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Firefox helping to make Web better for all
Boston Globe ^ | November 22, 2004 | Hiawatha Bray

Posted on 11/22/2004 1:15:57 PM PST by Radix

In the past two weeks, Internet users have downloaded over 4.5 million copies of Firefox, the excellent browser available for free from the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation. Yes, there are hundreds of millions of IE users, but Firefox is gaining fast, and IE is losing market share for the first time in years. The switch to Firefox will happen even faster as more people realize the full power of this browser, much of it provided by computer hobbyists who are scrambling to create a cornucopia of useful add-ons.

(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: firefox; internetbrowser; technology
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To: kingu

ditto's for almost a year now...it's sweet


81 posted on 11/22/2004 4:38:03 PM PST by GRRRRR (Proud to be an American in a RED COUNTY!)
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To: Damocles
Well, with Opera Free, you have banner ads, with firefox you don't. More pages seem to be compatible with firefox than with Opera, though Opera does have a better built in history function. The sidebar notepad is also really helpful, but it's possible that all those functions could be replicated using extensions for firefox.

I'd say the long and short of it would be a wash between the two; the slight speed advantage for Opera would be great for older machines, though firefox in a linux environment would usually be even faster on older machines.

Oh, and firefox is much less 'busy' unless you choose a theme that is more opera-like.
82 posted on 11/22/2004 4:54:16 PM PST by kingu (Which would you bet on? Iraq and Afghanistan? Or Haiti and Kosovo?)
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To: TomGuy
"It doesn't load quite as fast as I'd like."

Really? I've found it to be substantially quicker than IE.

83 posted on 11/22/2004 4:58:56 PM PST by Dan Middleton (Hang on sloopy / Sloop hang on / Hang on Sloopy / Sloopy Hang on...)
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To: Rebelbase
"Mozilla Jihad?"

You read my mind!

84 posted on 11/22/2004 5:00:19 PM PST by Dan Middleton (Hang on sloopy / Sloop hang on / Hang on Sloopy / Sloopy Hang on...)
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To: backhoe
"You can't get rid of IE- it's hooked into the operating system-"

I had suspected that, but never heard it confirmed. I was meaning to ask around, because I'd rip IE off my rig like that (*snaps fingers*) if I could.

85 posted on 11/22/2004 5:02:16 PM PST by Dan Middleton (Hang on sloopy / Sloop hang on / Hang on Sloopy / Sloopy Hang on...)
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To: JimRed
Excerpt from the article in the Boston Globe

Websites ought to be designed in accord with the universal standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium in Cambridge. But for many designers, the temptation to use Microsoft's specialized features was irresistible. They especially like ActiveX, which basically lets the Microsoft browser install new software on a Web surfer's machine. Since ActiveX is also used by worm and spyware writers to smuggle their code onto computers, Firefox doesn't use it. This is a key reason why it's a safer browser than IE, but also a barrier when visiting some websites.

86 posted on 11/22/2004 5:06:38 PM PST by Eagle9
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To: kingu; Sthitch; Dan Middleton; JoeSixPack1; hunter112; The Westerner; Moose4; ChadGore; ...
One time ping......

I have been following the Fire Fox browser threads whenever I see them on FR.com. Hiawatha Bray who wrote the column which I linked to on this thread seems to be a  really great guy. I have been reading his columns for years. Each time that I have written to him concerning his column he has responded quickly and positively to me. His column regularly appears on Mondays in the Boston Globe Business section, and that is usually the 1 day each week that I actually buy that rag.

I have been quite unhappy with the IE for some time. It seems that the pop ups and the virus threats are incessant and so I have sought an alternative. I have come to trust FReepers the most when it comes to matters of all sorts. Thanks for your input today. I downloaded the Firefox, and I have now been using it for a  very short time.

87 posted on 11/22/2004 5:08:52 PM PST by Radix (Help, my Tag Line has just gotten loose and it is running amok.)
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To: rwfromkansas; tickles; Radix
I think Firefox has built in zooming of any image on the net (or maybe I got that from an extension).
I looked for it but can't find the zoom feature - the text increase works great - under "View" - make it as large as you like and still read it within the screen margins.

I did discover that if you select "Full Screen" - to undo it you hit/mash/click the "Windows - Min/Max" button - top right - between the minimize and close all tabs "x".

That's another good point - Netscape has had tabbed browsing but hit that "X" in the corner and ALL your tabs are gone - Firefox at least asks "Are you sure (dummy) you want to close xx tabs?" ;-)

Lastly - I had Version 0.9 - the 1.0 D/L took a couple of minutes and installed over the old version without a reboot. Yee haw!

88 posted on 11/22/2004 5:09:56 PM PST by Tunehead54 (Repeal the 22nd Amendment!)
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To: Radix

I downloaded Firefox a few days ago. It's sweet.


89 posted on 11/22/2004 5:11:29 PM PST by Steel Wolf (Aut viam inveniam aut faciam - I will either find a way or make one)
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To: Dan Middleton

I've been using it since like .6 or .7

About a year, since it was Firebird.

Best browser I've tried so far.


90 posted on 11/22/2004 5:12:08 PM PST by djf
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To: Dan Middleton
I had suspected that, but never heard it confirmed. I was meaning to ask around, because I'd rip IE off my rig like that (*snaps fingers*) if I could.

Just off the top of my head ( from all the reading I did during my virus/hijacker adventures here http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1168134/posts ) the bloody thing was hooked into the OS to avoid patent suits, originally.

You can revert to earlier installs if they still exist on the PC, but you can't get rid of the damned thing entirely. Of course, the earlier installations have even more vulnerabilities.

91 posted on 11/22/2004 5:15:29 PM PST by backhoe ("We met at Dawn- and destiny Prevailed...")
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To: Radix
Firefox ROXS!

The best parts: Highlight a word or phrase, right click on "search the web" and it automatically does a Google search on it in a new tab!

The home page is Google powered.

Tabbed pages.

NO SPYWARE is allowed at all!

92 posted on 11/22/2004 5:17:23 PM PST by Walkin Man
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To: Radix
I just noticed that there are no pop-ups on Firefox. If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have thought of it. However, IE has been doing a good job of getting rid of them. It's just that it's too slow and inconsistent compared to Firefox. It will take 7 seconds to connect to FR vs. 3 seconds.
93 posted on 11/22/2004 5:17:40 PM PST by The Westerner
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To: onyx
You mean you can have both Firefox and IE?
As noted - Yes! But do not uninstall MSIE - and regularly you should run it and (under "Help") check for updates - the updates include new stuff for your hardware and windoze itself. ;-)
94 posted on 11/22/2004 5:18:05 PM PST by Tunehead54 (Repeal the 22nd Amendment!)
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To: Radix
This may be a little off topic, but I decided to try Mandrake Linux 10.1 Official this past weekend. I have to say this could be the best OS I've ever seen, definitely the best Linux OS I've seen for home desktops.

Normally I give Linux a little disk space, dual boot, and play with Linux at my leisure while continuing to use Windows as my primary OS.

After trying Mandrake 10.1 I plan on switching over to Linux completely. IT'S SWEEEET!!

95 posted on 11/22/2004 5:28:12 PM PST by KoRn
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To: TomGuy

Extensions are really easy to code together. I think all they did was change one tiny function. If you knew how to zip them together it would be easy to upgrade them yourself.


96 posted on 11/22/2004 5:28:15 PM PST by Bogey78O (Kerry surrendered Florida faster than he surrendered the Mekong Delta)
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To: Tunehead54
I looked for it but can't find the zoom feature ...

Scroll down on the following page to Image Zoom 0.1.7 and click 'Install'.

97 posted on 11/22/2004 5:36:27 PM PST by Eagle9
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To: shellshocked

Well, so much for your credentials!!

I'd be upset too! :-)


98 posted on 11/22/2004 5:49:20 PM PST by JoeSixPack1 (Typing incoherently on FR since May '98.)
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To: backhoe; Dan Middleton; surtcaldera
I had suspected that, but never heard it confirmed. I was meaning to ask around, because I'd rip IE off my rig like that (*snaps fingers*) if I could.
_______________________________________________________

Just off the top of my head ( from all the reading I did during my virus/hijacker adventures here http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1168134/posts ) the bloody thing was hooked into the OS to avoid patent suits, originally.

You can revert to earlier installs if they still exist on the PC, but you can't get rid of the damned thing entirely. Of course, the earlier installations have even more vulnerabilities.
_______________________________________

I posted a thread last weekend that had a link to a tool to remove IE called IEradicator. I haven't used it but a FReeper named surtcaldera (post #43 on the link below regarding WinXP) had success removing IE using it.

Langa: A New Way To Slim Down Windows XP, Including SP2 is the thread and IEradicator is in the 'limited version' link near the bottom of the article.

99 posted on 11/22/2004 6:04:37 PM PST by Eagle9
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To: Radix
Cool. I think I'm going to run home and download it.

I've been using Mozilla 1.7 for a while now, and I like it pretty well.

100 posted on 11/22/2004 6:28:11 PM PST by FierceDraka ("Megatons Make It Fun!")
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