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Firefox is a browser designed from scratch to be secure, fast and customisable. It is the safest browser available, as it doesn’t contain any of the vulnerabilities that IE has, such as ActiveX components so often used to install spyware on IE-users’ machines. Most importantly, Firefox is still under very active development by a huge community of volunteer coders. If a vulnerability is found, it is corrected and an update made available in days, sometimes hours. This means Firefox cannot fall into the same trap that IE did — receiving no updates for years and having its various security holes get exploited by thousands of hackers and virus writers.
HTML source Review

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Still supported is the tabbed browsing feature, which will become a quick favorite if you've never used it before. All your browser windows actually live inside a single window, each demarcated by tabs that you can click in and out of easily, which allow you to keep track of them.
Forbes Review

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Recommended by 95% of users (646 reporting).
CNET Reviews

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[ November 06, 2004, 03:21 PM: Message edited by: vwiggin ]
 

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Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
 
only 646 users reporting or total? you're livin' on the edge, man . . .


 

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Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :
 
I've been using Firefox for a few months. My computer died this morning and we rented one to tide us over until we can (hopefully) get a new one. The first thing I downloaded was Firefox. The second was Thunderbird (email). Yay for Firefox.
 

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Posted by tt&t (Member # 5600) on :
 
I love firefox. I had a lot of problems with IE before I switched. The only thing I don't like about firefox is that when you click clickable smileys, they always appear at the end of your post, not wherever your cursor was at the time. Otherwise, I find it far better than IE. And if there's some way to fix that clickable-things-appearing-at-the-end thing that I'm too dense to figure out, can someone let me know?
 

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Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
 
You put me on the edge woman!
 

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Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
 

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The only thing I don't like about firefox is that when you click clickable smileys, they always appear at the end of your post, not wherever your cursor was at the time.

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Oh my god, that bugs me too! Good thing I memorized my UBB code.
 

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Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
 
I switched. Believe it or not, it's locked up on me in the last 6 months more than IE did in the preceeding year.

But it's rare enough that the other advantages outweigh this: faster loading, tabbed browser, extensibility.

Dagonee
 

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Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
 
I wouldn't know about smilies.

But IE? It sucks! I used Firefox back when it was Phoenix. IE is a load of manure.

The only smily I used was at the end of a post, but swich to IE. No place for an argument or a discussion. Dump MS!

Jonathan Howard
 

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Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
 
I have that same clickable smiley problem in Safari.
 

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Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
 
I don't click on the smilies usually, but I use the URL button all the time and it goes to the end, too.
 

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Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
 
And Dag loves his links, so that must be a bit of a pain.
 

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Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
 
Heh, I'm the opposite. I never use the URL button but I do click the smilies when I can't remember what the text code is.
 

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Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
 
Man, I've never had a problem with smileys or URLs (Except for me posting the WRONG URL)
 

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Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
 
I actually changed from mozilla back to IE in the early days of mozilla, it was just to buggy for me...but then when firefox came out, I liked it so I swiched to firefox and am still using it now. I can't imagine ever swiching back.
 

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Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
 
"...And Lupus is an honourable man...Weave a circle round him thrice, and close your eyes with holy dread. For he on... <evil part.>"
 

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Posted by Zamphyr (Member # 6213) on :
 
I still use IE more than firefox, even though I have firefox set as my default browser.

IE seems to load graphics/images a lot faster on my machine than firefox does. Firefox does have an edge in general pages and text.

Also, I have yet to find a firefox plug-in that works well with my Toshiba touchpad. As many of you know, additional mouse commands are conveniently addicting and firefox disables the standard laptop touchpad shortcuts. All of the plug-ins seem to work for actually mice(especially the scroll wheel ones) but not the touchpad.

I'd say my usage breaks down as such
IE 70%
FF 30%
 

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Posted by tt&t (Member # 5600) on :
 

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I don't click on the smilies usually, but I use the URL button all the time and it goes to the end, too.

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The only thing I don't like about firefox is that when you click clickable smileys, they always appear at the end of your post, not wherever your cursor was at the time.

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Gee-- that's because I use Firefox? I thought I was doing something wrong -- on that it was a forum bug. Go figure.

FG
 

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Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
 
Bugmenot plugin. Oh yeah.
 

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Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
I only use IE for things like windows updates. I've been using firefox for months, and before that, opera. I'll never switch back to IE on a permanent basis.

Down with MicroSlop!
 

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Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
 
One nice thing about microsoft -- their web site is now fully accessible with mozilla now. A couple of years ago, you could only browse there effectively with IE.
 

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Posted by kaioshin00 (Member # 3740) on :
 
You can't mess with ctrl + t
 

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Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
I just switched to fiefox today...before I read this thread! I had heard good things about it here, and from a few friends who are into this type of things, but I haven't used it a lot yet.

I'll let you know when I have...right now IE is still my default, but that might not be true for long....

Kwea
 

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Posted by Troubadour (Member # 83) on :
 
You should try IE on a Mac - a more broken browser doesn't exist!

On my Mac I use Safari first, then Firefox.

On my PC I use Firefox.... and only launch IE 6 or 5.5 for browser testing of sites.

And yeah, FF does lock up occasionally, but I just can't do without tabbed browsing!
 

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Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
Well, I am using it right now, and it does seem a bit quicker loading some things. I haven't used it enough to use it as a default, but I do like it so far.

I installed IE service pack 2, and that was suppose to solve a lot of the security problems with IE. I remember when Netscape was the bomb and Microsost was trying to catch up to them...lol....but I am use to my IE now, so changing might be a bit hard for me to do....

We will see.....

The tabbed browsing is cool though....very cool already....

Kwea
 

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Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
I just loaded the spell check, and it seems to be working pretty well.....that was the only thing I didn't like about firefox so far.

Kwea
 

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Posted by kaioshin00 (Member # 3740) on :
 

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so changing might be a bit hard for me to do....

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*pat* You'll make it fine, Kwea.

I have faith in thee.

Edit: and you can't mess with the clickable bookmarks either

[ November 07, 2004, 02:31 AM: Message edited by: kaioshin00 ]
 

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Posted by Chaeron (Member # 744) on :
 
Firefox makes me want to give up my beloved Opera; it is stable, reliable and basically malware proof. However, I still find it significantly slower on my machine than Opera, and it is almost as big a memory hog as IE.

I think my current setup works well: Opera and Firefox interchangably.
 

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Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
 
Oh, yeah. I just tried COMMAND + T for the first time.

That alone makes Firefox worth it.
 

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Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
 
Okay -- are you on a Mac? Just CTRL-T opens a new tab for me.
But your command screwed up my fonts
 

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Posted by Katarain (Member # 6659) on :
 
So how does it compare to netscape?
And where do I get it?

I like netscape over IE. Usually don't have a problem with it.

Does Firefox protect against scripts and those annoying cookies?

-Katarain
 

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Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
 
Netscape nowadays just uses an old Mozilla codebase, pretty much. Firefox is based on the newest Mozilla codebase, and its much nicer.
 

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Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
 
Katarain -- as far as your question about where to get it.

Right Here

[ November 17, 2004, 02:26 PM: Message edited by: Farmgirl ]
 

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Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
 
I'm a fan and have switched over.

The only feature I don't like is how the bookmarks are presented. It's a pain in the ass to have to wait for the scroll thing at the bottom than scroll it myself.
 

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Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
 
Does the FireFox program itself install any malware? If not, then I sign up.
 

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Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
 
Sorry about your fonts, Farmgirl, Yes, I am on a Mac.

You pressed COMMAND + T on a PC? I didn't know there was a COMMAND key on a PC keyboard.
 

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Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
 
don't worry about it afr -- I fixed it.

Yes, I read the word "Command" as "controL" for some reason, and took the "plus" sign very literally -- which tells Firefox to increase font when you use Control and Plus and T

easy fix
LOL

FG
 

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Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
 
FireFox definitely does not install any malware.

Basically, Firefox is the descendant of Netscape Navigator. Smaller, quicker, faster descendant, that is.

-Bok
 

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Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
 
And here I am, using firefox. Eh. I prefer the other thing, Internet Explorer. But I dislike MicroSoft, and competition is good. As such, I shall keep it and promote it!
 

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Posted by Ghost of Zevlag (Member # 3346) on :
 
Phanto, what do you prefer in IE?

I've been getting online at lots of public internet cafe's recently. I download and install firefox on every one of them Sometimes I just have to install it to a hidden folder on the desktop... hehe.
 

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Posted by newfoundlogic (Member # 3907) on :
 
Hatrack looks different with Firefox and the moves a lot faster.
 

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Posted by Katarain (Member # 6659) on :
 
Thanks Farmgirl.

I'm using it now. I have animations only cycle once in netscape, so it's interesting to see the icons dancing in the corner.

(I have them only cycle once because of annoying blinking ads.)

I kinda like this firefox thing. I'll use it for a while. I also downloaded chatzilla. Kinda neat.

-Katarain
 

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Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
 
You know how mice these days have a button in the middle, and with that button you can scroll down quickly? And when you click it, you can scroll down even quicker?

Firefox does not handle that function well. It does not scroll down at a comfortable pace. Furthermore, it keeps opening new tabs!
 

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Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
 
Hey phanto, first, see if firefox has smooth scrolling turned on. If it is, turn it off (its in Advanced) and see if that improves things.
 

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Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
 
Oh, and the button in the middle in firefox defaults to opening a new tab when you click on a link, not scrolling faster (and that's not really what it does in any other application, actually).
 

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Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
I use firefox most of the time now, and I like it a lot. There are a few sites that seem to have a problem loading with it, but since it is faster than IE on all the other ones I still like it.

I just click "view in IE", and I am fine, adn the operation doesn't time out.

Kwea
 

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Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
 
You can turn off animations in FireFox too.

Open a new tab, and in the URL bar, enter 'about:config', minus the quotes. Then filter on the word 'image'.In the resulting list, there will be an option called 'image.animationMode'. Double-click on it, and a window appears. You can enter normal, once, or none. normal repeats images, once will cycle through once and then stop, none will not animate the image.

-Bok
 

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Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
 
Oh, man, that is nice. Thanks, Bok!
 

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Posted by Nick (Member # 4311) on :
 
*A happy Firefox user*
 

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