Compare the Best Internet Browsers

Google Chrome Keeps Crashing - Fix Chrome Crashes in Your Computer

2010-06-18T15:48:00.000-07:00

Today, people have so many options for the web browser, as there are so many browsers available for browsing. However, some of them are good enough for the people that is why they do not want to change their browsers for any reason. Chrome is also one of the best browsers which has third largest users base all over the world. However, sometimes Google chrome gets some problems such as: "Google chrome has crashed" or "the application failed to initialize properly". These error messages are very annoying for the users and when they occur most of the users do not know what to do. Sometime they just restart the computer, but it does not work.

Before getting the solution for such problems it is better that you understand that why Google chrome crashes. There are many reasons for the Google chrome crashing, but one of the main reasons is registry error. The registry is a place, which stores all the important information of the system and it has all those files, which helps in proper loading of the system processes. Therefore, any error or corrupt file in the registry system severely affects the system, which can also result in chrome crash.

The problem becomes worse if there occurs the file association errors which are a class of registry keys. These errors prevent programs from opening properly. Getting a fix for file association issues through a proper registry cleaning solution also helps if your google chrome keeps crashing.

However, it is not that much difficult to fix the Google chrome error. You can fix it easily with a simple command. For this, you need to stop the chrome and right click on its shortcut. This will open Google chrome properties and then click on shortcut tab. Here you will find a command in front of target option, where you need to add "--no-sandbox" or --no-process-plugins". After writing this command click, ok, and this will resolve your crash issue. Here "no sandbox" means you have turned on the sandbox security mode, which will help your computer from being infected from any type of malware or any other virus, which can affect the chrome browser. However, the second command "no process plugins" will instruct the plugins to run inside the chrome, because by default these plugins run in separate places, which result in chrome crashes.

The above guidelines allow you to fix Google Chrome Crashing. By using a sophisticated registry protection program such as RegInOut you can have an added advantage of fixing PC errors and solving your issues. To download RegInOut takes 17 seconds while the program is recommended by many computer software experts.

Firefox Vs Internet Explorer - Which Are the Main Differences?

2010-06-18T15:46:00.000-07:00

I think it is fair to say that most people have heard of internet explorer and Firefox, but few people really know what the differences are between the two. Also, statistically, about 2x more people use internet explorer compared to Firefox. However, I think this is mainly because of the fact that internet explorer has been around far longer than fire fox, and it also comes installed on just about any PC on the face of the earth by default.

So what are the biggest and most obvious differences between the two internet surfing platforms? Well, they are actually more similar than most people realize, but there are certainly some advantages and disadvantages to each program. For example, internet explorer is basically more compatible with more websites, and it is also less likely to display a website improperly. However, this is only really a factor when it comes to websites that are extremely old and outdated, which means that they use older HTML code standards, among other things.

However, now for the advantages of Firefox. Firefox is well known for its amazing speed, at least when compared to internet explorer. I think the main reason why fire fox is much faster than IE is because it simply has less bells and whistles, and the program coding is more efficient as well. Also, even when you have multiple tabs running, Firefox still runs amazingly fast. When you start opening more than 3 or 4 tabs in internet explorer, you will definitely notice that the program will start to bog down, even on faster PCs.

Also, another awesome thing about Firefox is the fact that they make a LOT more nifty plugins and tools bars when compared to internet explorer. I'm not quite sure why that is. Perhaps because it is a faster running program, and can easier handle the extra burden of new plugins running in the back ground? Or perhaps it is just easier to create programs for Firefox, who knows. But at any rate, there you have it. Those are the most prominent differences between internet explorer and Firefox. Other than that, they are pretty much the same thing, and function exactly the same when it comes to browsing the internet or doing your online shopping.

The great Article was written by Jeffrey, who sure happens to love writing in his free time. Jeffrey also creates websites too, and he has recently made a site about the Makita chop saw as well as Makita circular saws.

Google Crome is Fast

2008-12-12T21:00:00.000-08:00

Google chrome is a great internet browser but their are still some tweaks that I would like to see.

The first one is having a bookmark toolbar just like the one Firefox has where you click and the bookmarks toolbar comes down with all your favorite websites.

I have also noticed that my DSL connection or rather the browser seems to crash every once in a while, and it does seem to start of slow when your first open Google chrome browser.

I would also like to see the toolbar up on top like most browsers such as Mozilla and Internet Explorer.

I highly recommend chrome and I think that Google has a winner on their hands!

The Best Browser? It's still Firefox

2008-05-08T15:49:00.000-07:00

If you haven't downloaded the Firefox Browser as of yet, what are you waiting for? Ok, it took me a while to become convinced and switch from Internet Explorer myself, but once you make the move to Mozilla Firefox you'll never use IE ever again!

Firefox is fast, reliable and very safe to use and for those who are Microsoft haters, what better way to stick it to Bill Gates and the evil empire?

If your worried about compatibility no need to, Firefox works great and it's supported by most major websites and you will get an alert if you need to download an add-on.

Firefoz is the highest rated computer browser according to CNET only second to firefox portable.

Download Firefox 2.0.0.12

2008-02-19T21:26:00.000-08:00

Firefox 2 users should always remember to check for the latest update to your Firefox Browser to Download updates. It keeps your browser up to date and gives you features that are included in the new version. Just go to help and check for updates.

Version 3.0 is just around the corner and as most people are, I am looking forward to the security improvements and other tweaks and updates with the new Mozilla Firefox Download that is going to be released very soon.

You can also participate in the beta version, but be careful as it still has bugs and Mozilla is working on finalizing this anticipated new release of Firefox 3.

You can download beta version 3 here

I recommend downloading the Google Pack which is free and includes multiple software programs such as: Google Earth, Norton Security Scan, Firefox with Google Toolbar, Skype, Spyware Doctor, Picasa, RealPlayer plus more and of course it's free. Enjoy!

Will Firefox cause problems with IE 7 if I Download?

2008-02-02T18:28:00.000-08:00

Your computer comes with Internet Explorer already installed if you have the Windows operating system and not Apples Mac.

Your free to download Firefox, Opera or any other browser that you may choose if you would like to compare or use another browser if you are not happy with Internet Explorer, especially version 7.

Firefox 2 and Opera 9 are two very popular browsers and have received great reviews from CNET and users alike.

So the answer is no, you won't have any compatibility issues by downloading another Internet browser if you choose to do so.

Best 3 browsers by number of downloads according to download.com:

1- Avant Browser 11.5 build 21

2- Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.11

3- Internet Explorer 7

Top rated? Opera 9.25

Firefox Browser should I Download it?

2008-01-19T21:42:00.000-08:00

As you already know all computers come with Internet explorer already installed.

Firefox has been able to grow it's popularity mostly through word of mouth and with the help of Google's referral program which pays website owners and bloggers up to 1 dollar every time an internet user downloads the Mozilla browser.

Cnet has given Firefox great reviews over the years which has helped also fuel it's popularity as the best browser not installed on the windows operating system.

With a new version 3.0 just around the corner the future looks very bright for the Mozilla team. So go ahead give it a try, once you try it you'll never use another browser ever again!

Firefox not starting follow up

2008-01-09T02:59:00.000-08:00

A quick follow up to my previous post. If you let windows vista fully start and let all your programs load before starting Firefox, it looks as if the browser has no problem. The issue is when you start it before your computer fully loads. That's why if you have programs that you don't really need to start right away, you should go to settings --> windows defender ---> tools button and then click on software explorer and go to start up programs and select any programs that you wan't to disable from starting with vista. This will make your computer start much faster.

Temporary fix for firefox browser not starting

2008-01-01T21:15:00.000-08:00

Lately Firefox every so often will not start after I start my computer. It could be a windows vista compatibility issue or maybe something to do with the browser itself. I try to end firefox.exe process so I can resart firefox, but that does not work either.

Here is what you do if you have microsoft vista:

1- Go to control panel

2- Click on programs and features

3- Right click on firefox and press un-install

4- A pop-up box will ask if you would like to close firefox to continue

5- Press yes (even though it never started in the first place)

6- After several seconds it will tell you to close firefox process (which you can't) so press cancel.

7- For some reason firefox will now work after this lazy crazy process.

Tip: Just restart your computer instead. Also wait until vista has fully restarted before trying to open firefox, less chance of it not starting.

Firefox 3 beta Testing

2007-12-13T13:57:00.001-08:00

According to Cnet, Mozilla has released firefox 3 (Gran Paradiso) Alpha 1 for beta testing. Definitely looking forward to this new release which should be ready for the public to download in the upcoming months. Many new features and better security are promised.

Firefox is the best browser

2007-10-14T19:23:00.000-07:00

I love when I shut off my computer and restart Firefox browser and I'm able to go back to the pages that I was on before I shut my computer off. Whether you shut your computer by accident or it shut off by itself, I must say this is a great feature by Mozilla and the Firefox web browser. It's now my preferred browser and Internet Explorer doesn't even come close!

Thunderbird 2

Firefox 2.0.0.7 Security Update

Mozilla Aims At Cross-Site Scripting With FF3

2007-08-22T20:39:00.001-07:00

Web 2.0 has enabled a broad array of Websites to be more engaging for users. It has also enabled a new and now very common attack, namely cross site scripting, commonly referred to as XSS attacks (define).

Mozilla is aiming to put an end to XSS attacks in its upcoming Firefox 3 browser. The Alpha 7 development release includes support for a new W3C working draft specification that is intended is secure XML over HTTP requests (often referred to as XHR) which are often the culprit when it comes to XSS attacks. XHR is the backbone of Web 2.0 enabling a more dynamic web experience with remote data.

"Cross site XMLHttpRequest will enable web authors to more easily and safely create Web mashups," Mike Schroepfer, Mozilla's vice president of engineering, told internetnews.com.

"It is one of many advanced Web standards that we are implementing in Firefox 3 and look forward to the world adopting."

The W3C working draft is officially titled, "Enabling Read Access for Web Resources." It's intended to define a mechanism by which Web developers can safely provide cross-site Web resource access. The specification will let developers define via an HTTP header or an XML instruction which sites are allowed read-access and which are not.

A typical XSS attack vector is one in which a malicious Web site reads the credentials from another that a user has visited. The new specification could well serve to limit that type of attack though it is still incumbent upon Web developers to be careful with their trusted data.

The W3C working draft warns that "user agents which implement this specification should take care not to expose other trusted data (cookies, HTTP header data) inappropriately."

Of course, it's also wise to consider the source.

"Application authors should be aware that content retrieved from another site is not itself trustable," the W3C working draft advises. "Authors should take care to protect against exposing themselves to cross-site scripting attacks by rendering or executing the retrieved content directly without validation."

In addition to the new XSS support in Firefox 3 Alpha 7, Mozilla developers have also fixed some bugs and implementation errors that cropped up in the Alpha 6 release, which came out in early July.

The latest release isn't just about bug fixes and new feature support. Mozilla developers have actually dropped support for the SOAP (define) Web services messaging protocol, according to the official Alpha 7 release notes. (It still runs in Firefox 3, however.)

"The SOAP implementation dropped from Firefox 3 was only available to extension authors, who have many other more modern implementations to choose from," Schroepfer explained. "We are, in general, removing as much old code from the core browser as possible to improve security, reduce download size, and allow Web and extension authors to choose the latest support libraries they need."

Firefox 3 is Mozilla's next generation browser and will be the successor to the current 2.x browser. The open source group has been working on Firefox 3 (code name Gran Paradiso) since October of 2006 when the first Firefox 3 alpha appeared.

At the time the Alpha 6 browser was released, Mozilla had projected that the Beta 1 release would be out by July 31. That obviously didn't happen.

"A firm date for Beta 1 has not yet been set," Schroepfer said. "We are shipping milestones every 6 weeks (next up is Milestone 8) and when the quality of the milestones are ready for broad use we'll ship Beta1."

Firefox Campus Edition Features Bundled Tools For Students

2007-08-22T20:38:00.001-07:00

Continuing its string of branded versions of Firefox, Mozilla is set to release a “Campus Edition” aimed at students headed back to school. Firefox Campus is a little different that the previous branded versions we’ve covered (notably AllPeers and EBay) in that there’s no specific company involved, rather the campus edition of Firefox comes bundled with a number of add-ons students might find helpful.

The featured add-on in the campus edition are Zotero, FoxyTunes and StumbleUpon. Zotero is a research tool which helps collect, manage and cite research sources, while FoxyTunes lets you control various media players from within Firefox.

The StumbleUpon toolbar seems of dubious usefulness for students, though it is no doubt an excellent time waster and a fun way to find random, engaging websites.

The campus edition page should be available for download sometime later today.

While the student bundle is primarily a PR move on Mozilla’s part, and a good one at that, we can’t help thinking they left out some of the more useful plugins for students.

For instance, Research Word gives Firefox a handy contextual menu item to look up words and phrases in a variety of sources. Select the word to lookup and right-click the selection to access definitions from Wikipedia, Google Definitions, IMDb and more.

For the science majors there’s Biotech, which offers some links and tools for people wanting to research the field of Biotechnology.

Other cool tools for students include Diigo, a web highlighter and sticky note extension and the Sirsi Library System add-on, which is a great time saver if your university or school uses the Sirsi Library System.

Mozilla Hastens Firefox 3

2007-04-28T16:59:00.001-07:00

Mozilla has unveiled new details of its schedule for Firefox 3, the next major upgrade to the popular open-source browser.

Alpha editions of Firefox 3 will be released monthly, said Mike Schroepfer, the company's vice president of engineering, in a posting to the mozilla.dev.planning forum. "We will do date-driven alpha releases on a one-month cadence," said Schroepfer.

The new schedule shows three more previews -- Alphas 4, 5 and 6 -- be released near the end of April, May, and June, respectively, with a feature-complete Beta 1 dropping into testers' hands July 31. The most recent test edition, Alpha 3, was posted March 27.

Firefox 3, which Mozilla has said should appear in final form in the last quarter of the year, will feature a completely-revamped bookmarking system, new identity management tools and support for off-line Web applications. The redesigned bookmarks, dubbed Places, will debut in Alpha 5, which is due to roll out May 31.

According to numbers reported earlier this month from metrics vendor Net Applications, Firefox had 15.1 percent of the global browser market. Microsoft Internet Explorer remained the leader, however, with a 78.6 percent share

Mozilla Firefox Gaining Ground on Microsoft IE

2006-08-02T19:31:00.000-07:00

Mozilla’s open-source Internet browser Firefox is increasingly gaining ground in the browser space and stealing away market share from Microsoft’s widely used Internet Explorer browser, capturing some 11 percent of the worldwide market in July, Forbes reports.

The news is based on research from Web analytics firm Net Applications.

According to Net Applications, Firefox’s 11.3 percent market share in July is 1.8 percent higher than its market share in January 2006, while Microsoft lost 1.7 percent of the market during the same period with 83.6 percent market share in July compared to its 85.3 percent in January, according to Forbes.

Numbers from Internet traffic-tracking firm OneStat suggest that in the United States, Mozilla also took more of Microsoft’s browser user base, with a gain of 1.7 percent on its January market share of 14.1 percent, Forbes reports.

Mozilla announced on Monday that its Firefox browser has been downloaded more than 200 million times, but it specified that this number doesn’t necessarily represent as many users, according to Forbes.

Microsoft is currently working away on its upcoming browser, Internet Explorer 7—which is already available in a handful of beta versions—and the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant announced last week that it will distribute the browser software to users as an automatic update that they’ll have the option of opting out of. Internet Explorer 7’s official release is expected before the end of the year.

Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage.

Source: www.cio.com

13 Great Firefox Extensions for Web Professionals

2006-07-25T21:59:00.000-07:00

Like most web developers or SEO professionals, I use a vast array of tools to get the job done. I use a combination of desktop and web applications, some purchased and some free. Everyone I know has downloaded a free copy of Mozilla Firefox, but few realize that by installing some of the 1,500 free extensions they can eliminate the need for most of the other applications they currently use. Below are my 13 favorite extensions for web professionals (in no particular order):

HTML Validator (http://users.skynet.be/mgueury/mozilla/) – validates web pages to the W3C HTML standards with a simple green check in the corner of the page if the page validates, a red check if it doesn’t, and a yellow exclamation point if there are warnings. It also includes an enhanced view of source code that allows you to see where errors are within the code.

FireFTP (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/684/) – free, secure, cross-platform FTP client that provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers. This eliminates a piece of software for those of you who use a separate program for FTP.

Professor X (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2823/) – lets you view header information without having to view source code. The page “slides” down and Professor X shows you the contents of the page's head element, including Meta, Script and Style content.

NikkelWHOIS (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2646/) –view the WHOIS information for any page by clicking the button on the top-right of the browser.

IE Tab (http://ietab.mozdev.org) – sick of swapping between Internet Explorer and Firefox when testing out a web page you’re developing? With IE Tab you can view Internet Explorer in a Firefox Tab!

FireBug (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1843/) – an advanced debugger console that lets you monitor your JavaScript, CSS, HTML and Ajax.

Codetech (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1002/) – web page editor that has the feel of Dreamweaver. An amazing extension for anyone doing web design that doesn’t want to fork out a few hundred dollars for Dreamweaver.

Server Switcher (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2409/) – easily switch between sites on your development and live servers by clicking the switch server icon.

SEO for Firefox (http://tools.seobook.com/firefox/seo-for-firefox.html) – pulls useful market research data right into Google's and Yahoo!'s search results, including Google PR, Age, links, Alexa rank, WHOIS, and more. It also adds a few helpful links to the top of the search pages, including Google Trends, Google Traffic Estimator, and the Overture View Bid tool.

Yet Another Window Resizer (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2498/) – allows you to resize browser window to default screen resolutions.

AdSense Preview (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2132/) – preview the Google AdSense ads that would appear on that page. This is incredibly useful if you are considering putting AdSense on a page and don’t want to go through the hassle of signing up for an account and putting the ads up just to see what type of ads will show.

Screen grab (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1146/) – takes a screenshot of the webpage and saves it as an image file. This saves a ton of time compared to the method I used to use – take a screenshot and open Adobe Photoshop to crop the image.

Server Spy (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2036/) – indicates what brand of HTTP server (Apache, IIS, etc.) runs on the visited site on the lower-right side of the browser.

Adam McFarland owns iPrioritize - simple to-do lists that can be edited at any time from any place in the world. Email, print, check from your mobile phone, subscribe via RSS, and share with others.

Making The Move From Microsoft Internet Explorer To Mozilla Firefox

2006-07-25T21:57:00.000-07:00

Mozilla Firefox was the solution to so many problems I encountered with Microsoft Internet Explorer. I had an effective browser that dealt with annoying pop-ups and spyware. The best of all was that it performed much better than its counterpart. On a security side you had a better solution than Internet Explorer. Firefox is the result of an open source project and as all of you know, the open source community provides solutions to the vulnerabilities of its software much faster than Microsoft does for Internet Explorer.

Firefox has dealt with various security issues long before Microsoft even discovered similar issues in their browser. There has also been a joke circulating among Firefox fans that there is only one thing that is more secure in Internet Explorer than in Firefox and that is a feature that has not been implemented yet in Internet Explorer. I’m not sure what the specific issue was that this joke referred to, but it is ironic that Firefox is still more secure while providing much more functionality than Internet Explorer and therefore has more possible areas for security holes.

After discovering that so many visitors to my site was Internet Explorer users, I immediately browsed my site with Internet Explorer to see if there were any critical issues I had to deal with. To my surprise I only found that certain images were not completely aligned in the same positions, as they appeared in Firefox, but not so much that they looked out of place, to be honest if you never saw the site with Firefox you would not have even known that the images were out of place. The reason for this misplacement was Internet Explorer’s lack of solid support for CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Another problem was my toolbar. All the buttons was glued together, while they are spaced apart from each other when you view the site with Mozilla Firefox. This was easily fixed, ironically with a specific CSS statement that Internet Explorer does not have support for. The last problem was the appearance of a button when you hover with your mouse over it. The last button of every toolbar was broken so that the hovering effect did not display correctly in Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is so bug ridden that you simply can’t have a work-around for every issue. The point I’m trying to make is that the site looked not to bad after all, if you kept in mind that it was only designed and tested with Mozilla Firefox.

Another interesting thing I discovered from my visitor statistics was that 95% used a screen resolution of 1024x768. I’m still designing on a 14” screen with an 800x600 resolution but always make sure that my site displays correctly on a 1024x768 resolution. I have made the mistake in the past by designing sites for an 800x600 resolution only, because I simply did not think about a higher resolution at that time. This was a very stupid mistake to make, I was chasing visitors away, unknowingly, because I was too reluctant to get myself a bigger screen that could handle a higher screen resolution.

This is maybe the most ironic part of my discoveries. People don’t mind to spend money upgrading their screen in order to comply with the newest trend of screen resolutions, something that does nothing to enhance the security of your online activities, but when they get the opportunity to obtain a free browser, that provides better security than their current browser, they simply refuse to make the move. I have seen Internet Explorer fix common HTML errors, like using two double quotes next to each other while there should have been only one. Firefox did not display the image referenced after these two double quotes and pointed this error out when you viewed the page source.

Internet Explorer ignored the second double quote and displayed the image as if there was no error at all. It did the cover-up work for the coding error, while Mozilla Firefox exposed it. Internet Explorer is therefore not the type of browser a web designer would use to validate his or her HTML code. You would rather prefer an alternative like Firefox, which tells you when you are making coding errors. But this even holds a threat for the normal user. Would you continue to trust a browser that attempt to correct a designer’s mistakes, or would you rather trust a browser that does not allow the faulty code to execute at all? Hackers are always on the lookout for common mistakes to exploit. You have a bigger chance to exploit faulty code than code that never got executed in the first place. After all how confident are you that Internet Explorer will make the right choice when correcting HTML errors?

Mozilla Firefox has a much better track record, not only with security issues, but also various other features, many features that the current version of Internet Explorer does not provide for. Why should web developers waste hours of their precious time to make up for the shortcomings of a browser while they could have spent their lost time making their websites more solid, better and more entertaining to explore with a browser that really works? So next time when you get the opportunity to switch over to Mozilla Firefox, be clever, don’t hesitate, you will be making the right move if you decide to make the switch.

Coenraad de Beer

Webmaster of Cyber Top Cops - The Cyber Security Specialists

Firefox use growing around the world, study says

2006-07-16T20:36:00.000-07:00

After a brief period of little growth this spring, The Mozilla Foundation's open-source Firefox web browser is again gaining ground on Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE).

In its latest study on web browser usage, Netherlands-based OneStat.com says that Firefox gained 1.14% in June and is now used by 12.93% of surfers. That's up from 11.79% who used Firefox in May, while IE use declined by 2.12% to 83.05%.

"We thought that Firefox growth had slowed down," says Niels Brinkman, a co-founder of OneStat.com. "It seems it's increasing again. That's a little bit of a surprise to us."

The study results were released just before Mozilla.org released the first public beta of the next version of Firefox. Beta 1 of Firefox 2.0 was made public last week.

Last November, OneStat.com's survey pegged Firefox browser usage globally at 11.51%, up 2.82% from April 2005. IE at the time had a global usage share of 85.45%, down 1.18% from April 2005.

OneStat.com uses real-time web analytics to look at which broswers are being used to view websites and to determine their popularity across the internet, Brinkman says.

The other popular browsers globally, according to OneStat.com, are Apple Computer's Safari, with 1.84% usage; Opera, with 1% usage; and Netscape, with 0.16% usage.

In the US, the most popular browsers are IE, which is used by 79.78% of surfers; Firefox, which is used by 15.82%; Safari, which is used by 3.28%; Opera, which is used by 0.81%; and Netscape, which is used by 0.2% of web surfers.

Usage rates for IE and Firefox in Canada and the UK are similar to the U.S. statistics. But in Australia, Firefox is much more popular and is used by 24.23% of web surfers. Microsoft's IE is used by 69.35% of Australian surfers, according to the study. In Germany, Firefox is even more popular: 39.02% of surfers there use it, compared with 55.99% who use IE.

Dana Gardner, an analyst at Interarbor Solutions in Gilford, N.H., says the growing use of Firefox arises from several factors, including better performance and fewer security problems than IE.

"I think it's been an astonishing ramp-up

Continued

Firefox 2.0 Beta available

2006-07-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

The latest beta of the favorite alternative browser has been made available for download. This first beta release of Firefox 2.0 gives users a preview of some of the new features we can expect to be using when the final version of the browser is released.

In this early beta, new features include an anti-phishing tool, which allows the browser to warn you if a website is trying to steal your details. There is improved Web feed previews and subscriptions, built-in spell checking, better search engine controls for adding and organization, Javascript 1.7 support, a new Windows installer, a session restore feature if a crash occurs, and the ability to reopen accidentally closed tabs.

One more interesting feature is the Microsummaries, which allow for regularly updated chunks of useful information on specific websites. The information can fit within a bookmark label and aims to be more useful than a static page marker

Continued

Master Firefox's Hidden Configuration Tools

2006-06-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

I often write that the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox browser does thus and such, or doesn't do this or that other thing. What I mean is that the program has no menu command or preferences dialog box to give users control over its cache, performance, and other settings. In truth, there are other handy but hard-to-discover ways of configuring Firefox to behave according to your wishes.

Firefox inherits a number of hidden configuration interfaces from its Netscape ancestors, namely its 'about:' URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers). For instance, in last April's Internet Tips column (under "Clear the Cache"), I wrote that unlike Internet Explorer, Firefox doesn't allow you to view the contents of its cached Web pages and related files. While it is true that you won't find a menu command or setting in the program's interface for that task, reader Fran Snyder, who contacted me via e-mail, notes that all you have to do is type about:cache into Firefox's address field and press to view links to the contents of the browser's memory and disk caches.

So why would you ever want to peruse your Web browser's cache? The most obvious reason is that accessing the cache permits you to reopen the pages, images, and Flash animations you have viewed most recently, even when you aren't connected to the Internet. You can also save cached files to another spot on your hard disk or to removable storage.

Firefox's voluminous about:cache display doesn't make it easy, however--your best chance of finding a cached file is to press -F to open the Firefox search bar, type a portion of the Web site's domain name, the file name or extension, or some other part of the address into the find field, and press . For example, if you're looking for flash files, enter .swf. Or for images you saw on the New York Times' site, enter nytimes.com.

About:cache is just one of Firefox's hidden resources (you can see a complete list of these 'about:' URIs). Type about:about or just about: to see detailed information on your version of Firefox. Enter about:credits to view the names of the scores of developers who dedicated their free hours to creating and improving the browser, and type about:plugins to list all of the plug-ins currently installed. If you're sure you'll forget all of the above, no problem--just install MR Tech's About:About Firefox extension, which adds the tools as links to the browser's Help menu (see FIGURE 1).

Config-uring It Out
The most useful--and dangerous--of the built-in URIs is about:config. Similar to Windows' Registry, the about:config page serves as an interface to the many boolean, integer, and string variables that control every aspect of Firefox's behavior. The biggest problem with about:config is that, like the Registry, it is mostly indecipherable to the average user. And again like the Registry, it lists only those settings that are currently set overtly--many other default settings don't appear simply because they don't need to.

Fortunately, an about:config FAQ page on the Mozilla Foundation's

Story Continued

Best Firefox plug-ins for work

2006-06-08T18:58:00.000-07:00

All Web 2.0 sites have one thing in common: they need a Web browser. I use Firefox, and not just because it's a more secure browser with better user interface features. I use Firefox because it has a fantastic plug-in architecture and a whole community of people who are writing plug-ins for it.

Now it's possible to go completely overboard with Firefox plug-ins, but realistically, most people will probably settle on just a few. I've picked out a few favourites that I use every day.

Pre-visualising links
Clicking links is so 2005. Browster is an add-on to Firefox (and Internet Explorer) that pops open a window to the Web site that's under each link on your page when you hover over the link. When you mouse back to the original page

Continued

Firefox Download

Google Develops Browser Sync Tool for Firefox

2006-06-08T18:56:00.000-07:00

In another boost to Mozilla, Google has created a tool that lets users synchronize the settings of their Firefox browsers across multiple computers.

With Google Browser Sync, users will maintain the same bookmarks, website visits log, saved passwords and persistent cookies in all their copies of the Mozilla open-source browser.

To enable this continuous synchronization to happen, users have to install copies of the Google Browser Sync on every computer where they have Firefox, Google announced late Wednesday in its official blog.

This free tool also "remembers" the tabs and windows users had open the last time they used Firefox and gives users the option to open them. One downside is that the tool updates settings every time Firefox is launched, which will increase the time it takes a browser to open, Google warns.

Google Browser Sync works with Firefox 1.5 and newer versions. It doesn’t support Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Opera Software’s Opera or the Mozilla Suite, which includes the Mozilla Navigator browser.

It’s not surprising to see Google developing tools for Firefox that don’t work with IE. Google has a close relationship with Mozilla that involves technology collaborations and cross-promotion efforts. Meanwhile, the relationship between Microsoft and Google is at best adversarial and often acrimonious. They compete in search, online services and, increasingly, in desktop and hosted software.

Browsers in particular are a contentious area between Google and Microsoft because they are an entry point to Web search activity. Recently, Google has complained about the new IE, version 7, which is now in beta and contains an embedded search box with a drop-down menu set by default to use Microsoft’s search engine, but which includes other options.

However, some have criticized Google for being inconsistent on this point because its search engine is the default choice in the embedded Firefox search box. Firefox is a thorn in Microsoft’s side, because it is the most credible competitor to IE in years, holding now an estimated 10 percent market share.

In April, Google caused a stir when it promoted Firefox on its homepage, a rare move and one clearly intended to help Firefox grow its market share. Google also includes Firefox

Continued

Windows Live Mail Almost Supports Firefox

2006-05-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Corp.'s latest update of Windows Live Mail, the eventual replacement for MSN Hotmail, supports the Firefox Web browser nearly on par with Internet Explorer.

Microsoft added support for rival Firefox, which is controlled by the Mozilla Corp., in the latest upgrade of its Web mail client that replicates the look and feel of the software maker's popular Outlook. While all the core functions of Live Mail are supported in Firefox, there are some missing features, which diehard users of the open source browser can probably live without while the service is in beta.

Poor spellers won't have a backstop in Firefox, since spell check is only available in Microsoft IE. Other missing features are more minor, such as the ability to resize windowpanes, such as for shortcuts to folders, inbox mail lists and email previews.

Continued

Firefox Download

Google Puts Money Behind Firefox Movement

2006-04-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

Google has unveiled a new plan to spread the open-source Firefox Internet browser, starting off a new phase in the browser wars with Microsoft. An offer from the Internet search giant enables Web sites to run small ads promoting Firefox and gain a referral fee of one dollar for every downloaded version of Firefox that has a Google toolbar.
Google launched the new program Wednesday evening by running an ad for the first time on its usually ad-free home page. The campaign also represents the first time Google has offered a financial incentive for the adoption of Firefox.

Even without such help, the open source browser has steadily been gnawing away at the dominance of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser since 2004.

From a market share high of 95 percent, Internet Explorer is now down to 85 percent, as web surfers discover the smooth delights of Firefox, which offers better security and powerful features, including tabbed browsing, which allow you to open multiple windows in a single browser, and "autofill" which automatically completes form applications.

Google already employs some of the key team members contributing to Firefox and its latest initiative underlines its desire to kept Firefox's momentum building. "Google is getting serious about Firefox, and has given the upstart browser one of the most powerful marketing tools on the Internet -- a spot on the Google homepage," commented the respected Ars Technica Web site.

But Microsoft does not plan to let the erosion of its market share continue. Earlier in the week the software giant launched a new trial version of its Internet Explorer browser that, in addition to beefing up its notoriously vulnerable security, has also copied all of Firefox's best features.

Analysts say that the new browser gives Internet Explorer users a reason not to convert to Firefox. "I think IE 7 brings the browser to parity with Firefox in terms of features, and the security's a big improvement over IE 6," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft. "I think it will be good enough to stop some of IE's market share loss to Firefox."

But despite the upgrades, you are unlikely to see many Firefox fans switching back to Microsoft.

"Yesterday's browser -- tomorrow," is how the influential Web site SiliconValley.com announced the new product.

Other players like ExplorerDestroyer.com

Story Continued

Firefox Bug Could Be Serious

2006-04-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

A security firm fears that a zero-day vulnerability in a fully-patched and most-current version of Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox could be exploited.

A zero-day vulnerability in a fully-patched and most-current version of Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox could be exploited to crash the browser at the least, and at the worst, possibly introduce malicious code, a security company warned Tuesday.

The bug, which first appeared on Mozilla's Bugzilla listing a week ago on April 18, could be used by an attacker to crash Firefox by feeding it malformed JavaScript code.

Proof of concept code has been made public that crashes Firefox 1.5.0.2, the open-source browser's newest edition.

Although Danish vulnerability tracker Secunia ranked the threat as "low," its weakest warning, U.S.-based security vendor Symantec said the danger may be more dire.

"It does appear that triggering the vulnerability using the proof of concept results in the execution of data somewhere in anonymous memory, possibly in a portion of the heap," Symantec told customers of its DeepSight threat alert system Tuesday. "If this memory were somehow populated by an attacker with a malicious payload, this condition could likely be exploited to execute arbitrary code."

Firefox developers have come up with a patch -- one is listed in the Bugzilla report -- but has not been pushed out to users. Typically, Mozilla releases Firefox updates that include several security patches as it did recently when it rolled out version 1.5.0.2 with fixes for 24 bugs.

JavaScript-based vulnerabilities aren't new to Firefox -- nor to its rival, Internet Explorer. Several of the flaws fixed in the April 14 release of Firefox 1.5.0.2, for instance

Continued

Mozilla Fixes 24 Bugs In Firefox

2006-04-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

Most of the bugs were marked "critical," including several that could be exploited by attackers simply by duping users into visiting malicious Web sites.

Mozilla Corp. late Thursday updated its Firefox browser to patch a mega-batch of 24 vulnerabilities, the bulk of them tagged "critical."

Just days after rival Microsoft fixed 10 bugs in its Internet Explorer, Mozilla unveiled Firefox 1.5.0.2, which included 7 patches, 5 of them critical. It also unveiled 11 new patches for the older Firefox 1.5, 15 for the even older Firefox 1.0x line in an update numbered 1.0.8, and 19 in the Sea Monkey browser suite, the replacement for the now-defunct Mozilla suite. (Note: Tallies exceed the total of 18 patches because some were applied to more than one version.)

Danish vulnerability tracker Secunia tagged the overall updates -- to Firefox 1.5.0.2 and 1.08, and Sea Monkey 1.0.1 -- as "Highly critical," its second-from-the-top ranking. That ranking was the same as Secunia awarded Tuesday's 10-bug patch for IE.

Among the bugs reported in Firefox are several which could be exploited by attackers simply by duping users into visiting malicious Web sites. Many are in one way or another associated with JavaScript.

Mozilla also said it had fixed a slew of bugs that could crash the browser, some of which could conceivably be used by attackers to hijack computers. The for-profit arm of the Mozilla Foundation, however, wasn't clear on the details.

Continued

Firefox Security Extensions

2006-03-20T19:30:00.000-08:00

Mozilla’s Firefox browser claims to provide a safer browsing experience out of the box, but some of the best security features of Firefox are only available as extensions.

Add n’ Edit Cookies - This might be more of a web developer tool, but being able to view in detail the cookies that various sites set on your visits can be an eye-opening experience. This extension not only shows you all the details, but lets you modify them too. You’ll be surprised at how many web apps do foolish things like saving your password in the cookie.

Dr. Web Anti-Virus Link Checker

Continued

Firefox 2.0 To Stress Tab, Bookmark, Extension Changes

2006-02-25T11:18:00.000-08:00

Mozilla Corp.'s lead engineer isn't worried about Microsoft's upcoming Internet Explorer 7, but instead is focusing on getting the next version of Firefox out the door.

"IE 7 is a pretty good catch-up," said Mike Schroepfer, Mozilla's vice president of engineering. "But it does some funny things with tabs and the UI that I don't understand why they did it."

Mozilla, which plans to ship the next major update, Firefox 2.0, by early in the third quarter, is concentrating on adding features and improvements to make sure that its browser stays ahead of Microsoft. "Firefox 1.5 was focused on the platform, but 2.0 will be about the UI, a smaller set of platform things, and more features that the user will see," Schroepfer said.

Development of Firefox 2.0 has been stalled as of late. "Open-source development leverages so many different people that it's ultimately less predictable because of that, and because you're dealing with volunteers," admitted Schroepfer. "Essentially, we trade predictability for quality and the total amount of work we can do on a project," he said, compared

Continued

Windows PCs are facing a huge potential virus threat

2006-01-02T20:07:00.000-08:00

Millions of computers are at risk as a new virus is circling the internet. This time the threat is widespread as all windows versions since 1990 are facing the threat. Microsoft

continued

Firefox Flicks campaign

2005-12-22T21:55:00.000-08:00

Firefox Launches second part of its Firefox Flicks campaign . Professional, student and aspiring filmmakers must submit broadcast quality 30 second commercials for Firefox.

Read More

Mozilla Firefox Extensions

2005-12-15T14:26:00.000-08:00

FlashGot 0.2.6 for Firefox: Download one link, selected links or all the links of a page at the maximum speed with a single click, using the most popular external download managers for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and FreeBSD

Continue reading

Solid Performance for Firefox Download Site

2005-12-13T20:28:00.000-08:00

The download site for Firefox is performing well following the release of a widely-anticipated update of the open source web browser. Firefox version 1.5, which was released Tuesday night, features "dozens of enhancements," according to the Mozilla Corporation, including improvements in popup blocking, RSS integration and updating.

Read More

There's A Better Browser Than Internet Explorer ... And It's Also Free!

2005-12-11T20:19:00.000-08:00

If you're a typical user of Microsoft's Internet Explorer(E), you've probably had problems with viruses, spam, computer attacks and goodness knows what else. The fact is, IE is a a very good browser in many respects but the bad guys just love to hack at it and bombard you with nasty bugs.

However, there is a better browser available that's not subject to all these viruses and attacks.

This browser is called Mozilla Firefox from mozilla.org and it's also available free. All you have to do is download it from www.mozilla.com.

Now, what might you ask, is mozilla.org?

Mozilla.org is a non-profit foundation that exists to provide organizational, legal, and financial support for the Mozilla open-source software project. Open-source software means that the foundation's products are literally the work of hundreds of software engineers and programmers around the globe who contribute their skills and expertise to Mozilla products.

Why is Firefox “the better browser?

First, it gets less attention from hackers which means fewer viruses, et al. Second when hackers do discover a flaw in Firefox, the member of Mozilla.org rush in, and I mean rush in, to fix it. I have personally seen three flaws discovered in Firefox in the past six months and all were fixed and patches provided within two days.

Third, Firefox has several features still lacking in IE. Probably the best is one called “tabs,” that lets users open many different web sites at the same time, and then tab back and forth between them just by cliking on the tabs. For example, I have six tabs open right now, representing six different web sites. Theoretically, I could have 12, 15 or 20 sites open simultanrously, but that would probably just confuse me.

In addition, Firefox has drag-and-drop tabbing, an improved pop-up blocker, improved live bookmarks, a great download manager, and a new automatic update system that alerts you whenever security and functionality updates become available,

The current version of Firefox is 1.5. It also has all the stuff you'd expect with IE – bookmarks, tools, a link to free Hot Mail, and so forth. You can also download a number of different plug-ins to customize Firefox to your needs. For example, you can add FlashGot, Adblock, PDF viewer, an RSS news reader, QuickTime, and more.

The fact is, Firefox is fast and easy to download. You can try it and, if you don't like it, just go back to Internet Explorer. However, my bet is that once you've used it, you'll kiss IE goodbye.

Here's something else that's better and also free. It's a new technology called HD Radio that enables AM and FM radio stations to broadcast their programs digitally. This is a tremendous technological leap from today's familiar analog broadcasts. These digital broadcasts provide listeners with radically improved audio quality, more radio channels through multicasting, and new data services. To learn more about this amazing new technology, just go my Web site, http://www.hd-radio-home.com, to get all the buzz.

Douglas Hanna is a retired marketing executive and the author of more than 70 articles on HD radio, the Internet and family finances.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Douglas_Hanna

Website Design Browser - Firefox the Top Choice for Website Design

2005-12-09T22:58:00.000-08:00

Website Design just got easier. Using Firefox extensions you can load your browser with an array of tools that make website design a streamlined process. Found under the Tools menu, Extensions will make your web design much easier. In todays competitive field of website design one needs to consider factors like validation, accessibility and cross browser display.
With Firefox browser extensions you can:

Edit CSS in the browser

Disable CSS

Validate for Xhtml, CSS and 508

Display Overlays over page that have block size info, ID and Class details, Access keys or Anchors

The list could continue on forever. One thing I like is the ability to add a style sheet to a page. If I am trying something new I can add a different style sheet and see how it looks without having to upload anything or change html in the head tag. As a learning tool extensions will help you learn as you surf the web. Ever seen a cool layout and you just can't figure out how they did that. Well now with firefox extensions you can easily take a look at the CSS file or view a color coded source all from in your browser.
When you want to check how your page looks in other pages Firefox extensions have that aspect of website design covered as well. You can easily check how your page would look in all the major browsers or if you have them installed then you can load the page in that browser with one click.
Firefox is by far the choice for all web designers. If you are not using firefox I would urge you to start. You can find the extensions page at https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/

Angelo 'php' Tremonte

North Island MultiMedia Productions

Comox Valley Website Design Professionals

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Angelo_Tremonte

Popup: Hate'em or Love'em

2005-12-09T22:08:00.000-08:00

You are browsing a favorite website when a popup window appears. You close the window to continue browsing, and another popup appears. Later on, you realize that several windows have opened because of these popups. Annoying, isn’t it?

Popup windows are another type of online advertising on the internet. Its purposes include increasing website traffic, which is the number of people who visit a particular website; and to capture email addresses without any prior knowledge from the person who is browsing the website.

Advertising supported websites make up the large chunk of popup users. These websites previously used banner advertisements (banner ads, these are the advertisements on top of a browser window) to generate huge profits.

They take advantage of internet users who have less experience in dealing with internet advertisements by offering gifts or items that go with any particular purchase. Unaware users bite into the bait, and before they know it, they are also being charged for the “gift” that went with their purchased item.

As customer interest in banner advertising decreased, many internet-based vendors began to think of developing more effective advertising methods. By then, popup advertisements started annoying many internet users.

Popup windows are the windows which appear when website browsers open a new web browser to display various contents such as advertisement for product subscription, opinion surveys, and free download.

This window is often times generated by Javascript, but can also be generated by other means. Some of the new popups are created using Flash which contains animations, while others are created using DHTML, so the popup appears before the browser screen.

Many internet advertisers love popup ads because of their nature. Popups are hard to ignore as they appear first before the main browser window. This characteristic makes it even better than the previous stationary banner advertisements.

Popups are also loved for their high clickability rate as more people click on them because of their ability to tickle the interest of internet users. It is also shown by recent studies that the click-rate of popup ads is twice as that of the banner ads. Between January and September 2002, the number of popups increased from 1.2 billion to 4.9 billion.

Among the top users of popup ads are websites promoting pornography and violence. Not only do these popups advertise adult content, they also set off multiple windows.

As the user closes a window, a another window appears, initiating another set of windows, and sometimes this happens indefinitely. Users call this “java trap”, or “spam cascade”. There are, however, processes which can produce popup windows such as spyware programs.

“Mousetrapping”, a variation of the popup, fills the whole screen with its content, removing the menu bars and other features which allows the user to close the window.

Another variation is called the pop-under advertisement wherein a new browser window is opened behind the active window. Pop-unders are less annoying to a user, but are only seen when the main browser window is closed, making it difficult to find out which website opened them.

Recently, however, many internet users have expressed their annoyance over the massive number of popup windows they encounter while browsing.

As a response, more companies have reduced or removed popups from their websites, and internet browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Netscape, America Online, Camino, Opera, and Safari, are providing features to block popups. Additional programs to block popups and spyware are also available.

James Monahan is the owner and Senior Editor of
PopupDepot.com and writes expert
articles about popups.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Monahan

Firefox Download 1.5 Browser Just Released

2005-12-04T14:03:00.000-08:00

After months of waiting, the new popular firefox browser version 1.5 has just been released. Firefox has gone from obscurity to being the second most popular browser on the internet. With this new release it looks like Mozilla firefox is about to get a lot more popular and continue there challenge to Microsoft's Internet explorer browser. With Google muscle behind them and major marketing efforts under way, look for Mozilla to keep the pressure up.

Explore the Internet in a Whole New Way

2005-11-29T21:56:00.000-08:00

For a long time now Microsoft's Internet Explorer has ruled as 'King of Internet browsers'. Like many of Microsoft's products an initially brutal marketing campaign pushed Internet Explorer into the mainstream's consciousness and from then on it was the logical, default choice. It's free with the operating system, works well, loads any page and is easy to use. Other web browsers soon faded into obscurity and sometimes even died in the shadow of the new king of the pack. Netscape Navigator, the former 'King of the browsers', has now ceased commercial operations and has been taken over by the fan base. Opera is fading into obscurity and Mozilla was facing a similar fate, until recently.

Mozilla Firefox (formerly known as Firebird) is probably the largest threat that IE has faced in recent times. Currently, according to http://www.w3schools.com, IE is the browser used by 69.9% of Internet users and Firefox is used by 19.1%. This might not seem like much, but according to http://www.nua.ie/surveys/how_many_online/ an educated guess at the number of people that use the Internet is somewhere around 605,600,000 users (or was in 2002, the number will have increased substantially by now). That means that (after some erroneous math) a rough stab at guessing the number of people using Firefox is probably over 115,064,000, which isn't a bad user base at all.

When a friend of mine from university first tried to convince me to switch to Firefox I wasn't particularly interested. Basically, IE has done everything that I've wanted in a web browser. He went on at great lengths about the security aspects, the in-built popup blockers, download managers and so on, but I'd spent a fairly large amount of time and money on anti-virus programs, firewalls, spyware removers, and my browser was secure enough. I also have a download manager that I'm very happy with and refuse to change from. After much cajoling I finally agreed to try this newfangled software. I'm glad I did too, because now I have no desire to go back.

Firefox is very easy to install and use. There's nothing complicated, you simply download (for free) and run the install file and then when you run the browser for the first time you get presented with the option of importing your IE favourites (a nice feature, with the click of a button everything is moved across to ease your transition) and also the option of making Firefox your default browser. My initial reaction was fairly apathetic; Firefox seemed pretty much the same as IE and in essence, it is. It has all the basic features of IE, but then I discovered it adds so much more.

The first feature to really grab me is the tabbed browsing. Many alternative browsers and even IE plugins support tabbed browsing (where the new pages can be opened in a tab in the one window, instead of filling the task bar with buttons) but Firefox seems to make it so easy and useful. All you do is click a link with the middle button on your mouse (most newer mice have three buttons, the third often being placed under the scroll wheel) and a new tab opens up containing the page requested. Middle clicking on any tab in the window will close it, without having to actually go to the tab and click close. Ctrl-T will open a new blank tab, and Ctrl-Tab will cycle through them (similar in fashion to Alt-Tab cycling through the open programs). What this all leads to is a much neater Internet experience, with you being able to group certain pages into browser windows, leaving the start bar much cleaner and easier to navigate.

The next feature that caught my attention was the search bar built into the browser. It's small, sleek and simple, built into the right-hand side of the main toolbar beside the address box. You can add many different sites to the search bar and then select the site you wish to search from a drop-down menu. Then it's simply a matter of typing your query in and hitting enter to be taken directly to that page and your search results. This makes searching Ebay, Google, Internet Movie DataBase, Amazon etc. very quick and easy as you can simply type in the desired search criteria as you think of it and get the results back fast. You can get search bar plugins for IE but they tend to take up lots of room, contain ads, and you can usually only have one site per search bar.

There are more features than I could write about here but I will tell you that Firefox has impressed me greatly. Browser hijacking: the act of a malicious website script changing your homepage or search page (particularly common on IE, sites will change your default search page so that every time you type an address into your address bar their site gets a hit) is now a thing of the past (at least until someone gets vicious enough to work out backdoors in Firefox, an unlikely event for at least a little while given the massive market share still held by IE). Since changing over I have received substantially fewer attack notices from my Firewall. Sites load quickly, and if you get an address wrong you don't have to wait for a page to load, you just quickly get a message informing you that the site doesn't exist. Then there are the extensions that can be downloaded to add all sorts of new features to the browser.

The only downside that I have found is the fact that because IE is the dominant web browser, some websites are coded in such a way that they don't work properly on other browsers. These sites are few and far between, but occasionally you will still need to fire up IE to view a page. The infrequency of this occurring is enough that it doesn't annoy me too much, but it will be nice when everything works 100%.

At the end of the day, it's probably not a vital switch. Both programs suffice in allowing you to plug in and explore the vast world of the Internet with ease and accuracy. However, it's worth a look though because what starts off initially as "I have no real reason to change back" quickly becomes "I am never going back". So, as the official Firefox website encourages, "Rediscover the web".

Daniel Punch - M6.Net

Daniel Punch is a university student always looking to overthrow the man and support the underdog, provided it doesn't actually cost him anything.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daniel_Punch

The Benefits of the New Firefox Browser

2005-11-29T00:09:00.000-08:00

You probably heard of the new Firefox browser version 1.0 recently released by Mozilla. If you are currently using Internet Explorer or Netscape, you are probably wondering if Firefox is better and why is it better. In order to answer these questions it is necessary to take a look at all the benefits that Firefox offers you as a user.

First of all, Firefox is free, which is definitely a plus. It is an open-source web browser based on the Mozilla code foundation and will work for Windows, Linux and MacOS X operating systems. These are the technical specification, but what is more interesting to you as a user is that Firefox is very fast, secure, and is easy to use and navigate. The user interface is straightforward and uncomplicated.

There are numerous benefits that Firefox has. One of them is the popup blocking capability. You no longer have to see all those frustrating popup windows since the browser will take cake of them. You also don’t need an alternative popup blocker program. Firefox also allows you to use tabs to open new web pages instead of using a new window. This feature is similar to the one that Netscape offers. However, with the Firefox, you can also open web pages in the background.

If you are trying to download some file, it will be automatically saved to your desktop. If you are using Google search engine for your search needs, you will appreciate the built in Google toolbar. Your Firefox toolbar will also include usual features like bookmarks, history, and text size and is customizable to include additional tools and features. If you would like to have an access to an email client you will need to download the Mozilla Thunderbird mail client software.

You don’t have to be a computer professional to install this new browser. The installation and setup are very simple and straightforward and were designed to minimize the amount of work that needs to be done by the user. All your settings will be imported into Firefox. For example, you will see the same favorites as you saw when using Internet Explorer. Firefox is also available in several languages so if you prefer to use some other language then English, you can just install your language version of this browser.

In addition to all the benefits described above, Firefox browser is also offering you a higher level of security. For example, spyware and adware programs cannot automatically install in the Firefox browser.

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.centernet.dk. Visit his website for the latest info on search engine optimization.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jakob_Jelling

Internet Speed

2005-11-27T18:51:00.000-08:00

I've been fascinated over the years by the rapid advances in technology. None more than Internet Speed . The Internet is defined: a computer network consisting of a worldwide network of computer networks that use the TCP/IP network protocols to facilitate data transmission and exchange .

Speed is defined: the act or state of moving swiftly . When you combine these two, you get Internet speed. High Speed Internet!

Over the last few years the Internet has seen major advancements in the ability of the average Internet user to achieve speeds that could of never been imagined in the days of dial up Internet. According to Nielsen//NetRatings, the global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis, reports that in the United States there are 39 million, or 13 percent of Americans, connecting via broadband in the U.S., the highest number to date. That number is expected to grow to 61.5 million by 2008.

In Europe the numbers were even better, broadband households in Europe increased by nearly 65% last year, a rate twice as fast as the US. The highest growth was in France, until recently an Internet laggard.

With Broadband provider prices continuing to decrease and subscribership continuing to grow, you can bet that Internet speed will continue to amaze.

Gio Mangano is the owner of http://www.bandwidtht1.com which offers Instant quotes on T1 Line and business DSL & T1 Line at http://t1-t1line.blogspot.com

Reduce Pop-ups and Annoying Ads

2005-11-26T13:28:00.000-08:00

There is many things more frustrating than surfing a website only to have your screen suddenly full of pop-up advertising or a cascade of new windows opening. There are so many intrusive kinds of advertising on websites that there must be a way to deal with them. Luckily for us there is a few programs out there that will help to reduce the amount of advertising that happens while you surf.

My favorite solution actually comes by using a great new web browser called Mozilla FireFox. This web browser gives you lots of great new features while you surf, including tabbed browsing which saves you loads of time, but one of the greatest features is that is had integrated pop-up blocking built right in to the web browser! There are still a few advertisings that seem to squeak through, but I would say that 90% of the pop-ups I would suffer in other browsers are eliminated because of FireFox web browser.

For those of you who are hardcore Internet Explorer (IE) users then my suggestion to you is to install Google's Toolbar. Google's Internet Explorer toolbar integrates a lot of great features in to your browser, including help with stopping those pesky advertisings. In addition to the blocker it gives you added functionality by having a form filler and quick access to a search bar, with Google's search engine of course and many other great little tidbits.

Unfortunately there is other reasons why you may be getting random advertisings on your computer which may be caused by spyware or adware software that is already running on your computer. There is several free or trial programs that you can use to help clean up your computer and get rid of these nasty little programs. These utilities in conjunction with a good antivirus program should keep you both free of hidden software programs running on your computer, and annoying advertisings!

Ken Dennis
http://KenDennis-RSS.homeip.net/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ken_Dennis

firefox
Mozilla

Firefox plans mass marketing drive

2005-11-26T13:21:00.000-08:00

Special to CNET News.com
Published: November 26, 2005, 10:49 AM PST

Mozilla is gearing up to launch a large-scale marketing drive when Firefox 1.5 is released.

Christopher Beard, the vice-president of products at Mozilla, said on Monday that there is a "strong likelihood" that Firefox 1.5 , the next major version of the open source browser, will be released on Nov. 29.

Beard said the corporation is planning a "big marketing push" that will coincide with the release of 1.5. This will include a community marketing campaign that will encourage Firefox fans to tell the world about their favorite browser by publishing home-made videos on a Mozilla Web site.

"You will have real people telling you about Firefox's features--what's cool and great," said Beard. "People can create the video and upload it to the Mozilla site. The video will then be reviewed and put on our Web site, with a link from their location."

The videos will be hosted on the SpreadFirefox community marketing site, which will display a world map with a dot marking each location where a video has been created.

Beard said he doesn't know how many people will get involved in this campaign, particularly as it is dependent on contributors having video equipment, such as a camcorder or a Web cam.

"It's hard to tell. With The New York Times' ad campaign we thought it would take weeks to raise the money, but in less than 48 hours we had already raised enough for an ad," said Beard. "With this [campaign] it's also uncertain--are we going to get hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of videos?"

As the videos are likely to be posted in many languages, Mozilla will use international volunteers to filter the videos. It has already recruited teams to cover 20 European languages, according to Tristan Nitot, the president of Mozilla Europe.

Prizes for the best videos will be awarded at the end of the campaign. Mozilla is also launching a separate competition to create a 30-second advert for Firefox, which will be open to everyone but will be particularly targeted at film students.

As well as the video campaigns, Mozilla plans to launch a consumer-oriented Web site next week. Mozilla.com, which currently hosts a placeholder page, will in future be the main entry point for the Mozilla organization, rather than Mozilla.org, Beard explained.

"Part of our marketing strategy is to target more of a general consumer audience, who don't necessarily have a technical understanding, so we are looking to make our Web sites more approachable," said Beard.

Mozilla is also hoping to improve its consumer focus by offering a major release every six to nine months, rather than every two years--as was the case when it was part of Netscape. In keeping with this new strategy, Firefox 2.0 is scheduled for release in the middle of 2006 and Firefox 3 is planned for the first quarter of 2007.

In other news:
Sober worm clogging inboxes
Tech firms focus on TV
Turning oil money into a Silicon Valley
CNET's Holiday Helpdesk: Top tech gifts and deals
There has been more subtle change in Mozilla's marketing strategy over the last year. In 2004, before the release of Firefox 1.0, the Mozilla marketing contact predicted that Firefox would obtain 10 percent market share by the end of 2005. This week, Beard refused to provide any new targets, merely saying that Mozilla is "looking forward to continuing growth".

This change appears to have been partly driven by the proliferation of browser statistics, with companies pointing out any decrease in Firefox and many conflicting statistics available over Firefox's overall market share.

"It's difficult to get good statistics. People can use statistics in different ways," said Beard.

Ingrid Marson of ZDNET Uk reported from London.

How to Activate The Firefox Live Bookmark Feature on Your Site

2005-11-25T20:17:00.000-08:00

Live Bookmark is Mozilla’s response to offering RSS feeds through their browsers and Firefox in particular. Using this technology, it’s possible for any visitor to your website to add your RSS feed in only two or three steps. Browsing the RSS feeds you subscribe to is as easy as looking up a bookmark. Instead of seeing a bookmark though, you get a list of all the headlines found on the RSS feed you just subscribed to. This feature is really cool.

How to Activate the Live Bookmark Icon

So how do you active the live bookmark icon on a Mozilla based browser? Simple, you include the following line of text in the header of the page where you want the icon to appear:

< link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS 2.0" href="http://screamerfeeds.com/feed/" >

Understanding the different parts of the statement

The first parameter specifies that we are mentioning a forward link to an alternate page for content. In this case, the alternate page is the RSS feed. The second parameter ‘type=”application/rss+xml’ is stating that the link is to an RSS feed resource. The third parameter is ‘title=”RSS 2.0? and it is the text that will appear when someone clicks on the Live Bookmark Icon. In this example it would display “RSS 2.0? but you could specify “Subscribe to this RSS Feed” or whatever you wanted. The third and final parameter is the href=”http://screamerfeeds.com/feed/”. This is the link or URL to the actual feed that the visitor will subscribe to.

The whole process is fairly simple once you understand the basics. You can literally make your RSS feed accessible via Live Bookmark to any of your visitors in just a few minutes. The rest is up to you.

Joe Duchesne is the webmaster of ScreamerFeeds.com which is dedicated to educating webmasters on the virtues of RSS Feeds. Reprint Freely as long as you keep the keyword rich link live.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_Duchesne

Begun, The Browser Wars Have

2005-11-22T21:08:00.000-08:00

As Mozilla Firefox nears 10% market share, with well over 25 million downloads direct from the makers website, and goodness knows how many through other sources, Microsoft announces that it will be releasing IE 7 ahead of schedule. Originally scheduled for release with Microsoft’s new Longhorn operating system in 2006, it seems that Microsoft are reacting to the run away success that Firefox has had over the last few months. But is Microsoft’s announcement just a response to Firefox’s success, or is it truly a commitment by the software giant to improve the browsing experience of the masses?

I’m going to make no secret about it; I am a Firefox user first and foremost. Ever since I first looked at Firefox and saw the features such as power tabbing, proper support for Internet standards and the integrated search bar, I’ve been in love with this browser. To me Internet Explorer has not a patch on the competition, and without a major update soon will surely fall behind. When Microsoft announced their plans to bring forward Internet Explorer 7 I was very interested in what they had to offer. Competition is the life-blood of progress, and if Microsoft were to seriously invest in their browser it would be of great advantage to Internet users as a whole. Unfortunately, I was disappointed at what emerged. It seems that all Microsoft are doing is making some nebulous claims as to ‘increasing the security’ of their browser. No mention of tabbing, increased standards support or any of the other features of Firefox which IE are sorely lacking. To me it seems that all Microsoft’s latest release aims to do is distract people in an attempt to out-hype Firefox.

I sincerely hope that I can be proved wrong and, for once, Microsoft can deliver on their promises. Early reports do, however, indicate that their new browser will only work with Windows XP, leaving many users out in the cold still. Even if Microsoft does get it’s act together there is one thing they’ll never have – cross-platform compatibility. While Firefox will run under Mac OS X, Linux, even old BeOS systems, as well as Windows, IE is limited to Windows only. So for now Firefox is far and away the best choice of browser for the web, and looks like it may stay this way for some time to come.

Do you not want to believe what I am saying? Well, even the almighty Google agrees with me. Just try searching for ‘best browser’, or even ‘browser’ in Google, and just see what comes up. Even MSN seems to agree. If you haven’t yet tried Firefox and would like to give it a go, it can be downloaded here. If you would like to know more about why you should consider changing your browser I can also recommend you go visit This Page: Why you should dump Internet Explorer.

Daniel Robson runs http://www.shock-therapy.org where he hands out his freeware, as well as hosting Freeware for Symbian UIQ series 7.0 phones such as the Sony Ericsson PX00 series.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daniel_Robson

firefox

How to Switch to Firefox: Firefox Download

2005-11-22T21:03:00.000-08:00

First things first, what is Firefox? Well, it’s a browser. Ok but what’s that? A browser is a computer program used to view web pages, to browse through the world wide web. In fact you are reading this article with a browser at the moment. Browsers are very useful. For a start, they can remember what pages you have looked at, you can even store your favourite pages as Bookmarks. Browsers can do much more depending on which one you have.

Firefox is a free browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation. The Mozilla Foundation develops open source software. Another excellent application is Thunderbird, an email program.

More than likely you are using Internet Explorer to view this webpage. This browser is part of Microsoft Windows operating system. To check which browser you are using:

Click on the Help in your browsers menu bar. (It’s the last option on the right hand side, after File, Edit…)

Click on the last option in the menu that appears.

If it says Microsoft Internet Explorer® then you have the browser that between 80% and 90% (depending on who you talk to) use.

So why change?

Security: Most experts agree that you are less likely to be the subject of a malicious attack by “hackers” if you use Firefox than if you use Internet Explorer.

Firefox Extensions: There is a whole array of quick and easy to install extensions available for Firefox. Extensions add functionality to your browser. They are a bit like the added extras that you get with your car (except they’re free!). Everything from Ad blockers to your local weather forecast.

Tabbed browsing: Instead of opening your browser more than once to view more than one page at a time, which can slow down your computer, tabbed browsing allows you to open many web pages, in tabs, in only one browser.

So how do you get the Firefox browser?

Click on this link to go to the Firefox download page.

In the top right corner of the page is a green area with a link to the free download.

When the dialog box appears, click save.

Select a location to download the file to.

The file should start downloading to the location you selected.

When the file has finished downloading, (it should be called something like Firefox Setup 1.0.5.exe) double click on it to open it.

If you have Windows XP service pack 2 is installed, a dialog box may appear. Select execute.

After Firefox has extracted, click next.

Click on the radio button beside ‘I accept the terms of the License Agreement’ and then click on the next button.

The standard installation is fine so just click on the next button.

This screen just confirms the location that Firefox is to installed, so just click on the next button again.

Click Finish to complete the installation and launch Firefox.

Congratulations! You have now installed Firefox. When Firefox starts the first time it will ask if you want to set Firefox as your default browser. Select yes.

One last thing. Under no circumstances remove Internet Explorer from your system. Firefox is a better browser but Internet Explorer is used by your computer for other things than browsing the web.

Aonghus Flynn is an Irish web developer specialising in Flash development. Aonghus has over 7 years experience in the IT industry as a developer and a trainer. You can reach him at http://www.aonghusflynn.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Aonghus_Flynn

firefox

How the "Firefox: How to..." Manual Helped Me

2005-11-21T22:49:00.000-08:00

A few months back I really got sick of my computer always being slow and having system errors. So I started doing a bit of research and heard of a new browser called "Firefox".

After a few months of going through it I started to see a huge difference in my computers performance and as a result in my own productivity online and off. This was a direct result of using the Firefox browser. So I then started to learn the features that came with it and I realized that this browser had A LOT more features than I had ever seen or used on any other browser. As I started to mention this to my co-workers and friends and family they all got interested in the browser and decided to install it on their own systems.

Thats when the questions started.

It didn't matter where I went, I ran into someone who had a question or questions on "How do I do this?" or "How do I do that?" Realizing that I was never going to get any work done I sat down with my programmer and we decided to hit the challenge head on and "Firefox: How to..." was born.

So I am proud to introduce to you my newest product creation with the help of my programmer, S. Murphy, "Firefox: How to..."

This 82 page manual comes with complete screen shots to take you step by step through the Firefox browser. Answering a wide variety of "How to's" the screen shots quite literally show to go here, then go there, then go there...etc. So that you have a map to what you need to accomplish all laid out for you in a simple to read manual.

For more information on this manual and how it can and will improve your productivity.

Please visit: Firefox Mentor

Regards

Garret Belisle

Garret Belisle is the author of a blog designed to help you on your way to home ownership, and some helpful tricks on down payments and credit repair. You can view the site here at http://www.gbcmortgage.blogspot.com. While your there make sure to sign up for the weekly updates on the bottom left corner to keep up to date with all of the latest advice.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Garret_Belisle

firefox
mozilla

Mozilla Vs. Firefox

2005-11-21T22:48:00.000-08:00

For those who are unclear on the differences between the Mozilla package (Netscape is also comparable to Mozilla except they're two different companies) and Firefox / Thunderbird, here it is:

Mozilla is a complete package meaning it comes with email, browser, address book, newsgroup, and chat applications integrated.

FireFox is a stand-alone browser application. It doesn't have email built-in. There is a chatzilla extension available.

Thunderbird is the stand-alone email application. It doesn't have a browser built-in. The address book is included.

If you use Mozilla for email and click on a link within an email, it will open them in Mozilla not FireFox even when FireFox is the default browser.

The applications are similar, yet different. The look and feel is different. It requires experiencing it for yourself to understand this.

Commands and features are not identical. For instance, Mozilla has F9 to open the sidebar with search, history, bookmarks, etc. whereas FireFox only opens Bookmarks and History in the sidepanel via Ctrl+B and Ctrl+H respectively. There are a few extensions to do more with this.

FireFox has fewer options because it doesn't have other applications integrated with it, which can make it easier to modify.

At this point, Mozilla is tapering off while Mozilla.org moves forward with its brightest star, Firefox.

Meryl K. Evans is the Content Maven behind meryl's notes, eNewsletter Journal, and The Remediator Security Digest. She is also a PC Today columnist and a tour guide at InformIT. She is geared to tackle your editing, writing, content, and process needs. The native Texan resides in Plano, Texas, a heartbeat north of Dallas, and doesn't wear a 10-gallon hat or cowboy boots.

Meryl K. Evans is the Content Maven behind meryl's notes, eNewsletter Journal, and The Remediator Security Digest. She is also a PC Today columnist and a tour guide at InformIT. She is geared to tackle your editing, writing, content, and process needs. The native Texan resides in Plano, Texas, a heartbeat north of Dallas, and doesn't wear a 10-gallon hat or cowboy boots.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Meryl_K._Evans

firefox
mozilla

Have You Downloaded Firefox Yet?

2005-11-21T17:15:00.000-08:00

The internet browser market has long been dominated by Internet Explorer, but a new kid on the block -- Firefox -- is making strong inroads against the Microsoft product's dominance. To date, over 75 million copies of Firefox have been downloaded by users around the world. Here are some reasons why you should replace Explorer with Firefox.

1. No Pop Ups. Unlike Explorer, Firefox has a nifty pop up blocker in place. No more garbage to fill your screen as you search the internet with Firefox. Can't say the same for Explorer, however.

2. Your Security. Spyware, trojan horses, and ActiveX controls are stopped in their tracks. Explorer limits through unreliable third party downloads.

3. Quick Downloading. Downloading files is a snap as they are done quickly and painlessly. Once Firefox completes the download you will be prompted to clean up [remove] unneeded files.

4. Tabbed Browsing. Surfing the internet is easier as users can open up one window and set tabs for quick access to multiple web pages. Specifically, all your browser windows actually work within one window, each marked by tabs that you can click in and out of with ease.

5. Tons of extensions, themes, and plug-ins. You can customize Firefox to work the way you want it to work. Download an ad blocker, a new toolbar, a special theme, or include plug-ins such as Adobe Reader, Windows Media Player, Shockwave, Flash Player, and more.

Firefox is not perfect, but it goes a long way further than Explorer in giving users an enjoyable internet experience. For this reason alone, it is worth being downloaded by you.

Matt Keegan is The Article Writer who covers topics from Aviaition to Zoos. Please visit his site for additional samples of his work: http://www.thearticlewriter.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matthew_Keegan

firefox
mozilla

Revealing the Firefox Secret used by Top Web Developers and Power-Browsers

2005-11-19T21:38:00.000-08:00

Profiles are one of the best kept secrets around regarding Mozilla Firefox (my browser of choice).

In the role of web site designer, I find it useful to have Firefox set up with various Extensions for helping test compliance, keep track of Google Adsense earnings, checking PageRank and Alexa rating, etc...

However, when I am simply surfing the internet, I don't want to be weighed down by all these tools, cluttering up my status and toolbars. I like a slick, simple browser that looks good and works quickly.

Fortunately, I am able to have both of these scenarios in Firefox, through the wonder of Profiles.

How do Firefox Profiles work?

Firefox allows multiple users to set up the browser to suit their own specific needs and tastes, from Themes and Extensions to Bookmarks and Home Page.

Upon startup of Firefox, you are able to choose which user profile you would like to use.

So, you can now have a profile for your web development needs, one for your personal surfing, and even one for the kids (allowing you to increase Firefox's security measures).

Each profile is independent of the others, so it's like having a new installation for each user.

How do I activate Firefox Profiles?

1. Firstly, find the Firefox shortcut on your desktop (or create one from the .exe file).

2. Right-click it, and select properties.

3. Lastly, in the Target box, add ' -p' without the apostrophes to the end of the target line (so that it reads something like 'C:\Program Files\Mozilla\Firefox\firefox.exe -p'), and click OK.

Now when you start Firefox through this shortcut you will be prompted with the Profiles Manager box (as long as you do not already have an instance of Firefox open). It's all self-explanatory from thereon.

For faster start-up, I advise that you keep two shortcuts on your desktop - one to load up Firefox as normal, and this new one to execute only when you want to change profile.

Rob Barrett is a professional web designer based in Dorset, England.

To read more free articles on Web Design and Mozilla Firefox & Thunderbird, visit:

http://articles.rob-barrett.co.uk

Internet Explorer: Benefit Analysis Versus Firefox

2005-11-19T12:27:00.000-08:00

Most of MSIE's advantages are Firefox's disadvantages, and vice-versa. This article will discuss some advantages and disadvantages of MSIE in relation to Firefox.

Advantages

Integration with other Microsoft products

Microsoft often offers its customers good integration among its products, and MSIE is no exception. One can drag an Excel bar graph from an MSIE webpage onto an existing Excel document, or view a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation from within MSIE. Within a Microsoft-only corporate intranet, this integration is very helpful. However, for a business interacting with the outside world, the argument weakens since the foundation of the Internet is to share among different platforms. Outside users expect documents to be in platform-agnostic formats such as HTML or Acrobat PDF files.

MSIE also offers strong integration with its Microsoft operating system, though is a double-edged sword, since it contributes to its security woes.

ActiveX and VBScript support

ActiveX refers to small Windows executable programs that can be run from MSIE, and VBScript is a client-side script for Windows code.

Some business have heavily invested in either developing or purchasing custom ActiveX software (and/or VBScript), for applications ranging from web-based accounting to e-learning simulators.

The Firefox team made a conscious decision to support neither ActiveX nor VBScript, since they are not accepted web standards and are often the source of the security vulnerabilities within MSIE.

Since Firefox will not likely ever support ActiveX and VBScript, businesses whose products revolve around these technologies would be better served with MSIE than with Firefox.

Still some MSIE-only webpages

Since MSIE formerly had such a large marketshare, some businesses' webpages still only display correctly in MSIE.

However, Firefox's increasing marketshare has caused many companies to revamp their pages to work correctly in Firefox also.

There are several reasons. Businesses want to ensure that they can sell to the Firefox customers.

Moreover, many of the users who purchase with credit cards have moved to Firefox because of the extra security for that sensitive transaction. Finally, many businesses see that it costs less to fix the pages, than to cover the "Why doesn't work in Firefox?" technical support calls support calls.

Arrives with a new Windows computer

MSIE arrives installed new Windows and Mac computers; Firebird does not.

However, the initial MSIE is unpatched and thus riddled with security holes. Thus, novice Windows users are often disappointed as their computers become increasingly unresponsive with viruses and spyware.

Thus, the convenience of having MSIE preinstalled on Windows is minimal, since Firebird can be downloaded and installed about as easily as patching the initial insecure MSIE.

Microsoft has ceased new development of MSIE for the Mac, so it has decreasing usefulness on the Mac as an out-of-box browser.

Disadvantages

Closed source and tied to a U.S. company

Closed source prevents users from reviewing the code to ensure that there are no security backdoors included in the software.

This is particularly important for Internet communication software, as the U.S. government may approach Microsoft to either divulge or include security backdoors that can be used for information surveillance, especially on foreign governments or high-risk suspects. Some governments don't want to have a foreign country's closed source software at the heart of their information network. This may partially account for the higher adoption rate of open-sourced Firefox in countries outside the U.S.

Selling of other Microsoft items and forced end-of-life

Part of any corporation's mission is to maximize profits. For Microsoft, this includes selling the maximum number of its own products and services.

So to use the newest MSIE, one has to purchase a license of their newest OS. MSIE's built-in search only works with Microsoft's MSN search, versus Firefox's built-in search toolbar that uses technically superior Google as the default and is user-selectable.

Moreover, since MSIE is closed-source software, users always face the possibility of forced end-of-life of the MSIE software and anything the user has built around it.

Total cost of ownership

Both browsers can be downloaded and used free of charge, so their initial cost is equal.

For technical support questions, both are widely enough used that many solutions to common problems can be found in free online public forums. Telephone support for Firefox costs $39.95 per incident, and Microsoft costs between $35.00 per incident and can cost over $200.00 for advanced issues.

However, MSIE has heavier ongoing support costs due to the nearly monthly security patches that are required. Also, there are ongoing costs from lost work time due to the poor stability and viruses when using MSIE. Finally, with MSIE requiring the newest version of their operating system, it forces the total cost of ownership to include the cost of updating all licenses to Windows XP SP2.

About the Author: Matt Bacak became "#1 Best Selling Author" in just a few short hours. Recent Entrepreneur Magazine’s e-Biz radio show host is turning Authors, Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories.
Discover The Secrets http://promotingtips.com

Source: www.isnare.com

Firefox: Benefit Analysis versus Internet Explorer

2005-11-17T00:03:00.000-08:00

Most of Firebird's advantages are MSIE's disadvantages, and vice-versa. This article will look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of Firefox in relation to MSIE.

Advantages

Security

Security is often cited as the primary reason for users switching from MSIE to Firefox. Security is of utmost importance for software that interacts with remote computers, in an era of high security risk activities such as online banking.

Firefox has fewer security holes and a tighter schedule of disclosing them. The enhanced security in Firefox is due to a multitude of factors the system's inclusion of more source code reviewers and a better bug reporting system and exclusion of VBScript/ActiveX, often the source of vulnerabilities.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has been clamoring for years to try to clamp down on the MSIE security holes. It acquired an anti-spyware product, which it released under the banner of Microsoft AntiSpyware. It also promises its new Windows Vista platform will be more secure. However, Microsoft's track record to date has done little to boost the confidence of today's user.

Standards compliance

Firefox has vaulted ahead of MSIE with improved support for standard web protocols, such as its superior stylesheet compatibility.

Since MSIE had a leading marketshare, the company had less interest in conforming to web standards, and instead focused on proprietary protocols, with the goal of maintaining their market position. That is, the focus of Microsoft was to try to convert as much of its userbase to writing webpages and web applications that required a proprietary MSIE-approach, so that down the road, users would be less able to move off a Microsoft platform.

As a result, Microsoft neglected for years to improve support for basic open standards. For example, transparent PNG graphics did not work all the way through to MSIE version 6.

Multiple operating system platforms

Firefox is available for users who runs Windows (Windows 98 through to Windows XP), Mac OS X, all the leading versions of Linux, as well as some lesser-used operating systems. In comparison, Microsoft has dropped development for Mac, and other non-Windows systems. Furthermore, Microsoft has ceased new development even on their own versions of Windows, making the new MSIE only available to users who have a license for Windows XP.

Firefox also has a similar user interface among the different operating platforms. For deployments that have a mix of operating platforms (such as Linux for the techs, Macs for the graphic designers, and Windows for the accounts department), moving to Firefox for everyone thus brings technical support costs down.

Time-saving browser innovations

Internet communication and interaction is a core component for most modern businesses. Efficient use of web browser time translates to increased profits, so innovations to help workers do their tasks faster are welcomed.

Firefox leads MSIE in this regard, with out-of-the-box features such as integrated Google search in the toolbar, placing the find-within-page box at the bottom of the browser window so as not to obscure the text, and so on.

Disadvantages

Retraining

Any switch of software incurs a retraining cost. However, a switch from MSIE to Firefox requires only a mild amount of retraining.

The switch from MSIE to Firefox is designed to be easy, with proper import of bookmarks and other settings.

Browser interfaces are becoming standard, so understanding how to get up and running is not usually a problem. There are some only minor adjustments. For example, "Internet Files" in MSIE is called "Cache" in Firefox. One can use a downloaded MSIE theme so that the Firefox user interface even more closely resembles that of MSIE.

Incomplete migration

In a business with Windows computers, if the switch from MSIE to Firefox is incomplete, it can cost more to offer technical support for both browsers. This argument would only apply to shops whose Windows computers are all Windows XP. Since the new MSIE is only available for Windows XP, if there are different Windows versions (such as Windows NT or 2000), then the technical support team already needs to support different types of MSIE browsers.

Another consideration, however, is that even an incomplete switch from MSIE to Firefox could result in less technical support, since the Firefox users would be less likely to need help with fixing their computer after an MSIE-related security breach.

About The Author:

Matt Bacak became "#1 Best Selling Author" in just a few short hours.

Recent Entrepreneur Magazine’s e-Biz radio show host is

turning Authors, Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories.

Discover The Secrets http://promotingtips.com

firefox
mozilla
internet

Will Firefox Win The Browser War?

2005-11-13T22:50:00.000-08:00

For as long as you can remember the basic Internet browser was Internet Explorer. Of course, there was a moment in time when Netscape was trying to get that market share, but Internet Explorer won out and there are many people that don’t realize Internet Explorer is only their browser and they can change if they like. In fact, most folks believe Internet Explorer is the only option for reaching the Internet. However, this is not the case and there is a new kid on the block that is taking advantage of the security issues Internet Explorer has experienced and pulling a significant amount of market share in a short period of time. This newcomer web browser is Firefox.

Firefox is a browser that focuses on opening web sites rapidly while keeping those nasty pop-ups and spyware at bay. Firefox was in its final stages last summer and fortunately for the up and coming browser two federal agencies recommended Internet surfers choose a different browser than Internet Explorer due to security issues IE was facing. This timing was perfect for Firefox and when it was placed on the web for download there were so many people trying to download at once the server almost could not handle all of the requests.

However, Firefox came through and many web surfers switched from Internet Explorer. In fact, Internet Explorer held the market share for web browsers at 95.5%, but has slipped to 92.9% in just the few months Firefox has had its test version on the market. This might seem like just a few percentage points, but these percentage points represent millions of individuals who have switched from IE to Firefox. In fact, approximately 23 million preview copies of Firefox have been downloaded.

So, what does this mean for IE and Firefox? Who will win this browser war? If Firefox continues gaining market share as it has then Firefox might come out on top. However, if IE works to fix its security problems it can probably hold onto its 90% plus market share. Only the future has the answer, we will just have to wait and see.

About the Author: SearchArticles.net features over ten thousand articles, tips and information on a variety of subjects. For additional tips and articles, visit http://www.SearchArticles.Net

Source: www.isnare.com