MACINTOSH - Free Firefox browser is better than Safari

The San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | March 28, 2005 | By Al Fasoldt

[Swordmaker]

NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE -

If your Mac is running OS X, you no doubt already know that Apple's operating system is immune to the Internet ailments that plague Windows, such as spyware, Web-page hijacking and, of course, Windows viruses. And you've probably had a chance to dump Microsoft's tired OS X browser, Internet Explorer, in favor of one the best Web browsers ever designed, Apple's superb Safari.

But Safari has company. Firefox, the Web browser favored by millions of Windows users, is available in a version for OS X, as a free download from http://www.mozilla.org.I'm a big Safari fan, but as soon as I tried the Windows version of Firefox, I knew I had to see if the OS X version is just as good.

If anything, it's even better. The Mac OS X version seems more stable than the version for Windows and runs a tad faster. Better yet, Firefox is clearly better in some ways than Safari.

Two superior features stood out: Firefox can save entire Web pages locally and provides an outstandingly easy yet powerful bookmark system.

I love the way Firefox saves complete Web pages. With a Web page open, pressing Cmd-S saves the page and all its contents – all the pictures and text, for example – to a location you specify on your computer. (I suggest using the Documents folder.)

The way Firefox creates and manages bookmarks is a delight. There's even a touch of genius in the way things work. With any page open, you can run your mouse pointer over the list of bookmarks (after clicking the Bookmarks menu) and click a choice that shows up in every bookmark folder if you want to add the current page to the list of bookmarks. (The option is called "Add Bookmark Here." It will save you a lot of time per day if you create as many bookmarks as I do.)

I like Firefox so much that I've made it my default OS X browser, the browser that automatically opens when you click a link in e-mail, for example.

[Swordmaker]

Mac FIREFOX Review PING!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[rdb3]

I have Firefox going three ways, XP, Slack, and OS Xv10.3.

[oolatec]

I actually like Shiira for OSX the best...

http://hmdt-web.net/shiira/index-e.html

Tab Exposé comes in real handy.

[NRA2BFree]

Ping!

[afnamvet]

Safari works for me...no problems on OSX10.3.8

[soccer_linux_mozilla]

[afnamvet]

No thanks, just had a bar of soap.

[soccer_linux_mozilla]

Market share for the open-source Mozilla Firefox climbed above 6% in February, while Microsoft's Internet Explorer share dropped below 90%.

http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=159902316

[mhx]

Yup. Safari for me. Firefox whenever I'm using a machine that doesn't support Safari.

[afnamvet]

Market share for the open-source Mozilla Firefox climbed above 6% in February, while Microsoft's Internet Explorer share dropped below 90%.

I appreciate that but I am very satisfied with Safari.

[cyn]

ah, so there is an online MacUsers group! Sign me up, pls.

[glorgau]

Simple choice as to why I use Safari is because it opens faster. No other reason. On Windows machines, IE only if forced.

[Auntie Mame]

Very interesting. Think I'll load Firefox and check it out.

[Petronski]

Ping!

[SunkenCiv]

iCab, free browser, tabbed windows (option, which I prefer), Classic OS or X:
http://www.icab.de/

[lainde]

bttt

[Terpfen]

Don't forget that Camino version 0.8.3 was just released.

[Ben Hecks]

Does this mean I have to give up Cyberdog?