Miscellaneous Forum

Right...There seems to be a bit of snobbery about which browser to use. A lot of my friends keep telling me that Mozilla Firefox is soooo much better than Internet Explorer, but when I ask how it is better, they get impatient and say, "it just is".

Anyway, I've finally been persuaded to download and install firefox, which took ages...and I can't see what all the fuss is about. Apart from having a nicer logo of a curled up orange fox, it doesn't seem any different. If anything, Firefox seems to be slower, especially when it comes to loading pictures. I use the photo site flickr a lot, so I've noticed a big difference...and it's not my connection, as I've just tried it on internet explorer and photos load fine.

So, am I blind? Why all this pressure to install firefox? Are the big improvements all hidden ones? Can anyone persuade me not to click uninstall?

I install firefox once but got rid of it because I found it slow too.

I have Firefox, but I can't say I ever felt any pressure to use it. I think you should just go back to using IE if you think it's better for you. I for one prefer firefox as I don't get all the attacks by all sort of stuff Microsoft never seem to manage to stop. Just my opinion and I think you should stick to your impression.
I actually prefer Opera, but VT doesn't work too good on it

I prefer Firefox simply because it is so very much less prone to attack.

I tried it some time back. I didn't see any benefit, and it seemed to create problems when IE is also installed.

We have two newer Intel computers side by side ,both can use I E or Firefox .
I use Firefox and Lori uses I E .
I think Firefox is a bit faster but not really that much ,but I really don't know for sure .
I am not a speed maniac ,more in the slow lane now ,but not too slow .

I am Happy with either one Firefox underlines my typing errors and that I like .

Hansi

most virus are written to transmit via IE and not Firefox, unfortunitely most web pages are also written for IE so using Firefox will cause them to slow down or not work as Firefox has to convert the codes. That was the explanation my 10 years old gave me.

I guess no one is going to talk about the biggest calling card of Firefox, the add-ons. The add-ons are small programs that you can install into Firefox to add new features or improve upon what's there already. Looking at my browser, I have a weather monitor, a really nice ad-blocker, a program to take web page screen shots, and several other cool things. Yeah, Microsoft finally got wise and decided to add that with IE7, but the selection isn't as varied in comparison. Security is still better with Firefox, so Microsoft has a bit more work to do.

As for Flickr, I don't know what to tell you. It loads fast on my system and about the same when I fire up IE7. If load times are important to you, then try Opera. That browser is widely considered the fastest in rendering Web pages.

If you prefer IE, which it seems you do from the onset, then stay with it. IE is a good Web browser, sufficient for most user needs, but lacking in other features that may not be as important to you.

That's not quite correct. A website should not be written for a certain browser, and Firefox does not "convert" code. At the same time it is true that IE is less prone to display coding errors.

If Firefox really is slower, then it is because the build in so-called render engine is slower than that of Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

But Firefox is, generally speaking, more safe, though it's not so much about viruses.

In my book, the two main advantages of Firefox are:

- Firefox is less prone to attacks
- Add-ons. Those (free) plug-ins really make surfing the web more convenient: Navigate through sites or open new browser tabs using mouse-gestures, scale pictures with an image zoom, let Firefox ask you how to deal with PDF files, convert websites to PDF files, control your audio player via a browser tool bar, override the autoplay function of Flash movies, enable/disable programming languages like Java or JavaScript with a simple button, let your browser warn you about risky websites ....

https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/

another vote for the add ons.

I have the athens one which keeps me logeged in all the educational libraries that use the athens system

I have rank checker for my SEO

I have an exif one

I have a weather one..

Also,firefox came out with tabs first and better pop-up blockers, etc..so i just stuck with it.

ohh.. i have this other one which really customises the search engines I want to use. cool beans.

Also Firefox is updated more regularly.

Thanks for all of that!

I'll give Firefox more of a chance I think. It just irritated me last night, because my friend had made such a fuss about installing it and after waiting ages for it to install, it didn't really do anything special. Speed isn't that important...and the difference between the two isn't so huge...but I was looking for faults to pick on last night!

Haven't discovered the add-ons yet though...i'll have a look today...

;@P