I was a big fan of the Safari web browser when it came out, it simply blew away Explorer & Netscape for speed, but it was modestly compatible with secure websites. I became an early adopter of Firefox and due to all sorts of security issues with Explorer, mandated that all our company computers abandon Explorer in favor of Firefox.
Firefox now has a new version. Firefox 1.5 It improves the functionality of the older version (1.0.6) that I was using. And it is still free. Below is an article from today's newspaper.
Firefox now has a new version. Firefox 1.5 It improves the functionality of the older version (1.0.6) that I was using. And it is still free. Below is an article from today's newspaper.
December 8, 2005
BY ANDY IHNATKO
Folks, Microsoft Internet Explorer kind of blows.
No, I'm being too kind: Launching Microsoft Internet Explorer is like opening your one and only present on Christmas morning as a kid and finding a pair of sensible brown slacks inside.
While every other browser has made huge advances over the years, responding to new technologies, broader expectations and more serious security threats, Explorer has remained a ghoulish monument to the state of technology during the Clinton administration.
I'm not absolutely certain we can even technically call it a Web browser any more. Yet this is indeed the best that Microsoft is willing do to for us until IE 7 is released -- which might not happen until Windows Vista comes out in the fall.
By then it might be too little, too late. Firefox, a free, open-source browser available in editions that run on every OS known to God and man, made Explorer almost completely irrelevant the day it was released. Firefox 1.5, released just a few days ago, upgrades the browser from terrific to awesome and as a result, the wedgie that it administers to Internet Explorer has been upgraded from atomic to super-atomic.
Without question, Firefox should be your Web browser. Firefox is safer and more secure, for a start. A Web browser is one of the many doors and windows that viruses and other malicious software exploit to gain access to your PC, which is why security is an intimate part of Firefox's underlying architecture.
The world should switch to Firefox for its security features, but you'll want to switch for all of its creature-comforts. Tabbed browsing reduces desktop clutter by allowing you to open multiple Web pages inside a single browser window. That feature is ubiquitous in modern browsers and missing from Explorer.
Firefox also has a fully integrated search feature baked right into every window. Select a search engine from the popup list, and you get results without having to type Google.com. The most popular search sites are included in 1.5, but it's an extendible system. Hundreds of other resources are available as free downloads.
Actually, the bacon in the Firefox BLT is its fundamental extendibility. Firefox was designed with a true sense of manifest destiny; anybody in the world can write and release a plugin that adds new features to Firefox. Firefox plugins litter the Earth like fast-food wrappers, ranging from the very sensible ones that super- aggressively quash popups and ads, to the sort of stuff that makes you wonder if developers shouldn't be required to have some sort of Breathalyzer hooked up to their keyboards at all times.
To top it off, Firefox is fast, fast, fast. And 1.5 delivers a bump in speed that you'll notice immediately. Pages practically teleport in.
Firefox 1.5 contains loads of little tweaks and a handful of major new features. Clearing all of your personal information from the browser (including cookies and a history of the sites you've visited) is now an integrated, one-click process. There's a new mechanism that streamlines the process of discovering and installing Firefox updates, which is a big deal because keeping your browser up to date means keeping your PC secure. Firefox's error-reporting system has been greatly improved, and is a model for all Internet apps everywhere.
The only disappointing new feature is 1.5's "Live Bookmarks," which brings rich site summaries into Firefox. The upshot is that if a site has an (invisible) RSS feed, Firefox can easily summarize its content inside a menu or window and steer you toward new articles. Firefox is apparently content to leave heavy-duty (read: the coolest and most useful) RSS features in the hands of plugin developers, which is a bit of a letdown.
Firefox 1.5 is an easy upgrade, both technically and conceptually.
Explorer users need it desperately. Just go to www.mozilla. com/firefox/ and do it. You have nothing to lose but your chains. Even Mac users will find Firefox 1.5 a big improvement over Apple's slower and somewhat less-stable Safari browser.
In either case, switching is made almost completely painless. Firefox can now import all of your existing bookmarks, cookies, history files and saved passwords with one click.
Switching to 1.5 is actually more of a hassle for users of Firefox 1.0: Many popular plugins must be updated to work with the new edition. Check with their developers before upgrading, if your Firefox plugins are mission-critical.
So many technology decisions are choked with subtle and complex questions. "What are my specific needs and expectations?"
"How well does this work with my existing hardware and software?"
"Am I prepared to handle all the action I'll get once the chicks discover that my wristwatch is also an MP3 player?"
But this choice is simple: Firefox 1.5 is better than whatever browser you're using already, and it's free. That's it.
BY ANDY IHNATKO
Folks, Microsoft Internet Explorer kind of blows.
No, I'm being too kind: Launching Microsoft Internet Explorer is like opening your one and only present on Christmas morning as a kid and finding a pair of sensible brown slacks inside.
While every other browser has made huge advances over the years, responding to new technologies, broader expectations and more serious security threats, Explorer has remained a ghoulish monument to the state of technology during the Clinton administration.
I'm not absolutely certain we can even technically call it a Web browser any more. Yet this is indeed the best that Microsoft is willing do to for us until IE 7 is released -- which might not happen until Windows Vista comes out in the fall.
By then it might be too little, too late. Firefox, a free, open-source browser available in editions that run on every OS known to God and man, made Explorer almost completely irrelevant the day it was released. Firefox 1.5, released just a few days ago, upgrades the browser from terrific to awesome and as a result, the wedgie that it administers to Internet Explorer has been upgraded from atomic to super-atomic.
Without question, Firefox should be your Web browser. Firefox is safer and more secure, for a start. A Web browser is one of the many doors and windows that viruses and other malicious software exploit to gain access to your PC, which is why security is an intimate part of Firefox's underlying architecture.
The world should switch to Firefox for its security features, but you'll want to switch for all of its creature-comforts. Tabbed browsing reduces desktop clutter by allowing you to open multiple Web pages inside a single browser window. That feature is ubiquitous in modern browsers and missing from Explorer.
Firefox also has a fully integrated search feature baked right into every window. Select a search engine from the popup list, and you get results without having to type Google.com. The most popular search sites are included in 1.5, but it's an extendible system. Hundreds of other resources are available as free downloads.
Actually, the bacon in the Firefox BLT is its fundamental extendibility. Firefox was designed with a true sense of manifest destiny; anybody in the world can write and release a plugin that adds new features to Firefox. Firefox plugins litter the Earth like fast-food wrappers, ranging from the very sensible ones that super- aggressively quash popups and ads, to the sort of stuff that makes you wonder if developers shouldn't be required to have some sort of Breathalyzer hooked up to their keyboards at all times.
To top it off, Firefox is fast, fast, fast. And 1.5 delivers a bump in speed that you'll notice immediately. Pages practically teleport in.
Firefox 1.5 contains loads of little tweaks and a handful of major new features. Clearing all of your personal information from the browser (including cookies and a history of the sites you've visited) is now an integrated, one-click process. There's a new mechanism that streamlines the process of discovering and installing Firefox updates, which is a big deal because keeping your browser up to date means keeping your PC secure. Firefox's error-reporting system has been greatly improved, and is a model for all Internet apps everywhere.
The only disappointing new feature is 1.5's "Live Bookmarks," which brings rich site summaries into Firefox. The upshot is that if a site has an (invisible) RSS feed, Firefox can easily summarize its content inside a menu or window and steer you toward new articles. Firefox is apparently content to leave heavy-duty (read: the coolest and most useful) RSS features in the hands of plugin developers, which is a bit of a letdown.
Firefox 1.5 is an easy upgrade, both technically and conceptually.
Explorer users need it desperately. Just go to www.mozilla. com/firefox/ and do it. You have nothing to lose but your chains. Even Mac users will find Firefox 1.5 a big improvement over Apple's slower and somewhat less-stable Safari browser.
In either case, switching is made almost completely painless. Firefox can now import all of your existing bookmarks, cookies, history files and saved passwords with one click.
Switching to 1.5 is actually more of a hassle for users of Firefox 1.0: Many popular plugins must be updated to work with the new edition. Check with their developers before upgrading, if your Firefox plugins are mission-critical.
So many technology decisions are choked with subtle and complex questions. "What are my specific needs and expectations?"
"How well does this work with my existing hardware and software?"
"Am I prepared to handle all the action I'll get once the chicks discover that my wristwatch is also an MP3 player?"
But this choice is simple: Firefox 1.5 is better than whatever browser you're using already, and it's free. That's it.
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