If you've been anywhere online, you've no doubt heard about a program called Firefox. But what exactly is it? In this software review, I'll give you a brief description about what Firefox is, and why you might want to consider using it.Firefox is a free, open source, cross platform web browser from the Mozilla Corporation. The source code for Firefox is freely available, thus being called open source. Because of this flexibility, Firefox has been compiled to run on virtually every operating system and hardware platform, though the official builds run on recent versions of Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
Like Internet Explorer for Windows or Safari for Mac OS X, Firefox will display websites and other internet content. However, there are a few things that have set Firefox apart from many other web browsers. I'll briefly go over a few of the benefits and features present in the recently released Firefox 3 web browser.
Security - This is something that Firefox has excelled over Internet Explorer in. Due to its construction and default settings, Firefox is generally more secure than Internet Explorer. This isn't to say Firefox hasn't had its share of vulnerabilities, but it sure isn't the security hazard that has been known as Internet Explorer. Microsoft's ActiveX, a program that provides special features to website using Internet Explorer, seems to still be the root of many many security issues. Firefox does not use ActiveX, and thus eliminates a huge problem right from the start. However, websites that require ActiveX to function may not work properly under Firefox.
Compatability - Though this used to be an issue in previous releases (especially Mac OS X), Firefox 3 has pretty much nipped this issue in the bud. Not only does Firefox 3 work near flawlessly on all major operating systems (Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux), the inner workings of Firefox have been redone so that more websites display the way they should. Firefox should also work with any necessary plugins that you might need, such as Adobe Flash or Apple Quicktime.
Usability - With every release, Firefox gets a whole lot easier to use. I'm quite a fan of the new interface, which changes depending on what operating system it is installed on.
Here's what Firefox 3 looks like under Windows Vista:
Under Windows XP:
And under OS X:
The location bar (or address bar) in Firefox 3 also pro
vides more information at a glance, and recognizes what pages you visit most often. The bar includes an automatic completion feature, as well as a tagging system to organize your favorite links (see picture).When logging into a website, Firefox will wait until the website finishes logging in before it asks you to remember any login information. This is a useful feature in case you mess up your login. In other browsers, you'd need to manually delete the information if you got it wrong. In Firefox, you can simply go back and try again, and then click the "Remember" button.
Firefox also features a better download manager and update utilities.
Customizable - Firefox has the ability to add small applications to it, known as add-ons. The Firefox website has a large database of these utilities, many of which are extremely useful. From spell checking software to other utilities to make your internet life easier, there is an add-on for everyone. One of my personal favorites is StumbleUpon. In fact, if you decide to try Firefox, why not also get StumbleUpon and recommend this blog?
There are also a lot of different themes for Firefox as well. I currently have Firefox looking like Internet Explorer 7 for better blend into Windows Vista.
This is of course, only a small list of the thousands of new features and improvements within the new Firefox 3.
You can download Firefox 3 free at Firefox.com The software is from a very trustworthy website, and is of course spyware and adware free. I would urge anyone wanting to become a power user to download and install Firefox and try it out for a few weeks. The documentation is quite good, and there are lots of good articles online if you run into any trouble. You can of course, always E-Mail me if you have any questions or comments about Firefox.
If you have any questions or ideas that you'd like to see my opinion on, feel free to write me at jacob@techfamiliar.com and I will get back to you! And as always, if you liked what you read here today, click on an ad or two on the right hand side, or consider donating. Every little bit helps keep fresh content and great tips coming your way! If you'd like to automatically receive these tips and articles, feel free to Subscribe to my feed.
