Wow...Firefox 1.0 is much better than IE

The Mad Hatter · Post by **The Mad Hatter** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 9:38 am

I've been a regular Internet Explorer user since version 3, even before Netscape shot themselves in the foot with their bloated Communicator release. I've run into increasing numbers of bugs and general strangeness with IE though, so I decided to try out the alternatives. Using Firefox 1.0 has finally convinced me to dump it as my main browser. I still load IE as a reflex action but I'm training myself to load Firefox instead (note to self - must reset the HTML file types as well).

setaside · Post by **setaside** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 12:22 pm

I still load IE as a reflex action

I did this as well until I removed my IE shortcuts from my desktop and quick launch bar. Firefox quickly became the icon to look for. Now if I have to use IE for something, I navigate through the start menu for it.

Exodor · Post by **Exodor** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 12:28 pm

Does FirefoX have a boss key?

Very handy when surfing at work...

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 12:32 pm

Exodor wrote:Does FirefoX have a boss key?

Very handy when surfing at work...

What like alt+tab? That works for everything.

Exodor · Post by **Exodor** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 12:53 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:
Exodor wrote:Does FirefoX have a boss key?

Very handy when surfing at work...
What like alt+tab? That works for everything.

No, like Maxthon's ALT-~, which hides the browser and removes it from the taskbar at the bottom.

It's quite handy.

Ummagumma · Post by **Ummagumma** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 1:17 pm

I'm the same way, Firefox is now my goto browser. Whenever some Microsoft app like MSN Messenger calls for it, I'm rattled.

gellar · Post by **gellar** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 1:18 pm

Exodor wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote:
Exodor wrote:Does FirefoX have a boss key?

Very handy when surfing at work...
What like alt+tab? That works for everything.
No, like Maxthon's ALT-~, which hides the browser and removes it from the taskbar at the bottom.

It's quite handy.

Dude, if you have a boss that looks at your taskbar and cares what's on it, I worry about that position.

gellar

Eduardo X · Post by **Eduardo X** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 1:23 pm

gellar wrote:
Exodor wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote:
Exodor wrote:Does FirefoX have a boss key?

Very handy when surfing at work...
What like alt+tab? That works for everything.
No, like Maxthon's ALT-~, which hides the browser and removes it from the taskbar at the bottom.

It's quite handy.
Dude, if you have a boss that looks at your taskbar and cares what's on it, I worry about that position.

gellar

While I agree, the cool thing about Firefox is the tabs. If you have "Pr0n with horses" open on your computer, you can also have "Business ideas for your growing company" in another tab. As the boss approaches, just select the "business" part, and then minimize the program. All that will appear is the business thing.

And you're a pervert, looking at horse porn.

RookieCAF · Post by **RookieCAF** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 1:26 pm

I want to go to 1.0, But I hate having to mess with my extensions again *sigh*

Eduardo X · Post by **Eduardo X** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 1:29 pm

RookieCAF wrote:I want to go to 1.0, But I hate having to mess with my extensions again *sigh*

What are these extensions you speak of?

I don't know if it solves the extensions problem, but Firefox has a wonderful tool that imports almost EVERY option from IE into Firefox. I was wowed by the ease of my transition.

Exodor · Post by **Exodor** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 1:32 pm

gellar wrote: Dude, if you have a boss that looks at your taskbar and cares what's on it, I worry about that position.

gellar

So the answer is "no", then.

The point isn't that I'm worried about my boss looking over my shoulder - the point is that it's nice to leave the browser and 10 open tabs up and running in the background all the time. Why should I give up functionality I'm used to?

EduardoX wrote:While I agree, the cool thing about Firefox is the tabs. If you have "Pr0n with horses" open on your computer, you can also have "Business ideas for your growing company" in another tab. As the boss approaches, just select the "business" part, and then minimize the program. All that will appear is the business thing.

Maxthon's got tabbed browsing.

Does FireFox allow you to save a group of tabs together and open them all with one click?

RookieCAF · Post by **RookieCAF** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 1:34 pm

Its a little , umm.. extension that enhances or ads features to the Base Browser. I'm still using Firefox .93

Google Adblock or Foxytunes , or Spellbound.

The Mad Hatter · Post by **The Mad Hatter** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 1:38 pm

Exodor wrote:
gellar wrote: Dude, if you have a boss that looks at your taskbar and cares what's on it, I worry about that position.

gellar
So the answer is "no", then.

The point isn't that I'm worried about my boss looking over my shoulder - the point is that it's nice to leave the browser and 10 open tabs up and running in the background all the time. Why should I give up functionality I'm used to?

I did a quick check and apparently there isn't such an application. You're not the only one who's complained about it though so I'd imagine that will change as the browser becomes more popular.

Post by **godhugh** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 1:54 pm

If you download Tabbrowsing Extensions then you get all the features you asked for Exodor. It can save tab groups and lets you keep a ton running in the background. It doesn't have a "boss key" but it works pretty well.

http://piro.sakura.ne.jp/xul/_tabextensions.html.en

gellar · Post by **gellar** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 2:47 pm

RookieCAF wrote:I want to go to 1.0, But I hate having to mess with my extensions again *sigh*

All of my extensions loaded up and automatically updated. Then again... I think I only have like 4 extensions.

gellar

dfs · Post by **dfs** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 3:02 pm

What are these extensions you speak of?

There are independant features that can be inserted/removed into Firefox.
You access them via Tools/Extension....

Some people reported that in upgrading to Firefox 1.0, they had to tweak several of the extensions they had installed for the earlier beta version of the browser. I suspect the majority of the complaints came from extremely early adopters who had loaded extensions that were not ready for the 1.0 release. My extensions updated flawlessly.

The big extension for me is mouse gestures. When I go work on a machine without mouse gestures I really miss it.[/code]

Tscott · Post by **Tscott** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 3:26 pm

dfs wrote:Some people reported that in upgrading to Firefox 1.0, they had to tweak several of the extensions they had installed for the earlier beta version of the browser. I suspect the majority of the complaints came from extremely early adopters who had loaded extensions that were not ready for the 1.0 release. My extensions updated flawlessly.

Hmm, I must have this problem. I've got the Preview Release of 1.0 and when I upgraded to the real 1.0 Super Drag and Go, Download them all! and Spellbound wouldn't work. (all three are must haves for me) I restored to the previous version and was waiting for those to be updated- but I guess it's me not them. Any idea what "tweeks" I have to do to get these to work in the latest version for me?

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 3:32 pm

dfs wrote:
The big extension for me is mouse gestures. When I go work on a machine without mouse gestures I really miss it.

Which is exactly why I don't use them yet. When I'm at a workstation without a scroll wheel I feel hamstrung enough. And I'm at unfamiliar workstations (or COE ones) often.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 3:35 pm

<--- *cries at all the lovage of features stolen from Opera, then sighs as he realizes that moving to Firefox is at least a step in the direction toward Enlightenment*

Post by **godhugh** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 3:36 pm

<---*cries when he sees that Opera has a price tag.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 3:41 pm

godhugh wrote:<---*cries when he sees that Opera has a price tag.

<--- *cries when he sees people mistakenly think that Opera requires paying a fee*

gellar · Post by **gellar** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 3:42 pm

Zaxxon wrote:<--- *cries at all the lovage of features stolen from Opera, then sighs as he realizes that moving to Firefox is at least a step in the direction toward Enlightenment*

After using both, Firefox 1.0 > Opera.

And I used Opera for a year or so before I switched.

gellar

Post by **godhugh** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 3:42 pm

<---*cries when he sees the free version has a giant ad at the top.

(this is fun!

)

Eduardo X · Post by **Eduardo X** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 3:50 pm

godhugh wrote:<---*cries when he sees the free version has a giant ad at the top.

(this is fun! )

<---------- *cries for no reason, other than to fit in.*

Post by **godhugh** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 3:51 pm

Wuss!

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 3:53 pm

Eduardo X wrote:
godhugh wrote:<---*cries when he sees the free version has a giant ad at the top.

(this is fun! )
<---------- *cries for no reason, other than to fit in.*

I know all there is to know about the crying game
I’ve had my share of the crying game

First there are kisses, then there are sighs
And then before you know where you are
You’re sayin’ goodbye

One day soon I’m gonna tell the moon about the crying game
And if he knows maybe he’ll explain

Why there are heartaches, why there are tears
And what to do to stop feeling blue
When love disappears

I know all there is to know about the crying game
I’ve had my share of the crying game

First there are kisses, then there are sighs
And then before you know where you are
You’re sayin’ goodbye

Don’t want no more of the crying game
Don’t want no more of the crying game
Don’t want no more of the crying game
Don’t want no more of the crying game

Edit: Oh yeah, Firefox does trample IE into the dust!

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:12 pm

gellar wrote:After using both, Firefox 1.0 > Opera.

Depends on what features you find important. They're both excellent products.

Rhett · Post by **Rhett** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:36 pm

I switched to Firefox 1.0 as soon as it was released and am loving it. Alot of improvements since the Mozilla I was using (about a year ago I switched to mozilla, and finally stopped using it bc I would accidently close out the window rather than a tab- thankfully Firefox gives you a warning before it closes out of everything for idiots like me

)

dfs · Post by **dfs** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 5:42 pm

law beefaroni I feel your pain. I hate working off one of my personal rigs, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

Tscott, I'm sorry. No I can't help you with that. I'm like Gellar in that I only have a couple loaded. I waited about two weeks after the release and when I went from the beta version to 1.0 my extensions updated painlessly.

As best I can tell the only one of those extensions that has an official update to work with 1.0 is Download them all! If I tarred with too broad a brush, I apologize.

Grundbegriff · Post by **Grundbegriff** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 9:32 pm

Tscott wrote:
dfs wrote:Some people reported that in upgrading to Firefox 1.0, they had to tweak several of the extensions they had installed for the earlier beta version of the browser. I suspect the majority of the complaints came from extremely early adopters who had loaded extensions that were not ready for the 1.0 release. My extensions updated flawlessly.
Hmm, I must have this problem. I've got the Preview Release of 1.0 and when I upgraded to the real 1.0 Super Drag and Go, Download them all! and Spellbound wouldn't work.

I don't know whether this advice applies to you, but FWIW: when you upgrade to Firefox 1.0, it attempts to update your extensions. The extensions for which it finds no compatible update are then greyed out. You can open the Extensions interface later and attempt to update the greyed-out extensions manually. However, the update button doesn't attempt to update them all as the browser did on first installation; you have to click each greyed-out extension individually and click the update button for each such extension.

If you attempted to update the extensions simply by clicking the update button, you may have sought an update only for whichever extension happened to be highlighted at the time.

If this tip doesn't apply to your case, perhaps it'll still be helpful to someone. IMO, it's too bad there's not an "attempt to update all outdated extensions" button.

Kelric · Post by **Kelric** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 9:42 pm

What extensions would you guys recommend to get? I've been using Firefox since the beta came out months ago but have yet to try any extensions. I really just do basic web browsing, nothing fancy.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 9:47 pm

Kelric wrote:What extensions would you guys recommend to get? I've been using Firefox since the beta came out months ago but have yet to try any extensions. I really just do basic web browsing, nothing fancy.

I'm just running the following for now:

Tabbrowser Preferences 1.1.1

Adblock

Smoothwheel

Tab X

And there are a whole bunch of themes that you can use to change the appearance of your browser. Have fun!

Rhett · Post by **Rhett** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 12:16 am

Optimoz mouse gestures, incredibly awesome

Ramoz · Post by **Ramoz** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 12:31 am

Grundbegriff wrote:
Tscott wrote:
dfs wrote: IMO, it's too bad there's not an "attempt to update all outdated extensions" button.

There is. Options/Advanced/Software Update/Check Now.

It checks for new versions of firefox and for extensions and themes.

Veloxi · Post by **Veloxi** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 1:15 am

I too am a firefox nut, been using it for a long time, now the only time I go back to IE is to do quality control where I work.

Grundbegriff · Post by **Grundbegriff** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 1:33 am

Ramoz wrote:There is. Options/Advanced/Software Update/Check Now.

I meant in the Extensions dialogue box, though I had overlooked it in the place you mention. I'm glad to see that they do provide one-stop shopping for extension updates, even though it's in a counterintuitive place.

lildrgn · Post by **lildrgn** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 2:43 am

$iljanus wrote:
Kelric wrote:What extensions would you guys recommend to get? I've been using Firefox since the beta came out months ago but have yet to try any extensions. I really just do basic web browsing, nothing fancy.
I'm just running the following for now:

Tabbrowser Preferences 1.1.1

Adblock

Smoothwheel

Tab X

And there are a whole bunch of themes that you can use to change the appearance of your browser. Have fun!

Don't forget TinyURL and FoxyTunes!

You mentioned Adblock and I have it, but I'm not entirely sure how to use it. I still have to manually block a bunch of stuff. If I set it wildcard-style, it kills everything, including smileys and stuff. Help please??

jpinard · Post by **jpinard** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 2:47 am

Does Firefox create any additional overhead on your system? Primarily I want to keep my system as fast as possible for games.

moss_icon · Post by **moss_icon** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 5:51 am

jpinard wrote:Does Firefox create any additional overhead on your system? Primarily I want to keep my system as fast as possible for games.

unless you fire up a browser whilst gaming, i don't think you'd notice!

Napoleon · Post by **Napoleon** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 6:48 am

I used a previous version of Firefox but wasn't completely convinced by it's usefulness. And I think it displayed the electronic banking site for my bank wrong. Which, I know, is probably attributable to my bank making a crappy site, but that doesn't change the fact that I NEED that site.

So, I turned to Maxthon...and that ROCKS. It has the tabbed browsing I want so bad, but it also has IE levels of compatibility.