Firefox emerges as credible threat in browser battle

San Jose Mercury News ^ | Mon, Nov. 29, 2004 | Mike Langberg

[nickcarraway]

Firefox is one very hot browser, pardon the pun, and your computer will be safer if you switch to this free software that's heating up the charts.

There's been a seismic shift during November, with Firefox emerging as the first credible competitive threat in a decade to Microsoft's aging Internet Explorer browser for Windows.

[Publius6961]

2. Did that URL not work for you?

The URL worked fine, thank you.

[tfecw]

hmm. It wouldnt be a java probelm (the java gets down on the server then sent to the browser) I'll try the NOAA when i get home and see what happens.

Yeah ME sucks. As for the updates i dunno about that either. It seems that if MS was purposely sabatoshing updates using a different browser it would get sued (again)

Unfortunatly these sorts of things sort of just happen. You can call it whatever you like it sort of happens. There is a really good reason why ME didnt last long and XP was tossed out the door quickly. You might want to invest in the upgrade.

It sounds like you have a lot of background processes running as well. All that stuff you listed will kill web traffic. Like jack the ripper style killing. you figure your limited to bandwidth and computer power. Then all that traffic gets checked by the firewall (delay) then norton(more delay) and on and on.

As for what to *do* about it. Well i dunno really ;) if i were you i'd toss ME. reflash the harddrive then be maticulas in what you need on your computer. If you really need adware spyware spybegone spyremover. Your doing something wrong. with firefox you only really need one of them. The spyware that gets on the comp will be mainly *real* spy ware such as cookies that track your websites and what not.

also. Never i mean never :) install the latest upgrade or patch. Such as the XP service pack 2 fiasco. let other people dork up their computers first and let microsoft fix it before you put it on your computer. Check out forums and what nots.

hope some of those tidbits helped. If not...umm disregard ;)

[backhoe]

Help for viruses and malware:

 

 Ad-Aware ... Spybot ... Peper Uninstaller ... HijackThis... CWShredder ... Spyware Blaster ... IE Spyad ... Free online Virus scan ... AVG AntiVirus ... LSPfix ... How to Show Hidden Files ... How to boot into Safe Mode ... How did I get infected in the first place?

---

Things you need--(all FREE)
Anti-Virus
AVG Anti-Virus version 7 (free) release available...

 Avast
Firewall
Kerio(Direct Download) Zone Alarm

 If are using zone alarm it may slow your PC. Try Outpost Firewall http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost or Sygate Firewall http://www.sygate.com/ both have FREE and Pro versions and are heads above ZA.
Misc.
IE Spyads SpywareBlaster Spyware Guard
Windows Update- you must keep updated, it is the start of a secure system-
get all CRITICAL Updates

Things you want(Still Free)
 

  I use Firefox PR1 and IMHO, beats the sox off MS Explorer. Life is good with tabs. Click the link and give it a try.

Ad-Aware
Spybot S&D

SpywareBlaster
MS MVP Hosts file

Mike Lin's Homepage and get the Startup Control Panel and Startup Monitor tools.

 

The best forum for malware removal:

 http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?s=262d844129208feb8b0cf5b0186a32f6&act=SC&c=4
SWI Forums--

[rockrr]

Agreed.
In my very unscientific usage I just "go with what ya know".
I have to go to IE from time to time, but grew to rely on Firefox.

I had gotten a bug (delphinproject.com) that absolutely RUINED IE for awhile - random pop-ups. I tried everything without success. Then, on advice from another Freeper I went old-school and modified me Hosts file. Viola! No more delphinproject!

[Uncle Hal]

I installed Firefox a couple weeks ago and enjoy it. However, I have a problem with Bookmarks in Firefox. When you open Bookmarks in Firefox and then download a page and then go back to Bookmarks again it does not go to where you were. It goes back to the top every time. Is there a way to make Bookmarks go back to where you were? Windows always goes back to where you were. Can someone assist me on this. Thanks.

[Eagle9]

Firefox FAQ

Firefox Tips & Tricks

Firefox Keyboard Shortcuts

Firefox Mouse Shortcuts

Firefox Menu Reference

Firefox Optios/Preferences

Firefox Extensions

Firefox Themes

Firefox Windows Plugin Doc

Firefox Top 30 Search Box Plugins

Firefox BugMeNot

If you're using Firefox and want to open these links in tabs, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard when you click any/all above links.

[Leroy S. Mort]

Firefox is a little bit slower

try this little speedup trick. If you're on broadband, you may find it helps:

In the URL bar go to: about:config

set
network.http.pipelining - to true
network.http.proxy.pipelining - to true
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests - to some high number (100 is good)

Firefox will permanently save your changes to user.js in your profile directory.

[dumpdaschle]

After installing Firefox I could no longer get IE updates from the Microsoft website....

You still need to use your IE browser on Microsoft's web site for Windows updates. I'm fairly certain that IE is the only browser that works for Windows updates.

For example, my bank has a little ticker tape on it....

Some sites are designed for use with IE browsers. I use Firefox at home and IE at work.

[edchambers]

I would suggest keeping both by not making Firefox your default browser.Why? a couple reasons; 1.IE starts faster, about twice as fast from idle.I tested this by setting Free republic as my start page on both and timing how long each took to fully open the page,8 seconds for IE and 14 for firefox on my slowest machine.2.There will be some websites that Firefox won't work on without plug-ins but if you don't make Firefox your default browser you can still use IE until you get your Firefox fully dialed in.Tabbed browsing rocks if you have a few websites that you bounce back and forth to but remember that all those open tabs are using bandwidth and probably memory.If you just need to go on line and find something real quick IE can be faster.Last but not least Firefox is not spyware proof it's better than IE but not perfect.You still need to do routine scans with your favorite spyware sweepers.Note: Javacools Spyware Blaster provides a free resident shield that will work with Firefox making it pretty near bullet proof.

[South40]

Thanks for the tip on Avant. I downloaded and am using it now in a comparison to Firefox. I like it so far and both are far better than IE.

[Uncle Hal]

I switched to Firefox a couple weeks ago and it was a snap. It took just minutes. Just follow the instructions. I can assure you I know nothing about computers except how to surf the interest and turn the computer off and on.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

I switched and have not had a single adware or spyware program, or at least one that my removal programs have found.

That's amazing. Spyware nearly wrecked my computer. I have Explorer.

[Dales]

They are... extensions. Extensions to the browser's core functionality. They are developed by... whoever. To do... whatever.

Isn't that a helpful answer? :-)

I have a few extensions installed. One is an extension that adds to my contextual menu (the one you get by right clicking) to open a page in Internet Explorer. When I come to that rare page that Firefox cannot display properly (or that more common page that Firefox cannot print properly) I can right click on the window and choose "Open page in IE" and it comes up in Internet Explorer. There is another extension I use to keep my bookmarks (favorites) synchronized between several computers-- whenever my browser starts up, it goes to a server and gets my most recent bookmarks, and whenever I update my bookmarks and leave the browser it goes and saves the changes. I have quite a few others installed as well.

You can find extensions just by clicking on the Mozilla icon (top right corner of your browser) and then clicking on the link for extensions.

[1L]

Needs to figure out a way to safely deal with ActiveX controls and other sites that don't seem to work under it.

But I'm using it and won't go back to IE.

[yarddog]

The interesting thing is I can use the Explorer browser and then check for spyware and even for a half hours browsing it will have picked up several. I mean every time too.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Hmmm, so I guess I shouldn't waste time looking for a solution on the Firefox help sites?

[Dales]

I got lazy and did not hit the 'view replies' link to see if someone answered you. But apologies if they did. Here are the best answers I have for you.

1) Install Firefox as your default browser.

2) Get the Firefox Extension that is for Open Page In IE. That extension makes it that if you right click on a page that is open, the contextual menu that pops up includes an option to open the page in Internet Explorer.

Works like a charm.

[Dales]

See above. Get the extension I linked to which lets you open the current page in Internet Explorer from the right-click menu.

[Safrguns]

what makes Firefox better than Netscape?
IMHO, anything beats IE.
I've been a diehard Netscape user for years as a result.
So, why should I ditch Netscape for FF?

[Diddle E. Squat]

Thanks for the input. Yeah, it is a bit annoying to have Pest Patrol reinstate itself to the 'run on startup' list each time I run the program.

XP is going to have to wait a couple of months until I can budget the 99 bucks for it, and really another machine(so the other can be a backup.)