New Browser Available

[VXMAN]

Anyone try this new browser or heard anything good / bad about it?
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/



Dave....

[gruven]

Been using FireFox for quite some time and I really like it-very fast. Have heard that it has been the browser picking up most of the slack ever since all of the holes in IE were exposed.
Versions available for PC, Mac and Linux- seems to be very stable. On a Mac I also use Opera (as it conforms tightly to W3C standards), Mozilla (same engine as FireFox) as well as OmniWeb occassionally.


-gruven

[shoota77]

I use it...it rocks. No pop-ups, no problems. Occasionally you'll run into a site that says something will play only on IE. If you download Firefox that is just the browser, Mozilla is the complete package (email support, etc.)

[Dallas4u]

Used it a bit and like it a lot. Initially, in the early days, I used nothing but Netscape. I then got hooked on IE. Now, as much as I like Firefox, I just keep going back to IE... DAMN YOU GATES!!!

[Capri]

I love firefox! I've been using it for quite a while but IE is still my backup if I need it.

[transio]

I use it 50% of the time. Outlook and MSN Messenger still pop up to IE6 as default (wonder why)

[Yefim]

I use Firefox at home sometimes. Using it at work is very annoying because it does not support NTLM authentication. For those who don't know what that is - basically Firefox will always ask you for your network userid/password when you browse your company's intranet. IE uses your network login automatically since you are already logged in on your PC, so you don't have to type it everytime you need to borwse your intranet. I think even Netscape supports NTLM - but I am not sure.. I haven't used Netscape for ages. Why Firefox did not implement this feature is beyond me. Also, it is a little slower then IE but that's expected since IE is very tightly integrated with the OS. Other then that, it is a great alternative and the tab interface is awesome - something that IE should've done a long time ago.

[Leah]

I started using Mozilla recently because cnet recommended it and because I suddenly came down with over a thousand viruses thanks to the hole in IE before SP2. (I use XP). Mozilla is very fast, much faster than IE, and has the wonderful perk of being able to open additional windows within the same browser without losing any of the other ones. I LOVE that feature. No more having to open additional browswer windows to go to other sites. Highly recommended! Much more secure than IE.

[WyrreJ]

If you dump Internet Explorer for Mozilla Firefox and dump Outlook for Mozilla Thunderbird, you'll eliminate 90+% of your vulnerability to spyware, viruses and trojan horses.

Those two programs are the biggest security holes in MS-Windows and outright replacing them will do more for your system's health and security than any service pack from MS.

Once you've installed firefox, the first thing you should do is go get the AdBlock extension which makes it super easy to zap ads (or any other annoying images). There are also a whole bunch of other extensions available, some of them very cool, some of them totally useless. My advice is to go easy on the extensions until you've become used to firefox, some of the more amatuer extensions can make firefox crash-prone.

I also recommend getting the Noia 2.0 theme for Firefox, it really spiffs up the look of the browser.

Also, for what it is worth, Mozilla is Free software as in Freedom of speech, not just free to copy. It is the same idea that is behind Linux which some of you may have heard of as being an operating system that is becoming increasingly more popular (and which our very own vehicross.info webserver happens to be running).

Free means you can do whatever you want with it, copy it, even change and use it as a building block for your own creation if you are so inclined. It is a new (and also very old) way of looking at "intellectual property" and it is already changing the world, especially outside of the USA where Microsoft, Hollywood and the music industry have a lot less control over the local governments. But, even if you personally couldn't care less about new economic models, you can still benefit from them by using Mozilla Firefox and sharing it with as many people as you can. (an idea shared can become infinitely more useful and powerful than an idea kept locked up and secret)


As for NTLM authentication, yefim go download the 1.0 Preview Release or newer. NTLM has made its way into Firefox builds for the last month or so. Configuration is a little ugly, but functional:

1) Type "about:config" (no spaces) in the URL/Address field and hit return.
2) Type ntlm in the new Filter: box
3) You should get two entries, the one named network.automatic-ntlm-auth.trusted-uris is where you place the name of each domain you want to enable NTLM support for, seperated with commas. For example: "foo.com, https://bar.com, http://baz.com"
4) That's it, it should work now for the specified domains as long as you got the syntax right.

[Maverick]

Ive been using Mozilla firefox and Thunderbird for quite some time now, and im very happy with them. I especially like the tabbed browsing capabilities of firefox, allowing you to open several tabs at once instead of new windows, awesome feature..
Ive found that some site simply wont work with mozzilla though, primarily those with heavy flash integration or media viewers, and i often have to reinstall plug ins as they mysteriously stop working..this may have been addressed since i got my copies , which are almost a year old now..i havent bothered to check, as its not that big a deal.. i keep ie on standby for such occasions..
BTW: since i started using mozilla stuff, ive havent gotten a single virus, and only rarely do i get infected with spyware, i suspect it happens when i use the ie browser though..
thumbs up for Mozilla from me!