Why do you think Firefox is "All That"

[Donkey_Kong]

Why do you think Firefox is "All That"?

Because of all you hear about it and stuff, I had to try it. It seems to me that IE loads pages faster etc... Am I missing something here?

[ChadTower]

Yes.  You are missing things.

[FrizzleFried]

Hmmm...Firefox seems to load pages about the same speed as IE for me...if there is a difference,  I can not tell.

I like Firefoxes TAB abilities...

The plugin features are cool...

A few other things as well.

Bottom line is that i've had IE infections in the past and yet to catch anything with Firefox...

...and I like FF themes as well.

[pointdablame]

I like the customization aspects.

Tab functions are great.  Themes and extensions add a lot to the browser as well... again going into customizations.  I have my browser set up exactly how I want it, and I can't do that with IE as easily (or at all in some aspects)

Go look at some extensions... they add a lot to firefox.  I'd even say that without extensions, there's isn't as compelling an argument as to why you should switch.

There was a time when Firefox was far and away more secure and safe as a browser.  Those lines have blurred slightly now, but I still think its "safer" than IE in some respects.

[ChadTower]

For tabs alone, Firefox is superior.

That's not even getting into the actual respect of protected browser space that IE doesn't seem to consider necessary.

[AtomSmasher]

FYI, the latest version of IE has tabbed browsing and plug-ins.

Personally, I use Opera mainly because of its mouse gestures.  There are gesture plug-ins for both IE and Firefox, but neither one works as well as operas built-in one.  Opera also used to be far faster then both IE and Firefox, but I don't know if thats still true.

[pointdablame]

FYI, the latest version of IE has tabbed browsing and plug-ins.

Personally, I use Opera mainly because of its mouse gestures.  There are gesture plug-ins for both IE and Firefox, but neither one works as well as operas built-in one.  Opera also used to be far faster then both IE and Firefox, but I don't know if thats still true.

As a former Opera user, I'd say that the "All-in-one Gestures" extension for Firefox is just as capable as Opera these days.

[AtomSmasher]

As a former Opera user, I'd say that the "All-in-one Gestures" extension for Firefox is just as capable as Opera these days.

I may check that out.  I haven't tried the firefox extension for quite a while, so they may have improved it.  I just tried the IE one about a month ago and it didn't work well at all.  I've used Opera for several years though and I think its a great browser, so theres not much reason for me to switch to firefox.

[TOK]

I started using it because it was so much less susceptible to being wrecked by Spy/Adware and heinous toolbars.
Firefox was actually pretty spartan when I started using it in the Kazaa, Bonzi Buddy, Gator era. 
Had the tabbed browsing, but a lot of pages wouldn't work with it. Situation is much improved now. I'm sure IE is more robust now too, but I've just become accustomed to Firefox and leave it set as my default browser.

[leapinlew]

Ha! That Bonzai Buddy Purple Ape! That bastard... my first introduction to spyware.

As for firefox... the pages that don't work properly with firefox are getting fewer and fewer. All the ones I'm aware of are at work. Pages that require an ActiveX control or certificate specifically for IE. The primary benefit that I see for using Firefox is it has a smaller footprint than IE... even if you don't go to sites that can infect your computer, Firefox doesn't consume as much system resources.

[missioncontrol]

Tabbed browsing is what got me hooked....

Yes I know IE now has it now, but they didn't when I started using Firefox....

I also like the spell check feature Firefox 2.0 has it underlines words in red if you misspell them (just like Word) when typing in a forum....

Also there's a portable version of Firefox that I have on my flash drive and it stores all my bookmarks and my user names and password if I want it to, it makes it more convenient when you are on multiple computers during the course of the day.....

[Donkey_Kong]

WOW all you d@@ds are using it!  Well I tried it some more and I guess I like it a little better but I still can't get the background sound on my wifes new website to play in the firefox browser. Oh well it gets kind of annoying after awhile anyway.

Hey Mission control, The Firefox Spell Check feature...Is that why all ur post dont luke like this anemore? psssst 

[missioncontrol]

Hey Mission control, The Firefox Spell Check feature...Is that why all ur post dont luke like this anemore? psssst 

exactly.... I can't type for ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- and I got the spell check to watch my back....

[AlanS17]

I can't type worth a darn either. Don't feel bad.

It wasa the tabbed browsing that hooked me onto Firefox to begin with. Even though IE does it now, it's kind of ugly. The whole browser is just... ugly. Firefox is prettier. I keep both on hand, though. I'm a web application developer so I like to see how my stuff reacts to both browers.

[missioncontrol]

WOW all you d@@ds are using it!  Well I tried it some more and I guess I like it a little better but I still can't get the background sound on my wifes new website to play in the firefox browser. Oh well it gets kind of annoying after awhile anyway.

What page is the music on? I opened your site in IE but didn't hear anything....

[Donkey_Kong]

Yea man I'm starting to like it. I did my first post with Firefox and that spelling thing is really nice. I think my observed IQ level will raise up a point or two from here on out. No more stupid misspellings. The tab things at the top are also very cool!

Thanks for all the info guys!

WOW just realized that my g-mail account displays on the tabs too! Schaweet!

Yea mission: If you open either of these 2 pages in IE you SHOULD here sound...
http://nicecarvings.com/html/mccoy.html
http://nicecarvings.com/html/mitch_1.html

[missioncontrol]

PMed you something to try....

[pointdablame]

Here are some of my favorite Add-ons (formerly called extensions) that I can't live without.  These added features are a big reason I stay with Firefox

- Image Zoom - user controlled image enlargement from right within the page.  Now that I use it, I can't live without it.

- Adblock and Adblock Filterset.G Updater (2 separate extensions)- you NEED to be using AdBlock. End of story.

- All-in-one Gestures - I mentioned this, its my personal favorite gestures extension

- FlashGot - download utility, very handy

- Tab clicking options and Tabbrowser preferences (2 sepearte extensions) - fleshes out Tab options for much more useful tabbing.

- Greasemonkey - script manager.  There are a ton of useful scripts that can really improve your functionality.

I use a lot more, but I think those are extensions that almost everyone should be using.  I also really like FasterFox, ForecastFox, FoxyTuines, and Gmail Notifier... all of which are excellent extensions but not as "necessary" in my mind.

Give them a shot.

[jbox]

- Firefox Showcase or Tab Catalog should be *in* firefox imho
- Flashblock, Quick Preference Button, VideoDownloader and DownThemAll! are also extremely nice if you hate the move away from "HTML the linking language" to "HTML the everything and the kitchen sink embedded environment" too.

It's also handy to know that middle-clicking on a tab closes that window, since hitting that little red cross can be annoying sometimes. 

edit: also forgot that "about:config" is an awesome idea for letting people get things just right even if the config panel doesn't have that setting exposed (or in some cases stops exposing it in a new version!). Sometimes you even find settings you never knew you could change!

[AtomSmasher]

Yea mission: If you open either of these 2 pages in IE you SHOULD here sound...
http://nicecarvings.com/html/mccoy.html
http://nicecarvings.com/html/mitch_1.html

Sound works in Opera 

[Kaytrim]

I second the add ons Image Zoom and Adblock, though I use Adblock Plus now it seems to work better, there is a filterset for it as well.  I also recomend the IE Tab and  IE View, these give you the ability to reopen a page in IE or a tab in Firefox using the IE engine.  Also don't forget Flashblock, HTML Validator, Tab Mix Plus,  and Open Link In... add ons.

[Chris]

I personally don't care for FireFox, but I may be biased since usually the only time I load it up is because I need to fix something in a Web page that works in every browser except FireFox.  I'm using IE7 at work and I really don't like it much; the tab interface annoys me but I leave it enabled so I can get used to it.

[ChadTower]

I make heavy use of Wizz RSS in Firefox.  Great RSS client with so much solid functionality.

The reason FireFox is a bit picky about page functionality is that it actually adheres to the industry standards on web technology.  IE ignores them, pisses on them, sets them on fire, rapes them, and then thumbs its nose at federally ordered changes to make IE more compliant. 

[Havok]

The reason FireFox is a bit picky about page functionality is that it actually adheres to the industry standards on web technology.  IE ignores them, pisses on them, sets them on fire, rapes them, and then thumbs its nose at federally ordered changes to make IE more compliant. 

Amen, brother!

IE7 is supposedly better about it - it will leave small children alone...

[ChadTower]

Look at it this way.  A skilled Windows developer can do really nasty things to your PC via a simple web page loaded in IE.  It has undocumented system class access that you really don't want to provide.  It wasn't that long ago that people were up in arms about IE's ability to reboot a client machine without permission.  It has only gone downhill from there.

[Donkey_Kong]

Me 

Not really knowing exactly what alot of you are talking about! But that is ok cause this thread has been really helpful for me. I think the gist is to use Firefox cause it is the bomb and also secure. Ah, we all need that security don't we? I'm already hooked on Firefox, it's damn cool! Seems like a guy can be much more productive with it vs IE.

Can't get the themes to show up after install though but I'm sure that will come in time. I installed my first plugin which was where you can share your bookmarks across all of your computers. That should be neat!

Mission: thanks for the help on the website thing. I haven't been able to attempt to make the changes yet. I'm going to work on my cab today garsh darn it! Website later!! My log trim is callin' my name...

[sphetr2]

IE 7 may *support* plugins, but Firefox HAS way more addons. I love download embedded and Videodownloader. Also use:

Adblock
Autohide (allows for fullscreen, like in IE 7)
Bugmenot (great for not having to create an account for every site)
ChatZilla (for IRC)
ColorZilla (like pointdablame's image zoom, except it has more features)
DownThemAll (download manager)
FasterFox (performance tweaks)
FoxyTunes (music IN the browser)
Greasemonkey (mentioned already)
Mouse Gestures (duh)
Nuke Anything (this one is great...allows you to remove ANYTHING from a page)
PDF Download (saves you from opening huge PDFs)
Sage (RSS)
SwitchProxy
TrackMeNot

Wow, never knew I used so many. Some aren't compatible in FF2, so I disabled checking of add on compatibility.

Also, using Firefox supports Open Source!

[Xiaou2]

 I Highly recomend using the  "Mini Fox Flat"  Theme.

 It makes the fox as small as possible, so you get more real-estate. 
Not just for more webpage.. but also more buttons and link shortcuts.
Its Awesome   


 I tried it long ago, and the 1st incarnation of it didnt impress me.   A year later or so,
I tried again, cause my IEs security compromises were getting way out of hand.
 
 At first, there didnt seem to be that much difference..  then, after playing arround with
settings, and customizing it to my liking..  I quickly realized the joy and power of it.
The tabbed browsing had now hooked me...  and The secruity also was so much better. 
Plugins were the Icing on the cake . 

[shardian]

I make heavy use of Wizz RSS in Firefox.  Great RSS client with so much solid functionality.

The reason FireFox is a bit picky about page functionality is that it actually adheres to the industry standards on web technology.  IE ignores them, pisses on them, sets them on fire, rapes them, and then thumbs its nose at federally ordered changes to make IE more compliant. 

Dang, those MS guys are real sicko pervs...they could at least do the raping first...

[RayB]

I don't prefer FireFox, but I use it to avoid trojans and spyware. IE has too many security exploits. Tabbed browsing is nice, but if you want to get technical, IE7 also has that.

I dislike FireFox's CRAPPY copy-paste clipboard support.

[DrewKaree]

Do a search here for "Firefox" or "extensions" or some other such thing.  There's at least 2 threads here for "gotta-have" extensions that folks list.

As for why I use it, security is the biggest thing.  I even go to the extent of installing it on anyone's PC I tend to work on (the in-laws, mainly), deleting all commonly found traces of IE, and changing the Firefox icon to IE's to make them THINK they're using Internet Explorer.  There's only one person (brother-in-law) who has something he NEEDS to use IE for, and it's his bank.  It uses some ActiveX thing, which Firefox doesn't allow, as far as I know.  He also ONLY uses IE for banking, and I showed him how to browse to it within Windows Explorer so he doesn't have to unhide it - and he doesn't.

I started using it mainly because of security and tabbed browsing, but like PDB, I choose to stick with it due to customization.  Don't just check out the extensions, check out the Themes as well.  I use the MiniFoxFlat for older monitors that I wish to have more screen real estate with, and Noia 2.0 (extreme) for anything else.  There's a fistful of extensions - so many that it's worth your time to set aside a bit of time and just sift through them and test them out.  I currently use:

Bookmark Duplicate Detector
BugMeNot
Colorful Tabs (different COLORED tabs - I often have a dozen or more tabs)
Dictionary Search
FlashGot
Gmail Manager
MR Tech Disable XPI Install Delay
PDF Download
Sort Extensions and Themes
Super DragAndGo
Text size toolbar
TinyURL Creator (although really only used for lemon disguises )

I'm sure you can find tons of extensions you'll like.  FasterFox will soon eliminate the "delay" you perceive, for one.  Just remember, install one extension at a time.  They CAN be finicky and cause problems with each other.

[SNAAKE]

it protects my computer from randomass virus/worms/trojans etc and IE DOES NOT !

[Glaine]

I second it for tabbing, security and stability. My PC at work is a bit of a klunker and IE kept crashing, put FF on there, no problems since. Seems FF is a bit of a resource hog though, I sometimes have to close it up to get good framerates on 3d games.

[missioncontrol]

I forgot to mention that at work we are not allowed to use IE with the exception of just a few work related sites.... We are supposed to use Firefox...

[Donkey_Kong]

Seems FF is a bit of a resource hog though, I sometimes have to close it up to get good framerates on 3d games.

Lew is saying the exact opposite up above...Maybe it has to do with what you are running for add-ons, plug-ins, themes, and all that jazz in relation to overall resource consumption from IE to FF.

[pointdablame]

There were (and I'm sure there still ARE) a bunch of Extensions that would eat up your system memory like crazy.  Some of the memory leaks were fixed, but I don't doubt that there are still problems.

My roommate had an extension that would eat away at his memory after an hour or so and would wind up taking up 1.2gigs or more of his ram.  Not good.  I forgot what extension it was, but he found it and it dropped way back down to where it should be.

[ErikRuud]

The Number 1 reason to use FireFox!!!!!!

Bork Bork Bork!

 

Seroiusly, I love FireFox for the extensions and security.  I haven't really havent used tabs much.

[romperwomb]

Firefox, I kiss you!   

I just exported all my browsers saved passwords with a Firefox plug in.  I'm having my works network admin wipe my super-bloated Windows network profile and would loose that info.  It was such a cinch to do!

The reopen all tabs from your last session feature is also very very nice.

[AlanS17]

The reopen all tabs from your last session feature is also very very nice.

This is also a feature of the new IE7.

[subcriminal]

I use firefox because it's my default browser and IE is a chore to install on Linux.

Sod it I'll write some more. I use it on Windows because Microsofts software is the No.1 Target for hackers, scammers, etc. Diversity is security.