firewalls like norton and co.

[Nay]

Hi Fallen and Nagual.  

Thanks for helping you two!  I have the Mcafee, I will look for that little pop up window.

Nay