Nov 23, 2004 06:20 PM
2223 Views
(Updated Nov 25, 2004 12:13 AM)
A perfect punchline for a browser par excellence. It would really be injustice to compare Firefox with any other browser, since no other browser comes even close to it in a lot of features. It is undoubtedly the supreme of all browser I have known.
I am a tech freak to an extent and like to install and test new software that can help make life easier in whatever way possible. I came across firefox accidently and decided to test it and since then have not used another browser on my machine.
I will not talk about installation, etc since that anyway is covered in the list boxes below.
Lets analyse the pro's of this browser :
open source : the best part about this browser is that if you think you are a developer who can make a difference write your piece of code and send it to them, find out what was changed last, when, etc and go on coding. The site https://mozilla.org has the link called ''developers'' just for this purpose.
size does matter: at just 4.7 MB to download, it is not really a big issue to download the browser using a normal dialup connection.
tabbed browsing : I agree that opera was the first to start tabs and mozilla and netscape have both incorporated this great feature, but another great feature this browser has is memory retention. This means that it opens the tabs exactly the way they were when u closed them.
smart search : just type the company name or the keyword and the browser will open the best matching webpage using google as the engine. makes like real easy aint it
popup blocking : this feature is now being incorporated in a lot of softwares also but in a browser by default !!!
extensions : a very neat feature which makes your browser unique to quite an extent. this is where the developers come into play who can write neat little extensions and attempt to make simple life even more simpler. Download them at will, as per your requirement and you have a browser which is customised to your needs and works the way you want.
compatibility : compatible across all platforms, its understood isnt it ??
Now the Cons : (if any, I can think of) :)
not for the meek : the browser takes time to get used to for a beginner and one can get lost in the number of options available.
ineffiecient adblock: the adblock tends to filter out images a lot of times which may/may not be ads. it has to be trained slowly to sniff and filter them out (i too havent got very good at it, but all the images load)
recognition : yet to get popular enough that people start writing ''best viewed in ....''. moreover some of the websites do not open and function correctly with firefox. I guess this issue has been resolved in forefox 1.0
the final verdict:
A lot of the browsers may have a few of the features that this little ninja has but nothing comes close to this bundled package.
-devill
As promised .. here I am with a list of must have extensions .. please note that all these extensions are not more then a few kbs in size so download and install them one after another, restart firefox and enjoy ..
1) Ad-block : as the name suggests, efficiently blocks ads
2) Image Zoom : allows you to manipulate the viewing of an image
3) Spoof Stick : shows spoofed links and warns you against them
4) Tabbrowser Preferences : we know firefox has tabs, but to make their reaction customised we have this extension
5) Dictionary search : online Thesaurus
6) Download Manager Tweak : allows you to tweak the default download bar and settings of firefox
7) Drag to Tab : allows you to drag a link and open it in a new tab
8) Firefox View : allows you to start the link in firefox. important if you share your pc with dumies who are addicted to IE (hence you cant change the default browser)
9) fireFTP : a FTP client for Firefox
10) Print It : Enables print and print preview
11) Language Translators : important if you need them, available as partial translators or page translators. they use babelfish and google translator
Shall add more if I find any new interesting ones come up
