Well, I just downloaded the Firefox browser…So far, the switch over has been very smooth, and Firefox seems to load pages much faster than IE. I do have a few questions:
Has anyone come across any problems using Firefox vs. IE?
Any problems with paying bills online or using secure ordering websites when comapred to IE?
Why are there all these “plug-ins”? I know the site says they are to use Flash macromedia, realplayer, etc., but so far the browser accesses those things fine all by itself. Is that because I have already downloaded these programs? Are these plug-ins irrelevant for me?
Finally, has anyone switched to Thunderbird for email? Right now, I’m still using my Outlook express which seems to work seamlessly from Firefox. Would Thunderbird have newsgroups?
on 11/22 the Boston Globe had a story in the business section on firefox. I tried to copy it for you but they want $3 to get it from their archive. You can get it if you want. It’s non-technical and probably about 15 paragraphs. The writer liked firefox a lot and was encouraging people to use it. As I recall, firefox doesn’t use active X which lets IE communicate with other sites through cookies to make them efficient. For example, I think it’s cookies and active x that let C&F recognize you the moment you go to the site. Active x is also the source of many IE security flaws. Also, firefox seems to have open software so anyone can write programs to work with the browser. The writer thought these were great and easy to use. That’s all I remember.
I’ve been using Firefox for about six weeks and I LOVE IT. The best feature is “open in tabs,” which allows me to group a bunch of websites together and open them all at the same time. This works great for both fast loading and slow loading sites, and beats the pants off clicking on favorites one at a time, or typing in links, or using a links homepage. For example, I open several daily newspapers in one grouping, several newsgroups/boards like Chiff on another.
Issues, it takes a tad bit longer to start up because I think the program size is a bit bigger than IE. This is made up for with slightly faster downloads. The only thing I haven’t been able to do is stream RealPlayer stuff. I am able to stream other video formats. Sites that use cookies to save passwords work fine, as do secure sites.
MSFT has stopped development on IE, now only doing maintenance and bug fixes. Hackers relentless target IE. For security issues alone, Firefox is worth switching. Faster downloads, and the great ability to open many sites simultaneously are super bonuses.
I use web based email (and avoided any number of viruses and hacks), so don’t know about Thunderbird or Outlook.
Just so you know, cookies and ActiveX have really nothing to do with each other. I would imagine there’s no active x on this website.
ActiveX enables interactive content on websites. For the technically astute, it’s a way of loading Microsoft COM objects remotely on the client browser. It’s a dead technology, as far as the internet is concerned. It’s pretty much been replaced with java and macromedia flash for the most part. I can’t think of a single page I’ve gone to with activeX content. You won’t miss it. Cookies will still work fine. (ActiveX COM objects are still used extensively in Visual Basic/VB.NET, Visual C++, Delphi, and other COM complient programming languages, but you won’t care about that unless you’re a programmer)
As for plug ins, you need them for IE also, but most people already have most of the common ones loaded when they get their computer. You’ll probably need to load them afresh with firefox. But these days, it’s a pretty painless process. You probably won’t have any problem with it…when you go to a page with flash or something, and need the plug-in, the browser will probably tell you how to go about getting it.
I’ve been using Firefox (on XP) for a couple of weeks and haven’t had any problems. I’m not sure it’s particularly quicker than IE, it seems slower to render images sometimes, but downloads have been good. No problems with secure sites etc.
I’m also using Thunderbird insead of OE now. Seems pretty good to me. The only annoyance is that there’s no option to ‘View Source’ on an email, which I have occasionally used in OE to check out suspicious mail without opening it.
I’m also trialling OpenOffice to replace MS Office 97, and so far would recommend it.
…then there’s Linux. I’ve downloaded an install of Mandrake 10.0 but haven’t found the time (or is it courage) to install it yet. Perhaps I shouldn’t be trying to learn to whistle and to Linux at the same time
I’ve used Firefox for several months. Of course, I still have IE on my computer. Once in awhile I’ll encounter a website that won’t work properly because of something to do with my cookies setting on Firefox. When that happens, I just switch to IE for that website. Other than that, I’ve had no problems at all.
Thanks all! I’m still liking it. There are a few pages that load slower or funny (ESPN is one), but overall it just zips through the message boards I frequent and other websites just fine!
I’m not sure I want to make the leap to Thunderbird yet - I have to many messages and all saved on OE as well as the addresses and all…seems like too much work right now, but I may try it later.
Thunderbird v. 0.8 has ‘view source’ (view/message, or Ctrl-U).
Also, you can get an extension for Firefox–think it’s called 'IE view"-to load that rare wonky page into IE with one click. Happy to say I’ve only needed that once in six months or so with Firefox/Thunderbird. I won’t be going back to IE/OE either…
Will switching to Firefox cure the pop-ups that have been plagueing me for the last couple of months? They all seem to be from IE, and try to redirect me when I change pages, websites, etc. Any thoughts on this?
I have adaware SE Adwatch, but it only manages to stop some, maybe half of the redirects. Help!!! Thanks!
On the Mac, Firefox stops pop-ups quite well. I still use Exploder most of the time, just because I’m used to the interface. It doesn’t seem to crash much under OS 10.3.6, but the pop-ups are annoying.
I’m thinking of going to OmniWeb after our move. It’s the only commercial Web browser I know of for OS X, but it got good reviews from Macworld, and I don’t mind paying for a superior product.
Thanks guys, I just switched, I think! I downloaded Firefox, ran the setup, and specified it as my default browser, is that what I should have done? I’m on a PC using AOL. Do I need to do anything else to start off, or just add the plug ins as needed, or when I have the time?
Guess what? No pop ups! Great! I would have been redirected a few times by now! Thanks for your input here, and your help with a computer fogie!
We switched about a month ago. A few plug ins arn’t available (my daugher’s habo chat for one) but most all of the common ones are it seems. Nice being able to switch skins and themes and stuff. Good pop up control. Imports everything flawlessly.
Thunderbird I have one and only one complaint. My netscape webmail doesn’t work with it. I can still fetch it through the web page, but that’s a pain. If I didn’t use the web mail I’d use it. It imported everything and looks and acts like netscape mail.
So Im using firefox mostly now, but still have netscape mail.
I’ve been using Firefox for a few months now and love it.. with one small exception. Some people ( and sadly I’m one of them) have trouble hearing embedded sound on some web-pages. But only a small percentage of users are affected.
Apart from that Firefox rules: the tabs, pop-up blocking, password manager- all are great. But the real advantage is under the hood - imagine IE as a shack that has had extension and extension built onto it - resulting in a structure that has a lot of holes in it - thus a constant stream of security updates. Firefox on the other hand was designed ground-up by an architect and so there are almost no holes in the structure. Your browsing is a lot safer.
For mail I stick to Pegasus mail - a free program which I find really intuitive and easy to use.
Greenspider, just add the plugins as needed - you’ll go to a web-page and it’ll ask you if you want to d’load the plugin to properly view the page - it’ll install it for you once it has your permission.
You can also go to
h**ps://update.mozilla.org/extensions/
Ive tried using several different browsers. (NeoPlanet - awesome themes but is an outdated browser. IE i cant stand - personal prefrence i guess… Firefox, i downloaded and installed, but could never get it to work. I hear Opera is excellent - but it costs, so i havent tried that one yet). I use Avant Browser (Its an IE wraparound, i know) but it uses all the good working parts of IE, plus its a much better looking browser. Its skinnable, and it tab’s webpages like how firefox does. I dont have one bad thing to say about this browser AT ALL!!!
