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The Fox Is in Microsoft's Henhouse (and Salivating)
NYT ^ | December 19, 2004 | RANDALL STROSS

Posted on 12/18/2004 6:19:26 AM PST by mathprof

FIREFOX is a classic overnight success, many years in the making.

Published by the Mozilla Foundation, a nonprofit group supporting open-source software that draws upon the skills of hundreds of volunteer programmers, Firefox is a Web browser that is fast and filled with features that Microsoft's stodgy Internet Explorer lacks. Firefox installs in a snap, and it's free.

Firefox 1.0 was released on Nov. 9. Just over a month later, the foundation celebrated a remarkable milestone: 10 million downloads. Donations from Firefox's appreciative fans paid for a two-page advertisement in The New York Times on Thursday.

Until now, the Linux operating system was the best-known success among the hundreds of open-source projects that challenge Microsoft with technically strong, free software that improves as the population of bug-reporting and bug-fixing users grows. But unless you oversee purchases for a corporate data center, it's unlikely that you've felt the need to try Linux yourself.

With Firefox, open-source software moves from back-office obscurity to your home, and to your parents', too. (Your children in college are already using it.) It is polished, as easy to use as Internet Explorer and, most compelling, much better defended against viruses, worms and snoops.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: firefox
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To: K. Smirnov

You could still see a chunk of it if using early versions of ...

You can still get GEM itself on some long forgotten DOS website.I took a look at it quite a while ago for one of my DOS projects. It was a neat little GUI for it's time but not much use to me these days.


201 posted on 12/18/2004 11:26:49 AM PST by edchambers ("Pajamahadin Neocon footsoldier of the Haliburton Death squad ")
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To: TheOracleAtLilac
I found an older version of window washer which will work fine. Just send me your email address & it's yours.

It might be easier to download CCleaner I LOVE this program.It has the same functionality of the early windows cleaning utilitys and then some.Best of all it's free and fast.

202 posted on 12/18/2004 11:33:33 AM PST by edchambers ("Pajamahadin Neocon footsoldier of the Haliburton Death squad ")
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To: TheOracleAtLilac
FWIW, a speed tip for FireFox a couple of days ago here on FR - but only for broadband:

1.Type "about:config" into the address bar and hit return. Scroll down and look for the following entries: ....

You can use this extension Tweak Network Settings 1.0 to enable pipelining and also be able to reset to the default on the fly for pages that fail. It will allow any setting for pipelining and does not change the render delay but I find that makes little difference The power profile on the tweak works great. It can be accessed from the tools menu.

203 posted on 12/18/2004 11:34:31 AM PST by this_ol_patriot
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To: SW6906

Ok, let me put a tip here, if you want to use an updated Favorites entry on the Windows Start Menu to launch FF you need to export the current FF bookmarks (will create a bookmarks.htm file) and then launch IE and import those same bookmarks. Favorites will now be updated to include your new FF bookmarks. Of course you need to do this regulary to keep the Start Menu Favorites current. It's not elegant but it works.


204 posted on 12/18/2004 11:41:51 AM PST by this_ol_patriot
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To: edchambers

does it let you specify "Cookies to keep" - or just wipe 'em all?


205 posted on 12/18/2004 11:42:44 AM PST by TheOracleAtLilac
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To: ByDesign

And yes, I use a Mac, a dual 2 ghz G5 and 23" Cinema, and I also have a Toshiba Satellite running XP, and I like them both. Mac vs. Windows arguments are pretty boring, having heard them for over 12 years now. They're tools, it's what you do with them that counts. A lousy artist is still a lousy artist even if you give them $150 brushes, and a Mac or Xp machine or Linux box in the hands of a clueless operator is a doorstop.

That's the best summation of the platform vs platform vs OS vs OS holy war I've seen yet.Make sure you save it for the next one.


206 posted on 12/18/2004 11:42:49 AM PST by edchambers ("Pajamahadin Neocon footsoldier of the Haliburton Death squad ")
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To: Nick Danger

I don't have the FR logo icon in my URL address for this thread, just the IE icon. How do I get the FR icon to display in the address bar. (And, yes I am logged in!)


207 posted on 12/18/2004 11:46:08 AM PST by CedarDave (Primary rule of Dem whining: The complaint need not be accurate as long as the charge is serious.)
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To: Clara Lou

Thanks...never looked into that. :)


208 posted on 12/18/2004 11:48:29 AM PST by beckett
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To: CedarDave

I don't think IE does that.


209 posted on 12/18/2004 11:51:21 AM PST by Petronski (A suitable case for treatment.)
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To: TheOracleAtLilac
See my post #199 for cookie management in Firefox.
210 posted on 12/18/2004 11:51:22 AM PST by Eagle9
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To: TheOracleAtLilac

Sorry, I think it just wipes them all but Win Patrol on the other hand will let keep some and delete others it's also free.It can even be configured to alert you whenever a cookie is installed on your machine, this is fun for about a minute then gets really annoying as the little scotish terrier barks every time a cookie is installed.


211 posted on 12/18/2004 11:55:39 AM PST by edchambers ("Pajamahadin Neocon footsoldier of the Haliburton Death squad ")
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To: this_ol_patriot

Thanks for the tips. Here's another question: when I hit F5 to refresh a FreeRepublic thread page, it goes to the bottom, rather than returning to where I was when I hit refresh like IE does. Is there a way to have FF reload the page, but then not go to the bottom?


212 posted on 12/18/2004 12:02:26 PM PST by SW6906
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To: ByDesign

Thanks for taking the time to write up the chronology. I have read the Xerox PARC book and thoroughly enjoyed it. The world would be different if Xerox knew at the time what they had.


213 posted on 12/18/2004 12:17:28 PM PST by PhilSC
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To: SW6906
Is there a way to have FF reload the page, but then not go to the bottom?
Interesting. On a thread page, I want it to take me to the bottom of the page so that I can see new responses. But, on the "latest articles" page, when I refresh, it leaves me at the top of the page so that I can see new articles.
214 posted on 12/18/2004 12:22:48 PM PST by Clara Lou (Hillary Clinton: "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.")
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To: Condor51

"I think Windows itself was ripped off from somewhere.

NO OFFENSE, but you must be young. YES Windows was ripped off, from Apple.

In short, when MS was a little bitty company, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs hired MS (Gates) to write an OS or some programs (IIRC). When Gates saw the Apple 'windows' look he basically said to his people 'steal it', make it ours. They did, and it was."

You must be young too. Apple ripped off their interface from GEM, Digital Research I think, who also did the Atari. Apple then sued them out of business.

The original mouse and windows motif came from Xerox's PARC research center in the early '80's.


215 posted on 12/18/2004 12:27:33 PM PST by Forgiven_Sinner (Praying for the Kingdom of God)
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To: Eagle9

Yes I have used BugMenot and have it in my favorites, I don't see however that I should be forced to use it when someone is to lazy to post the whole article. I don't mind excerpted articles even though they are not on the exerption list, when I can click on the link and the article is available w/o having to register


216 posted on 12/18/2004 12:36:28 PM PST by Kaslin
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To: mathprof; Condor51; All
Just to clarify:
Adobe Reader 6.0.0 causes problems with Firefox.

0*Surprise*0

Earlier today I upgraded to 6.0.3 with the plugin suggested by Condor51, up at #102. PDFs now load clean and fast.
217 posted on 12/18/2004 1:22:48 PM PST by clyde asbury (Hey, waiter, bring me Volume Three of the wine list.)
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To: Clara Lou

When I am reading a thread, I read to the bottom, then hit refresh to load any new replies that were posted while I was reading. If FireFox refreshes and goes to the bottom of the page, I have to scroll back up the page to try to figure out where I was when I hit refresh. IE would put me right back where I was and just load the new posts below that. This is VERY helpful when you are on a fast moving thread.


218 posted on 12/18/2004 1:26:46 PM PST by SW6906
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To: KwasiOwusu
Yo, Kweezy! Your SS Ostrich just took another torpedo amidships!

Abandon ship, dude.

219 posted on 12/18/2004 1:29:45 PM PST by Hank Rearden (Never allow anyone who could only get a government job attempt to tell you how to run your life.)
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To: SW6906
If FireFox refreshes and goes to the bottom of the page, I have to scroll back up the page to try to figure out where I was when I hit refresh.
I gotcha. Those must be some really fast-moving threads! [The kind I usually miss because I'm at work.]
220 posted on 12/18/2004 1:31:46 PM PST by Clara Lou (Hillary Clinton: "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.")
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