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I have been reading about this browser and would like opinions on it. I use WINDOWS XP Home SP1.
Can I download and use a second browser. Will it affect IE6. Can I use either IE6 or Firefox.
I am seeing that some people think it is a problem and others say it is great.
My biggest fear is that it will cause havic on my system.
Thanks
I use Firefox all the time and like it a lot.
It have never heard of it causing problems or conflict with IE6.
I have installed it on every machine I can get my hands on. Work, friends, acquaintances, you name it (probably 40 or 50 PC's.) I have yet to have the first problem.
You could also consider Opera. There is a free version of it available too.
Don't forget that Firefox or Opera both need Java to work as advertised. The latest version of Java is 1.4.2_07
I started with Firefox about half a year ago and have never looked back. You can use it along with IE6, it will not cause any problems or conflicts. Try it out and see if you like it.
Excellent browser Firefox... you should have no problem with installing multiple browsers. As a web design type I have quite a few different browsers installed and no issues.
Thanks for the replies. I am going to give it a try.
Well, I have a differen opinion.
Scale of 1-5 with one being poor, 2 fair, 3 ok, 4 Good, 5 excellent.
It gets a TOTAL F for user friendliness. NOTHING is easy to find or configure or control. I rate user friendliness as -0
Simple controls for adjusting web pages are non existant. For example you have to hunt to China and the moon to find a freaking simple list of ...allow animations in webpages, allow music in web pages to play, allow pictures in webpages to show, ...simple ordinary user controls...NOT THERE or can't be found. This feature alone gives the entire browser along with the first complaint...a 2.
Language/syntax=2 Terminology is different, making the shift from IE to firefox is difficult due to the terminology, but it gets the 2 because there is somewhat of a thing that shows some of the differences in terminology.
Privacy=1
your help file is next to useless without being on line, therefore if you use the browser, and you need to look something up, it calls home on you.
You have to jump thru hoops to clear cookies, history and caches. The interface is NOT user friendly, and its incomplete.
Explainations of what things are and what they do..consequences of choices...rates a 1. IF you can find any of them.
Security, questionable.
If you can't find the controls to shut things off/turn them on, you can't adjust for security.
If you can't understand the syntax because explainations are lacking or are incomplete, then you can't make educated adjustments.
Default is to allow all cookies from anywhere...bad move. But, there is a restricted sites zone...if you can find it. But, it's there. That's a plus.
You can't control active x scripting...no controls, or controls are hidden. Back to user friendliness which is already a -0
But, under the guise of blind faith, you are to believe that activex is not allowed..however, if you need it, you can't turn it on which is under the realm of user friendliness...
Because it's gaining in popularity, it's becoming a target.
I'm sure I'll find more as I go..but my over all rating of it is a 2 for fair. You can download it and go...that's a plus, but you have NO clue as to what's going on. Some folks like running in the blind, it makes me freak when I don't know what's going on. Ignorance is not bliss to me.
You can change your download location, a plus..you aren't stuck with dumping everything onto you desktop to make a top heavy, slowloading OS at boot. You can change your download location but you need to make the folder exist first, then tell ff to use that location. Hoewever, you can't create the folder from ff.
My overall rating of it is a 2. I can't give it more than that because some extremely important features...ease of finding, ease of configuring, ease of syntax lacks, and those important features are a foundation to the rest.
So how do I shut off animations in this god forsaken, second class substitute browser???
All opinions are strictly my own personal opinions of course. I only downloaded this browser for 1 particular feature...the downloader... so I can download a particular file. Otherwise, I personally have no use for it. IE is superior for functionality. And with third party software properly configured, with the browser properly configured, I can't possibly see how ff could be "better". It's not...from a user perspective.
I can't even get to mozilla forums. Won't bring up the pages. :(
I wouldn't call it better...just...fairly adequate.
l2l2
Tell us how you really feel l2l2 ... ;-) Don't hold back now!
o.k., enough of that! Some love it, some hate it... Those that really like it often times do so because of their bad experiences with IE.
I use Mozilla myself but work with them all from a web design standpoint.
I use IE 5.01 and Firefox 1.0.1, and I definitely have to agree with L2L2 about how much trouble one has to go thru to get Firefox going, .......but the other side of the coin, is that Firefox is a little faster and easier to use because of the Tab feature........have had no conflicts with both running at the same time.
poppy
You can add the ieview extension to FireFox to open the webpage your viewing with FireFox in Internet Explorer. Handy tool to use on those rare ocassions when a webpage doesn't look right in FF.
http://ieview.mozdev.org/
I use the Mozilla Suite, which has the Browser (Firefox) AND Mail (Thunderbird), AND Chat, all in one package. I have been using versions for years, (I guess 3 or 4). It is the best of any I used. I used Netscape and Opera. I hate IE and OE.
Yes you can use all together with no problems.
Go to http://www.mozilla.org and download the "Mozilla Suite", I think it is still v 1.7.5 now.
L2L2 said it is hard to find the settings. WRONG! Go to edit, then Preferences, and those settings are in there.
The defaults are usually set where you dont have to do any changes.
What you will really like, is not seeing any pop-ups, already set perfect (default settings)
It will also copy your bookmarks and address book, and email settings automatically. Comparing Mozilla to IE, is like comparing a nice Steak Dinner, to a cold, plain, 3 day old, hamburger, is about the best way I would compare them.
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Opera is also a good browser. It is billed as the world's fastest browser. I agree. I like it when in bidding competition, like at ebay in a heated bid war.
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Netscape, I used to use for years, (1998-2001), till they started shoving news on the email, which delayed my mail, till it finished shoving that crap on the screen. That is when I found Mozilla and Opera. Mozilla is now set as my default browser.
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I have installed Mozilla and Opera on all my friends computers and have never had a complaint.
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Now if I could just keep windows from crashing! But of course, that is a no cost option with micro&soft
Just a little clarification there Rick... Mozilla & Firefox are two different animals. Firefox is based on Mozilla, yes... but it's a stripped down version built for speed. The two guys that built Firefox came out of the Mozilla project but broke away as they had their own ideas about how it should be.... thusly Firefox was born.
Ok, that is noted.
So the Mozilla has more in it than Firefox? What are the things left out?
What about Thunderbird?
Most of it had to do with streamlining the code, so nothing really left out in that regard... I'm not privy to the particulars, just remember a story I read....
Not sure about Thunderbird, although the Mozilla mail client and T-bird do seem a bit different. Think that both are very close cousins...
Can't remember where I read that Firefox article, now it's going to drive me...!!!
I love firefox, and right now I'm using it to make this response. It's great with all the plugins you can install on it. I can get the 7 day weather forecast as soon as FF pops up. I dont even have to go to weather.com to do so. But, I have noticed it takes a considerably longer time for FF to start up. Does anyone have this problem? If so, what is the solution to it?