Brian
10-18-2004, 10:23 PM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041018/news_mz1b18firefo.html
By Phillip Robinson
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE
October 18, 2004
Firefox is a better Web browser program than Internet Explorer.
It's a better way to use the Net.
It's safer, immune to many of the viruses and hacks that target the flawed IE. Just last week, Microsoft released more patches for IE after new vulnerabilities were discovered.
Firefox is faster, putting Web pages up in less time.
It's easier, with inventions like "tabbed" browsing that use your on-screen windows more efficiently.
It's more flexible, with lots of special "extensions" being created by programmers all over the world. This is possible because Firefox is an "open source" program anyone can open up and tinker with. IE is only open to programmers at Microsoft.
And it's getting better all the time – again, because it's open-source, so lots of people are busy trying to improve it.
Since Microsoft crushed Netscape, the first leading browser company, several years ago, there's been very little innovation or even bug-fixing for IE.
Plus Firefox, with all of its innovations and improvements, is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. There are even "unofficial" versions for OS/2, BeOS and other lesser-known computer systems. IE is only for Windows, and any improved future versions will only be for the latest version of Windows.
Oh, and Firefox is free – entirely, completely free, with no strings attached.
Are there any drawbacks to Firefox?
Sure – one. There are some Web sites that don't work with Firefox. Not many, but a few. And for that, you should keep your copy of Internet Explorer. Besides, it's nearly impossible to erase IE from your hard drive. Microsoft doesn't like to be told "No."
But for all the rest of your Web work, you should use Firefox, if only for the added security.
Here's how to get it for Windows. The Mac operation is similar.
Connect to the Internet and use your current browser, IE or whatever, to go to http://www.mozilla.org. Firefox is made by the Mozilla organization, which also makes the more complicated Mozilla browser.
Got the Mozilla site on your screen? What's there changes from time to time, but currently it's showing "Firefox Preview Release." Don't worry about that "preview" word. This is ready to use.
You should see a "Free Download" area in green just below, with an arrow pointing down. Click on the underlined words "Free Download."
The page will change to "Now Downloading" version. Wait 10 to 20 seconds and you should see a dialogue box pop up asking where you want to save the Firefox software.
(If you wait a minute and don't see the dialogue box for saving, click on the blue, underlined words "Try This Link" for jump-starting the download.)
Choose any directory for saving your Firefox, though something in My Documents is probably best, and remember what you choose. Then click on Save.
(If you see a dialogue box that warns "Some files can harm your computer," it just means your Windows is pretty up-to-date. Ignore it this time because Firefox doesn't have any spyware, viruses or other dangers.)
Now you have to wait for the Firefox program to copy onto your hard drive. With my dial-up connection, this took about 40 minutes. A slow dial-up might take more than an hour.
A broadband connection can do it in a few seconds or minutes. Broadband, such as cable or DSL, doesn't make e-mail or many Web-surfing tasks much faster than dial-up, but it is sure a lot faster for downloading programs, songs or videos.
Now close your browser. Use your Windows Explorer program, or double-click on My Computer, and find the directory where you saved Firefox. It will have an icon that looks like a little box with a CD standing in front of it and be called something like "Firefox Setup 1.0PR." Double-click on this icon.
A "Welcome to Mozilla Firefox" dialogue box should appear. Click on Next.
The License Agreement will appear. Generally it's a good idea to actually read through these because it's where some spyware programs hide their "we're going to be stealing your information and you agree to it" legalese.
Just click the "I accept" radio button and then click Next. Leave the "Standard" button click in Setup Type and click on Next. Click on "Next" again in the Summary dialogue box.
Now you'll see the program installing – moving bits from the one big file you downloaded to all the places they need to be on your hard drive. This will take only a few minutes.
The "Install Complete" dialogue box will tell you that you're ready. Leave the little "Launch Mozilla Firefox now" check box with a check. Just click on Finish.
Firefox will appear, showing your regular home page. And anytime you want to use the Web, just make sure your Internet connection is on and choose Firefox from the Start button or from the icon that's installed on your Windows screen.
But Firefox has other advantages that make it both easier to use than IE and more powerful.
Extensions are a key reason Firefox is more powerful than IE. These are little programs that can add to Firefox's abilities.
There are lots and lots of them, most entirely free for you to download and use, because Firefox is an open-source program.
To see what Extensions can do for you, go to Firefox's Tools menu and choose "Extensions."
A little Extensions window will appear. This will list any extensions that are already installed on your copy of Firefox. As you'll see at the bottom of the little window, there are buttons to Uninstall, Update or change the Options for any extension. (Just click on the Extension you want to fiddle with, and then click on any one of these buttons.)
There's also a "Get More Extensions" link at the bottom of the window. Click on this and a full-size browser window will appear for the Web site "update.mozilla.org/extensions."
And here you'll see extensions collected by categories – such as Blogging, Bookmarks, Chat, Games, and so on.
There are also Top-5 lists for the extensions most popular, highest-rated (by users like you) and most recent.
'Adblock'
With more and more advertising online, maybe it won't surprise you that an extension called "Adblock" is the most popular, and by a landslide vote. Click on Adblock in the Top-5 list and you'll see a page that describes the extension, including: what it does, how long it takes to download, where to go for help with it and comments by people who have already tried it.
In just 12 seconds or so, you could download this little gem and then be equipped to simply right-click on any Web page ad you want to block in the future.
That could clean up your computer screen, calm your Internet experience and speed your Web browsing (ads are sometimes the most complex and slowest-downloading parts of a Web page).
Don't do it.
Not that I'm against ad-blocking. But before you use any new software – from unknown extensions to the latest "update" from Microsoft – you should first back up all of your disk information and read about other people's experiences with the software.
Does it conflict with something you already have? Is it tough to uninstall if you run into problems? With Extensions, you'll get plenty of blunt advice right there in the comments.
Other extensions
If and when you decide that an extension is for you, just click on the "Install Now" line and then on the "Install Now" button of the warning box that pops up.
This warning is part of Firefox security, making sure you know you're installing new software, so that Web pages can't sneak new and potentially malicious stuff onto your computer.
Soon you should be back to that Extensions window you opened from the Tools menu. And Adblock – or whatever other extension you just installed – has joined the list. Click on the little "X" box at the top right of this window to close it, then quit and restart Firefox to make Adblock active.
Back in Firefox? You can see how to use Adblock, and change its settings, by opening Tools, Extensions again, or by using the new Adblock line added to the Tools menu.
Open a Web page with ads, then position the mouse over an ad and click the right mouse button.
At the bottom of the menu that appears will be "Adblock Image."
If you choose this, a line will appear asking if you want to "OK" blocking this one image, or if you want to put an ** anywhere into that blocking filter.
The asterisk is a "wild card" in many computing tasks, which means "do this for any letter or character that appears here."
In other words, if the ad image you're about to block is named "4.jpg" and you substitute an * for the 4, you'll be blocking all images numbered 0 through 9 from this site.
By Phillip Robinson
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE
October 18, 2004
Firefox is a better Web browser program than Internet Explorer.
It's a better way to use the Net.
It's safer, immune to many of the viruses and hacks that target the flawed IE. Just last week, Microsoft released more patches for IE after new vulnerabilities were discovered.
Firefox is faster, putting Web pages up in less time.
It's easier, with inventions like "tabbed" browsing that use your on-screen windows more efficiently.
It's more flexible, with lots of special "extensions" being created by programmers all over the world. This is possible because Firefox is an "open source" program anyone can open up and tinker with. IE is only open to programmers at Microsoft.
And it's getting better all the time – again, because it's open-source, so lots of people are busy trying to improve it.
Since Microsoft crushed Netscape, the first leading browser company, several years ago, there's been very little innovation or even bug-fixing for IE.
Plus Firefox, with all of its innovations and improvements, is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. There are even "unofficial" versions for OS/2, BeOS and other lesser-known computer systems. IE is only for Windows, and any improved future versions will only be for the latest version of Windows.
Oh, and Firefox is free – entirely, completely free, with no strings attached.
Are there any drawbacks to Firefox?
Sure – one. There are some Web sites that don't work with Firefox. Not many, but a few. And for that, you should keep your copy of Internet Explorer. Besides, it's nearly impossible to erase IE from your hard drive. Microsoft doesn't like to be told "No."
But for all the rest of your Web work, you should use Firefox, if only for the added security.
Here's how to get it for Windows. The Mac operation is similar.
Connect to the Internet and use your current browser, IE or whatever, to go to http://www.mozilla.org. Firefox is made by the Mozilla organization, which also makes the more complicated Mozilla browser.
Got the Mozilla site on your screen? What's there changes from time to time, but currently it's showing "Firefox Preview Release." Don't worry about that "preview" word. This is ready to use.
You should see a "Free Download" area in green just below, with an arrow pointing down. Click on the underlined words "Free Download."
The page will change to "Now Downloading" version. Wait 10 to 20 seconds and you should see a dialogue box pop up asking where you want to save the Firefox software.
(If you wait a minute and don't see the dialogue box for saving, click on the blue, underlined words "Try This Link" for jump-starting the download.)
Choose any directory for saving your Firefox, though something in My Documents is probably best, and remember what you choose. Then click on Save.
(If you see a dialogue box that warns "Some files can harm your computer," it just means your Windows is pretty up-to-date. Ignore it this time because Firefox doesn't have any spyware, viruses or other dangers.)
Now you have to wait for the Firefox program to copy onto your hard drive. With my dial-up connection, this took about 40 minutes. A slow dial-up might take more than an hour.
A broadband connection can do it in a few seconds or minutes. Broadband, such as cable or DSL, doesn't make e-mail or many Web-surfing tasks much faster than dial-up, but it is sure a lot faster for downloading programs, songs or videos.
Now close your browser. Use your Windows Explorer program, or double-click on My Computer, and find the directory where you saved Firefox. It will have an icon that looks like a little box with a CD standing in front of it and be called something like "Firefox Setup 1.0PR." Double-click on this icon.
A "Welcome to Mozilla Firefox" dialogue box should appear. Click on Next.
The License Agreement will appear. Generally it's a good idea to actually read through these because it's where some spyware programs hide their "we're going to be stealing your information and you agree to it" legalese.
Just click the "I accept" radio button and then click Next. Leave the "Standard" button click in Setup Type and click on Next. Click on "Next" again in the Summary dialogue box.
Now you'll see the program installing – moving bits from the one big file you downloaded to all the places they need to be on your hard drive. This will take only a few minutes.
The "Install Complete" dialogue box will tell you that you're ready. Leave the little "Launch Mozilla Firefox now" check box with a check. Just click on Finish.
Firefox will appear, showing your regular home page. And anytime you want to use the Web, just make sure your Internet connection is on and choose Firefox from the Start button or from the icon that's installed on your Windows screen.
But Firefox has other advantages that make it both easier to use than IE and more powerful.
Extensions are a key reason Firefox is more powerful than IE. These are little programs that can add to Firefox's abilities.
There are lots and lots of them, most entirely free for you to download and use, because Firefox is an open-source program.
To see what Extensions can do for you, go to Firefox's Tools menu and choose "Extensions."
A little Extensions window will appear. This will list any extensions that are already installed on your copy of Firefox. As you'll see at the bottom of the little window, there are buttons to Uninstall, Update or change the Options for any extension. (Just click on the Extension you want to fiddle with, and then click on any one of these buttons.)
There's also a "Get More Extensions" link at the bottom of the window. Click on this and a full-size browser window will appear for the Web site "update.mozilla.org/extensions."
And here you'll see extensions collected by categories – such as Blogging, Bookmarks, Chat, Games, and so on.
There are also Top-5 lists for the extensions most popular, highest-rated (by users like you) and most recent.
'Adblock'
With more and more advertising online, maybe it won't surprise you that an extension called "Adblock" is the most popular, and by a landslide vote. Click on Adblock in the Top-5 list and you'll see a page that describes the extension, including: what it does, how long it takes to download, where to go for help with it and comments by people who have already tried it.
In just 12 seconds or so, you could download this little gem and then be equipped to simply right-click on any Web page ad you want to block in the future.
That could clean up your computer screen, calm your Internet experience and speed your Web browsing (ads are sometimes the most complex and slowest-downloading parts of a Web page).
Don't do it.
Not that I'm against ad-blocking. But before you use any new software – from unknown extensions to the latest "update" from Microsoft – you should first back up all of your disk information and read about other people's experiences with the software.
Does it conflict with something you already have? Is it tough to uninstall if you run into problems? With Extensions, you'll get plenty of blunt advice right there in the comments.
Other extensions
If and when you decide that an extension is for you, just click on the "Install Now" line and then on the "Install Now" button of the warning box that pops up.
This warning is part of Firefox security, making sure you know you're installing new software, so that Web pages can't sneak new and potentially malicious stuff onto your computer.
Soon you should be back to that Extensions window you opened from the Tools menu. And Adblock – or whatever other extension you just installed – has joined the list. Click on the little "X" box at the top right of this window to close it, then quit and restart Firefox to make Adblock active.
Back in Firefox? You can see how to use Adblock, and change its settings, by opening Tools, Extensions again, or by using the new Adblock line added to the Tools menu.
Open a Web page with ads, then position the mouse over an ad and click the right mouse button.
At the bottom of the menu that appears will be "Adblock Image."
If you choose this, a line will appear asking if you want to "OK" blocking this one image, or if you want to put an ** anywhere into that blocking filter.
The asterisk is a "wild card" in many computing tasks, which means "do this for any letter or character that appears here."
In other words, if the ad image you're about to block is named "4.jpg" and you substitute an * for the 4, you'll be blocking all images numbered 0 through 9 from this site.