December 26, 2004
About Firefoxes and Cold Explorers
How Mozilla Firefox surpasses Internet Explorer on features, security, usability
Firefox is definitely going to Take Back the Web. Especially as Microsoft doesn't seem to be getting its finger out by enhancing Internet Explorer (IE). Possible upgrades include tabbed browsing, pop-up and web-dialog blocking, multiple proxy servers. And integrated search that's not slaved to a single search engine. Although Microsoft Corporate would definitely prefer users used only MSN Search. These features are available when you install and use GUI (graphical user interface) add-ons like Maxthon, SmartBrowser and AvantBrowser.
Of course what's really needed is de-linking the IE browser engine from the Windows core. This integration is the very root of the numerous security vulnerabilities that plague IE. Perhaps Microsoft needs to develop three separate browsers. The first an enhanced Windows Explorer that by default is limited to the local machine and can't access any resources external to the computer including mapped network drives. A second version that supports network mapping (say linked to NetBIOS and WINS being configured). And a third Internet-only version. Each engine cores would run within a preset (and non-modifiable) security zone somewhat similar to the Java sand box approach. But until this happens, if ever, we're stuck with the flaws.
All of which contribute to Firefox's popularity. In comparison to IE it's a relatively secure product. With the 5-6 security vulnerabilities detected so far being resolved within a few hours or days of discovery. Opera is a possible contender, but its free version displays ads. Its engine has issues rendering commonly-used CSS elements. And the DCOM object support is poor even when running in its IE emulation mode!
Right Build
Firefox has more going for than against it. And the several quirks mentioned in this review are (perhaps?) issues personal to the reviewer. The default download is available as a under 6 MB installer for multiple platforms including Windows, Linux and Macintosh. Windows-only users should consider the Moox-enhanced builds compiled with Microsoft's Visual C++ compiler. These rock in terms of system resource use and start up faster. On average I found a MooxFox taking about 20 seconds to initialize on a Windows 2000 SP4 system with 364 MB RAM. On a P4 HT with 512 MB RAM load times reduced to under 10 seconds. However Firefox load times are governed by the number of installed extensions. The leaner and slimmer the core browser, the faster it loads. But more about this later.
Starting Up
Basic configuration is very easy. By default the first time you run Firefox it prompts to set it as the default browser. When upgrading from IE this is not?t a problem. But Maxthon users may need to first reset the latter's defaults. On first run (or if you delete its %Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox folder), Firefox will prompt to import existing IE, Opera or Mozilla browser settings including Favorites, saved passwords and History. You can later import your Favorites into Firefox Bookmarks. Download Manager When a new download begins, a status window listing all active downloads pops up. Unlike IE which displays separate status windows for each open download. Information displayed includes file name, total size (kB/MB), percentage downloaded, number of bytes that remain and the download speed. You can also pause/start, cancel and remove downloads. The default download folder is the Desktop but you can define a new custom location. You can't close the browser if there are active downloads (IE is not as intelligent and closing the browser terminates any open downloads). As each download is completed, a small system tray alert briefly appears before fading away. Tabbed Browsing New to Firefox 1.x is built-in tabbed browsing for all new sessions. Previously you needed an Extension to manage tabs. Now the default is to open any new links opened by another application. Or activated by in-page script in a new tab (Ctrl+T) instead of in a new browser window (Ctrl+N). You can open in-page links in a new window by pointing at them with the mouse and using either the middle-button. Or the scroll wheel for so-equipped mice. However, if you want to resume open tabs the next time you use Firefox, you will need to install either the SessionSaver extension. This saves open Tab session state either for a planned shutdown or in the event of a crash. Alternatively the full-featured Tabbrowser Extensions not only saves and restores open tabs. But also extends managing new tabs opened from bookmarks, in-page links or the History. But an overall usability improvement is Firefox's ability to define tab-specific Default or Home pages. Of course you need to save the open tab state. And as long as these remain active, so will the default page settings. As also your browsing history. Power Features The Go menu lets you navigate to the last 10 pages viewed for each tab or window. This item also links to the browser History folder (which opens in the sidebar). Tools > Page Info displays a multi-tabbed dialog to view details about the current page being browsed. Including source and referring URLs, title, encoding, last modified date, meta information. As also links, images and embedded multimedia objects. And site security and encryption details. Search is integrated into the browser toolbar. With the default engines being Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Creative Commons, Dictionary.com and eBay. You can also add more engines from the company Mozilla Mycroft site. One especially handy word lookup can be done right from the address bar: type "dict" to lookup a new word (using Dictionary.com). And the browser will find the new Find bar (which finds text as you type without covering up anything).
HTML page developers will be interested in the JavaScript console to check page scripting issues and errors. As also the DOM Inspector to check tags and validate web pages. You can validate pages and check which specific CSS issues are causing a problem. This feature opens in a separate, independent window. Type in the URL to validate. And the 3-pane view displays the DOM tree in the top left frame, the actual web page in the bottom frame. And the chosen element and it details in the top right frame.
Use Live Bookmarks to view RSS news or blog headlines from within the bookmarks toolbar or menu. A live bookmark displays all available headlines with their URL. When you visit a site supporting this feature, a golden red icon appears in the browser status bar. However not all sites display their live bookmarks. And you may need to manually define them.
Browser Privacy ...
Unlike IE which (currently) offers multiple Internet access Zones including a Custom zone. In Firefox security is much simpler to manage because the browser is not so integrated into the Windows kernel core. Options > Privacy allows you to view and manage Cookies, saved passwords (including setting a Master Password), the browser cache, manage History (in days). However Firefox has better anti-phishing. And you can specifically configure the browser to only load images and cookies form the actual web site and block third-party objects. And Security By default all pop-ups are blocked except new windows opened using target="_blank" or target="_new". However you can restrict even this via FlexBeta FireTweaker utility. When a pop-up is blocked, a notification bar open at the top of the page. Click this to open the blocked pop-up in a new tab. Or close the alert. You can also define a white list of sites allowed to open pop-ups. By default Firefox blocks web sites from installing any software. For every install attempt, a notification bar is displayed. And you need to individually permit sites to install software. These permissions remain active until you remove them. The Firefox core is missing plug-ins for most Internet elements including Flash. When a missing plug-in is detected, a green jigsaw-piece like icon is displayed. To auto-install the required plug-in, click the icon. Although you might not want to load every plug-in needed. You can instead use your plug-in enabled IE to view such sites. Mouse Gestures The non-extension enhanced core includes basic gestures. Click anywhere but on a link with the scroll wheel to open a quick navigator that allow you N-S-E-W navigation. There are separate extensions to add even more gesture features. Help
Firefox 1.x now includes a very detailed Help. There's also a whole chapter (For Internet Explorer Users) to help those migrating from IE. So what are you waiting for? Go download a copy right now. And get the extensions you need as well. The best online repository is Extensions Mirror. For version-compatible skins check out the Mozilla Update Centre. Season's Greetings and Happy Holidays! See you in the New Year. Click Here to Email Me
Basic configuration is very easy. By default the first time you run Firefox it prompts to set it as the default browser. When upgrading from IE this is not?t a problem. But Maxthon users may need to first reset the latter's defaults. On first run (or if you delete its %Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox folder), Firefox will prompt to import existing IE, Opera or Mozilla browser settings including Favorites, saved passwords and History. You can later import your Favorites into Firefox Bookmarks. Download Manager When a new download begins, a status window listing all active downloads pops up. Unlike IE which displays separate status windows for each open download. Information displayed includes file name, total size (kB/MB), percentage downloaded, number of bytes that remain and the download speed. You can also pause/start, cancel and remove downloads. The default download folder is the Desktop but you can define a new custom location. You can't close the browser if there are active downloads (IE is not as intelligent and closing the browser terminates any open downloads). As each download is completed, a small system tray alert briefly appears before fading away. Tabbed Browsing New to Firefox 1.x is built-in tabbed browsing for all new sessions. Previously you needed an Extension to manage tabs. Now the default is to open any new links opened by another application. Or activated by in-page script in a new tab (Ctrl+T) instead of in a new browser window (Ctrl+N). You can open in-page links in a new window by pointing at them with the mouse and using either the middle-button. Or the scroll wheel for so-equipped mice. However, if you want to resume open tabs the next time you use Firefox, you will need to install either the SessionSaver extension. This saves open Tab session state either for a planned shutdown or in the event of a crash. Alternatively the full-featured Tabbrowser Extensions not only saves and restores open tabs. But also extends managing new tabs opened from bookmarks, in-page links or the History. But an overall usability improvement is Firefox's ability to define tab-specific Default or Home pages. Of course you need to save the open tab state. And as long as these remain active, so will the default page settings. As also your browsing history. Power Features The Go menu lets you navigate to the last 10 pages viewed for each tab or window. This item also links to the browser History folder (which opens in the sidebar). Tools > Page Info displays a multi-tabbed dialog to view details about the current page being browsed. Including source and referring URLs, title, encoding, last modified date, meta information. As also links, images and embedded multimedia objects. And site security and encryption details. Search is integrated into the browser toolbar. With the default engines being Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Creative Commons, Dictionary.com and eBay. You can also add more engines from the company Mozilla Mycroft site. One especially handy word lookup can be done right from the address bar: type "dict
Unlike IE which (currently) offers multiple Internet access Zones including a Custom zone. In Firefox security is much simpler to manage because the browser is not so integrated into the Windows kernel core. Options > Privacy allows you to view and manage Cookies, saved passwords (including setting a Master Password), the browser cache, manage History (in days). However Firefox has better anti-phishing. And you can specifically configure the browser to only load images and cookies form the actual web site and block third-party objects. And Security By default all pop-ups are blocked except new windows opened using target="_blank" or target="_new". However you can restrict even this via FlexBeta FireTweaker utility. When a pop-up is blocked, a notification bar open at the top of the page. Click this to open the blocked pop-up in a new tab. Or close the alert. You can also define a white list of sites allowed to open pop-ups. By default Firefox blocks web sites from installing any software. For every install attempt, a notification bar is displayed. And you need to individually permit sites to install software. These permissions remain active until you remove them. The Firefox core is missing plug-ins for most Internet elements including Flash. When a missing plug-in is detected, a green jigsaw-piece like icon is displayed. To auto-install the required plug-in, click the icon. Although you might not want to load every plug-in needed. You can instead use your plug-in enabled IE to view such sites. Mouse Gestures The non-extension enhanced core includes basic gestures. Click anywhere but on a link with the scroll wheel to open a quick navigator that allow you N-S-E-W navigation. There are separate extensions to add even more gesture features. Help
Firefox 1.x now includes a very detailed Help. There's also a whole chapter (For Internet Explorer Users) to help those migrating from IE. So what are you waiting for? Go download a copy right now. And get the extensions you need as well. The best online repository is Extensions Mirror. For version-compatible skins check out the Mozilla Update Centre. Season's Greetings and Happy Holidays! See you in the New Year. Click Here to Email Me
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