What is the Firefox Browser?
Straight from
Mozilla:
"Firefox is a free, open-source web browser for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X and is based on the Mozilla codebase. It is
small, fast and easy to use, and offers many advantages over Internet Explorer, such as the ability to block pop-up windows."
My Experience with Firefox
Let me tell you my own personal experiences about Firefox. I was a diehard Internet Explorer
user for many years, until I realized that more and more people were using the Firefox browser. I tend to be the last one to
jump on the trend wagon, so I came late to the Firefox party. However, now that I've been using Firefox for a while, I
can't believe I stuck with IE for so long.
Basically, Firefox is a searcher's browser. There's so many features that Firefox offers: tabbed
browsers, advanced bookmark manager system, live bookmarks, security, etc.,that it's become an essential tool in my
web search toolkit. Do what I did: tell yourself that you'll try Firefox for a week before you give up on it, and I can
almost guarantee that you'll be as happy as I am about this browser.
Firefox Browser Security
One of the most popular features of Firefox is the fact that it's a very secure browser. Internet Explorer by its very
nature is not going to be secure no matter how many nifty patches you're able to download from the Microsoft site, because
IE is integrated with Windows. What does this mean? It means that if Internet Explorer is compromised, that your operating system,
most likely Windows, is going to be compromised as well. That's why hackers love IE, because they can make their hacker
cake and eat Windows too (lame metaphor, but go with me here.).
Firefox and ActiveX
In addition, Firefox doesn't like ActiveX, which is a huge
source of general PC crash problems, and Firefox won't let spyware and adware automatically install when you visit various websites.
Firefox Free Popup Blocker
Firefox's popup blocker is one of the best out there. When I was using IE, I got popups no matter what I did, and some of them did in fact crash my browser.
Firefox Tabbed Browsing
The tabbed browsing feature of the Firefox browser is something I didn't know I couldn't live without. Microsoft has released a tabbed browsing toolbar, but it
doesn't have the same features as Firefox,and frankly I'm spoiled for Firefox now. Tabbed browsing allows me to open dozens of Web sites all at the same time if I wanted to,and it's cut down considerably on my work time, making it more productive.
Firefox and Web Search
One of my favorite things about the Firefox browser is the ability to search multiple search engines and Web sites from within the Firefox toolbar. You can learn more about this in my article titled
Add Search Engines to Your Firefox Toolbar.
Firefox Live Bookmarks
Firefox's Live Bookmarks feature enables content on the Web to come to you, instead of the other way around. This is because of
RSS, a technology that is deceptively simple but has changed the way many people find what they're looking for on the Web. Firefox will let you know if a Web site has an RSS feed by placing a small orange square in the bottom right-hand corner or address bar of your browser. Simply clicking on that square subscribes you to that particular site's "feed", and you will be automatically updated within the Firefox browser whenever that site is updated with fresh content.
Try the Firefox Browser for One Week
When I decided to use Firefox, I told myself that I would give it one week and then go back to what was familiar. At the end of that week, I was hooked. If you would like to try Firefox, I suggest that you do the same in order to really get a feel for what this browser can do. You can download the
Firefox browser for free, and it is extremely easy to install. Use my
step by step Firefox installation tutorial to get you started, or if you've like to learn more about Firefox features, check out
Firefox Security Options.
