Should I install Mozilla ?

wolfman

isofa wrote: »

Firefox is a many times better than IE: it's faster, more secure, has more features and has a massive add-on / extension set for virtually everything you could possibly want. It had tabbed browsing long before MS decided to copy it for IE too.
I've been using it for years through many versions, and I only ever use IE if I really have to (virtually never, unless I need to test a site on both browsers).

In terms of speed, on start (initial and from memory) IE7 is faster than Firefox. In terms of rendering and scripting, there is virtually no difference. If you want a fast, out of the box browser, you can't beat Opera.

Also Firefox can be quite heavy at times, and tends to eat up a lot of resources. I've had mine open for 10 mins and it's at 95mb. It can easily hit 400mb when developing.

I usually stick to Firefox though. Purely because of it's extensions such as Google Browser Sync and Firebug and it's also very compliant with standards and comes with Ubuntu. It handles profiles well, and is very portable.

Smirch_This

fermi wrote: »

Probably something like this extension.

http://fasterfox.mozdev.org/

It just tweaks some of the browsers settings to take maximum advantage of the faster connections we have now, and the bigger space we have on our hard-drives to locally cache content for quicker loading.

Please DO NOT install faster fox. It is dangerous! It follows all page links automatically (including links that can delete things!!!). Pre-fetchers are bad!

I use Firefox + Firebug + Web Developer Toolbar + Firefox Tidy + Yahoo! Delicious buttons.

wolfman

Smirch_This wrote: »

Please DO NOT install faster fox. It is dangerous! It follows all page links automatically (including links that can delete things!!!). Pre-fetchers are bad!

Isn't pre-fetching turned off by default on Fasterfox anyway? I agree though pre-fetching has it's faults. I think as an extension though it's ok. It tweaks a few settings which can annoy websites (as you have multiple connections to that site instead of one), but on the whole it can be good if you have a poor wireless signal for example.

spud17

Isn't pre-fetching turned off by default on Fasterfox anyway?

Just checked and mine is turned off. Never been into settings so must be by default.
I've never noticed any problems.

unrich

markchadwick wrote: »

If you find yourself stuck with IE at work - you still have a couple of options at your disposal:

1. You could try to install firefox but rename the firefox.exe in the "program files" folder to iexplorer.exe or whatever it is. I have heard this can get around some company's protection sometimes.

2. Use portable firefox. All you need is a pen drive and you can run firefox from there. Ideal if you're on the move and can't live without your personalised browser experience. Just google "portable apps" for more details

Mark

Just check your "acceptable use" policy and employment terms and conditions. You could find yourself sacked for using unapproved software or tampering with company IT equipment and causing work for somebody to clear up after you.

LouBlue

I have changed to Firefox recently from IE.

What I don't know is what do you all mean by 'add ons'?

I am not techie minded so plain speaking please, so what are they and why do I need them?

sra

LouBlue wrote: »

I have changed to Firefox recently from IE.

What I don't know is what do you all mean by 'add ons'?

I am not techie minded so plain speaking please, so what are they and why do I need them?

From the Tools menu select "Add ons"
click extensions at the top-left and then at the bottom-right click "Get extensions"
This will take you to this page where you can add all sorts of things to Firefox.

Add ons can make little tweaks to Firefox, or make big changes.

For example CustomizeGoogle will actually alter the Google page whenever you visit it.. I point out that one because it has a great Introduction video to watch showing you it from installation to using it.

Another I find essential is Flashblock. After you install this flash files don't load or play on websites any more till you click on them - So I never go to a website and get suddenly surprised by a movie or song playing.

Danyúl_II

If the question hasn't already been answered:

Yes, go to Firefox.

Trillion times better than IE, Opera etc.

PayPeanuts_2

unrich wrote: »

Just check your "acceptable use" policy and employment terms and conditions. You could find yourself sacked for using unapproved software or tampering with company IT equipment and causing work for somebody to clear up after you.

Yes I'm afraid this would be the case with me. Thanks for the tips anyway though.

buglawton

On many web pages, ironically, the ones generated by in-company software especially, I found that I can resize the fonts to larger with "ctrl +" in Mozillla which does NOT work in IE. If I were banned from using Firefox at work I'd bring up health & safety issue as with IE you cannot make small fonts easy to read.