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What is FireFox and Should I Download It?
I saw the advert on this site, and I've heard good things about FireFox, but I am pretty illiterate on this subject, so I am asking my friends here for advice. I just got my first MacBook, so I have Safari for the internet. What is different about FireFox, and what do you recommend? If I download it, will Safari still work? Why / when would I use one and not the other?
I am at your mercy.
Comments disabled. -->Just kidding!
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I am not a Mac person nor have I used Safari, but I have found Firefox to be far superior browser to Internet Explorer. Firefox is open sourced. You should be able to run FF and Safari on your machine without any problem and decide for yourself which you prefer. You can also uninstall it if you don't like it.
November 16, 2008 7:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
You may find the FF browser here>
November 16, 2008 7:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ditto...Firefox has a lot of cool features and a lot of security, which means that there are some sites I have to switch back to IE to open them. But mostly it is way better than IE.
November 16, 2008 7:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Check this out:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419
Works great.
November 17, 2008 10:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'll say the difference is not huge, but I side with FF, also. Mainly, it's nice to have two browsers, since occasionally one or the other works best for a site.
November 16, 2008 7:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Please see the link above. IE Tab saves you from switching browsers.
November 17, 2008 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the information. The other question I have is this: The reason I went with mac is because of the lack of virus threat. Would that change with FireFox?
I am still getting used to the mac. I like it, but it has taken some getting used to.
I really appreciate your help, guys!
November 16, 2008 8:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would say that at this time there are fewer viruses targeted at FF because it is still less popular than is IE. However, the more popular it becomes the more it will be targeted.
But FF is open sourced so that there are any number of folks around the world working on the code to uncover security problems, whereas IE is proprietary so one must wait for MS to plug the leaks, and I don't think MS has been very responsive at doing so.
Again, I don't know about Safari, but I assume because it is less popular it is not such a target as is IE.
November 16, 2008 8:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Macs are still a minority, so still a lower virus risk. That said, I've never had a virus problem with PC by staying a couple of steps behind the vanguard OS, and using Norton.
November 16, 2008 8:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I shouldn't say this publicly,but I've found anti-virus programs to be a pain in the butt and have always ended up uninstalling them.
November 16, 2008 9:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Try Avast! It's free, it doesn't slow your computer down, and it's saved my computer on more than one occasion. Just this week, in fact.
November 17, 2008 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
FF is good...i find that Safari doesn't render well on some sites, so i use Firefox instead.
November 16, 2008 8:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, C'Ville Dem:
I am a Mac user, and therefore Safari is my built-in web browser. That said, even though I love Mac and Safari -- even on the 2008 editions (which I have, as I just had to replace my laptop) -- the fact is that video runs more reliably on Firefox. Safari may be up to the individual challenge, or may not be. Firefox is always adequate. The good news? The luxury of both, without the inevitable spam.
November 16, 2008 9:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Get Firefox for your Mac. That's what I use. Then you can also get some excellent ad-ons or whatever they call them. To increase your security.
The software presupposes you use things like Firefox. So it should benefit you at TPM.
It's open source and secure. You'll love it!
November 16, 2008 9:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Relative to using the Add-ons I've found that they do not keep up with the latest FF version. Consequently I am still using FF 2.0.0.18 so the "Add Bookmark Here" and other add-ons function.
I have installed FF 3 three times and uninstalled it each time. If one searches around the Mozilla site one may find the older versions of FF.
I also very much like the Mozilla Thunderbird email client.
November 16, 2008 10:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Whar add-ons are you using that haven't been updated since FF 2.0.0.18? Have you looked around for alternatives.An add-on that hasn't been updated for that length of time is probably no longer being actively developed, and exposes you to potential security risks, as does using an older browser.
November 17, 2008 2:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
The "Add Bookmark Here" add-on did not work with FF 3 the last time I loaded it a couple of weeks ago. However, I just looked in at the Add-on site and see there is an Add Bookmark Here 2 that was put up on Oct. 31. So I'll be trying FF 3 again.
November 17, 2008 7:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Get FF and get ad block, no script add on's.
November 16, 2008 10:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Adblock plus, indeed.
November 16, 2008 10:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
AdBlock Plus, NoScript, Tab Mix is good too, and there are a few others that really get down to questions of personal taste.
I'm on a Windows machine (several, actually) and use Firefox on all of them - even for viewing local-drive files, such as some help files.
November 17, 2008 2:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
I just ran across this WP article related to security fixes for both Safari and FF 2 and 3.
November 17, 2008 8:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
FF3 updates automatically by default. You don't have to watch for it.
November 19, 2008 3:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Firefox is a great browser, and it's worth the download if only for the NoScript plugin. NoScript is one of the only ways to protect yourself from a recently discovered, and extremely dangerous clickjacking exploit.
The really great thing about Firefox (besides the fact that it's an excellent, fast browser) are the Add-ons. I'm currently using the NoScript, Dictionary Search, Screen Grab! StumbleUpon and Scrapbook Add-ons. (After you install NoScript, I recommend reading the documentation. Then type about:cache in the browser's address bar, hit Enter or Return, filter the config options for noscript and look for the one called noscript.firstRunRedirection. Double-click it to change the boolean value to false. It sounds complicated, but it's not when you actually do it. Making this change will save you from being redirected to the NoScript page every time the Add-on is updated.)
There are even a few Firefox Themes for Mac to make Firefox look like Safari, although my favorite skin is PimpZilla, because it has solid gold scrollbars.
November 17, 2008 10:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
I tried about:cache and didn't find what you said to look for. I finally figured out to type about:config and changed the value for .firstRunRedirection.
November 17, 2008 1:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oops. I'm a dummy. Sometimes my fingers type faster than my brain works. And yeah, you got it. Although, about:cache is fun too. I actually have a link to the cache in my Bookmarks because if I find a non-downloadable video or something I like that I want to keep, I can always grab it from the cache.
November 17, 2008 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
PS: I love Safari. (And I think its icon looks better in the Dock too. Although, on a Mac, you can always give any app any icon you like.) But Firefox is definitely more secure, although now that Google is developing their Chrome browser using the same Webkit rendering engine, I suspect there will be a lot of sharing going on. And since Google's browser is (sort of) open source, security should be as good as anything available.
And yup, Safari will still work even after you install Firefox. Mac apps are all essentially self-contained, so installing one doesn't affect anything else.
November 17, 2008 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
PPS: I haven't checked this for awhile, but if you decide you like Firefox and you want it to be your default browser, the setting, I think, is in the Safari prefs. Don't know why they put it there, but I remember having a hard time finding it when I first looked for it.
November 17, 2008 10:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks again all of you for all this advice. I'm going to print out this thread so I can refer to it. I have to admit I didn't understand everything, but I'll work on it.
It's great to have such a community to go to with questions. I appreciate the time each of you took!
Jan
November 17, 2008 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am actually a big supporter of "camino". At least it's the browser I use. It's built on the same underlying code as FireFox but it's customized /skinned for Mac. http://caminobrowser.org/
November 17, 2008 12:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks. I'll check it out too. Jan
November 17, 2008 2:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Try Opera. Best browser I've ever used. Not a resource hog (which FF can be depending on your add-ons) and very fast.
Never tried it on a Mac, so let me know how you like it.
http://www.opera.com/download/index.dml?platform=mac
November 17, 2008 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Firefox isn't a resource hog any longer. There used to be a problem with memory leaks, but that's mostly been resolved. I agree, though, Opera is a very nice browser, with some cool features. Personally, I'm waiting for them to get the bugs out of Chrome. I love the idea of each tab running in its own process, and I love the virtual javascript machine concept. Compiled javascript is an idea that should have happened long ago.
November 17, 2008 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, I find FF3 to still be a resource hog, although better than FF2. The easiest way around it, via a tip in CNET, is to install the Flashblock add-on and only turn on it on when you actually want to view a video on a particular page.
This option allows for many tabs to be opened and yet still keeps the memory used by FF to a reasonable level.
OTOH, I'm waiting for Chrome, also.
November 17, 2008 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've used Firefox exclusively for a long time now. I love it.
IE drove me crazy and always allowed pop-ups of porn sites...thanks MS.
November 17, 2008 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Jan, if you try FF, get used to it before you try any add-ons. The No Script add-on requires a bit of hands-on tweaking. If you disable javascript for this site, you cannot log-on. One great feature of FF3 is that it will warn you before it lets yoyu visit a site that has been tagged by Google as a suspect attack site. If you don't go to those sites, you have eliminated the vast majority of potential security problems associated with javascript. I feel the No Script add-on is over-rated. The Ad-Blocker add-on seems at first glance to be cool, but it also is taking revenue away from sites which you are visiting for free, so it's a matter of personal choice.
If you try out FF, and need some explanations about things; just comment into my latest blog post on the site, and I'll see it.
cheers
November 19, 2008 4:08 AM | Reply | Permalink