Mozilla Firefox drawing users away from Microsoft IE

[MacBytes]

Category: 3rd Party Software
Link: Mozilla Firefox drawing users away from Microsoft IE (http://www.macbytes.com/link.php?sid=20040915235958)
Posted on MacBytes.com (http://www.macbytes.com)

Approved by Mudbug

[sorryiwasdreami]

It's about time this little workhorse caught on.

[nagromme]

I like FireFox. Not enough to tempt me away from Safari, but if I was on Windows and stuck with IE, I'd jump ship for FF for sure!

Once FF is 1.0, I plan to recommend it to my Windows friends. Maybe throw a copy of it for Windows on my camera's flash card, alongside the Windows iTunes :)

[bubbamac]

FireFox for Windows is way, way better than IE, even in it's current Beta status.

Firefox for Mac, unfortunately, still looks like a Windows app - bummer.

[edesignuk]

I've been using FireFox on my PC for everything since 0.6. IMO it is the best browser for Windows, and a close second/even first to Safari for OS X.

[Hoef]

I like FireFox. Not enough to tempt me away from Safari, but if I was on Windows and stuck with IE, I'd jump ship for FF for sure!

Using FF on my Windows machine, perfect. On thing that I like in FF that Safari doesn't have are extensions, etc... (maybe Safari has it and I missed it). Also bookmarking in Safari isn't all that nice

[Darwin]

Using FF on my Windows machine, perfect. On thing that I like in FF that Safari doesn't have are extensions, etc... (maybe Safari has it and I missed it). Also bookmarking in Safari isn't all that nice

I don't belive it does, at least not yet

[jdechko]

I also use firefox, as im stuck on windows. I love all of the features and extensions that there are for firefox. The tabbed browsing experience is priceless. Everytime that i am forced to use IE (windows update- since i dont let my computer do it automatically- and some specific sites that just dont seem to work right in FF) i always miss the tabbed browsing. It has become a new habit for me. so nice...

[edesignuk]

If your referring to the Programs used for extensions then it uses the same Apps that you set for the whole systemHe's talking about extensions as in browser "plug-ins" if you like. There are hundreds of great plug-ins for firfox that add all kinds of functionality, it's great!

[Freg3000]

My friend on Windows uses Firefox, a recent version, but it does not allow him to view anything related to Flash. He has to use IE. It must have a flash plugin, right? A browser (which I like very much on the Mac side) couldn't be so deficient that it lacks the ability to play Flash?

[wrldwzrd89]

My friend on Windows uses Firefox, a recent version, but it does not allow him to view anything related to Flash. He has to use IE. It must have a flash plugin, right? A browser (which I like very much on the Mac side) couldn't be so deficient that it lacks the ability to play Flash?
Reinstalling Flash will cure this problem - Flash simply isn't registered to Firefox as an available plug-in.

[brap]

A browser (which I like very much on the Mac side) couldn't be so deficient that it lacks the ability to play Flash?
Not true. it runs flash fine (if you're into that kind of thing). The Flash player installer just installs the Mozilla compatible plugin in the /plugins directory.

Firefox isn't deficient, and hasn't been... ever since it was called Phoenix. It rawks ;)

[wrldwzrd89]

Not true. it runs flash fine (if you're into that kind of thing). The Flash player installer just installs the Mozilla compatible plugin in the /plugins directory.

Firefox isn't deficient, and hasn't been... ever since it was called Phoenix. It rawks ;)
What happened is quite simple - you probably either have Windows XP, or installed Flash before Firefox. If that happens, Flash must be installed again for Firefox to be able to use it.

[Fourbin]

I've been using Firefox on OSX for the past week or so and I like it better than Safari because of the extensions (especially the GMail indicator), themes and most importantly tabbed browsing. However, I was on the Mozilla site today and noticed that they state 'Camino' is the preferred OSX browser because it incorporates with Keychains, Rendevous etc. Is Camino really all that different than Firefox? Which is better?

[SiliconAddict]

FireFox for Windows is way, way better than IE, even in it's current Beta status.

Firefox for Mac, unfortunately, still looks like a Windows app - bummer.


Firefox at .6 was better then Internet Imploder at 6.0. :cool:

I've talked to multiple people about this and they seem to be missing the big picture and that is that FireFox may actually make web developers code to standards instead of MS's craptastic "standards" Which in the long run could very well mean that all web sites will work on Safari instead of the occasional hiccups.

I'm dead serious folks. Push FireFox to your friends as hard as possible. Tell them the install takes up less then 17MB on their system and if they don't like it they can simply uninstall it. Be sure to show them FireFox's themeing engine and extensions. These generation the most ahhhs and ooooos. Esp the adblocker extension. When I show them how easy it is to blow in site ads and get rid of annoying flash ads I've had atleast 3 people jump on FF right then and there.
If we can get FF to comprise 30% of web browsers web developers are going to have to take notice. Even the 18% that is now being reported by some sites is nothing to sneeze at.

[Timelessblur]

That or you can try them to get full blown Mozilla if they want some other stuff. Web sites can not tell the diffences bettween the 2 browsers. (Firefox is detected to be Mozilla 1.7 by sites which I though was funny but it is it base code so it makes sinces)

[SiliconAddict]

That or you can try them to get full blown Mozilla if they want some other stuff. Web sites can not tell the diffences bettween the 2 browsers. (Firefox is detected to be Mozilla 1.7 by sites which I though was funny but it is it base code so it makes sinces)


Mozilla sucks. I've used it time and again over the year and always end up going back to IE. Its slow to startup, its buggy, its got a rather large footprint. IMHO its not a good browser.
Firefox is THE browser to beat; its the anti-Mozilla. Its small, its fast, its robust, and its generally solid. Ocasionally I have the exe hang after closing the window so I have to kill the task to start up a new session later but I would say that's once every 3 weeks that happens.

[condo]

Right, Mozilla sucks and bugs like a 96IE.
Right also, Firefox is great there is no reason for a PC user to switch to an eventual Windows-versionned safari :eek:

[howard]

well i finally got around to testing firefox more intensely against safari. I checked my process veiwer often on both of them, and i found out that safari used between 20-40 megs of memory while firefox used between 50-80. These changes depended on how many tabs/windows i had open. I was surprised at these results. from everyones talk i figured firefox would have been more memory efficient than safari.

[wrldwzrd89]

well i finally got around to testing firefox more intensely against safari. I checked my process veiwer often on both of them, and i found out that safari used between 20-40 megs of memory while firefox used between 50-80. These changes depended on how many tabs/windows i had open. I was surprised at these results. from everyones talk i figured firefox would have been more memory efficient than safari.
There's a simple reason for that - Firefox uses the Gecko rendering engine, which the developers admit is nowhere near full optimization. Once Gecko is cleaned up, Firefox (and other Gecko-based browsers) will use less memory.

[thequicksilver]

There's a simple reason for that - Firefox uses the Gecko rendering engine, which the developers admit is nowhere near full optimization. Once Gecko is cleaned up, Firefox (and other Gecko-based browsers) will use less memory.

Are you sure? I know Gecko has always been criticised for being bloated, but my recollection (as a Phoenix->Firebird->Firefox user since 0.5) is that they said the optimisation of the code was well underway and would be almost over by Phoenix 1.0.

I'm a long time Firefox advocate, but I'm frankly disappointed with how the OS X version has turned out. The Windows version is amazing, and I think it's the best browser ever, but the X version frankly feels like a 0.5 release. What's with that extra window on Exposé? Why does it ignore my dock completely? And why does backspace not work to move back a page on OS X, but it does on Windows/Linux? It sounds stupid, but even if Firefox gets truly great, if there's no backspace to move back, I'm not using it full time. On a laptop, the backspace isn't optional - it just has to be used.

In the meantime, I'm happy full time alternating between Safari and Camino. And I'm converting all my Windows friends to Firefox, as everyone should start doing. :)

[wrldwzrd89]

Are you sure? I know Gecko has always been criticised for being bloated, but my recollection (as a Phoenix->Firebird->Firefox user since 0.5) is that they said the optimisation of the code was well underway and would be almost over by Phoenix 1.0.

I'm a long time Firefox advocate, but I'm frankly disappointed with how the OS X version has turned out. The Windows version is amazing, and I think it's the best browser ever, but the X version frankly feels like a 0.5 release. What's with that extra window on Exposé? Why does it ignore my dock completely? And why does backspace not work to move back a page on OS X, but it does on Windows/Linux? It sounds stupid, but even if Firefox gets truly great, if there's no backspace to move back, I'm not using it full time. On a laptop, the backspace isn't optional - it just has to be used.

In the meantime, I'm happy full time alternating between Safari and Camino. And I'm converting all my Windows friends to Firefox, as everyone should start doing. :)
I don't know. I'm completely stumped. :confused: I have no idea why any of the 4 things you mentioned about Firefox are the way they are.

[racer]

Hi to everone (this is my first post here :) ), I've been using firefox since 0.5 on windows and from version .7 I've converted all my friends (and a lot of my customers) to it.
Since I'm waiting for my first ever Mac (a small ibook bought off ebay) I was wondering how you guys think it stacks up against the Mac browsers.

thanks.

[Brother Michael]

I push FireFox on every single person I come across using IE. As the program is free for anyone and is community supported I have no qualms plugging it like it's nobody's business. As long as it remains free, I will always support and push it others. Once (if ever) they charge for it, I will still tell people to get it, but not as much.

It is truly a great browser, made by some fantastic people. Microsoft may have won the battle against Netscape but the war for the internet is far from over.

Mike

[Timelessblur]

well it is still a battle of IE vs Netscaped. it more IE bases browses vs Netscaped bases browsers (Firefox, Oprea, Safria ect) and that is far from over

[wrldwzrd89]

well it is still a battle of IE vs Netscaped. it more IE bases browses vs Netscaped bases browsers (Firefox, Oprea, Safria ect) and that is far from over
Truth be told, it's actually IE-based vs. non-IE-based, since Safari is based on KHTML, not Gecko (the foundation of the Netscape-based browsers). Also, OmniWeb, iCab, and Opera aren't Gecko-based either.

[Timelessblur]

Truth be told, it's actually IE-based vs. non-IE-based, since Safari is based on KHTML, not Gecko (the foundation of the Netscape-based browsers). Also, OmniWeb, iCab, and Opera aren't Gecko-based either.


let me re-explain it. Gecko is just a driving system in netscaped based browser. There are multiple engines that drive it IE-Bases have multiple enginees behind time.
Opera is Netscaped base but does not run on the Gecko engine. If you look at sites that netscaped has trouble with you will see all netscaped base browser stuggle with it across the board. If it works on one of them Browsers it going to work on all of them. Find a site that Safira will run just fine but firefox is going to complain and have trouble with.

[Cohiba]

Used firefox before I bought my G5, loved it! Couldnt be happier that its pulllings users away from IE, ya know why? Cuase its much better!

[wrldwzrd89]

let me re-explain it. Gecko is just a driving system in netscaped based browser. There are multiple engines that drive it IE-Bases have multiple enginees behind time.
Opera is Netscaped base but does not run on the Gecko engine. If you look at sites that netscaped has trouble with you will see all netscaped base browser stuggle with it across the board. If it works on one of them Browsers it going to work on all of them. Find a site that Safira will run just fine but firefox is going to complain and have trouble with.
Nope - that's not correct. Safari is NOT Netscape-based. Try using the JavaScript menus at http://www.ati.com/ in Safari v1.2.3 and Firefox V1.0PR. The menus are fine in Safari, but not in Firefox.

EDIT: According to your logic, ALL browsers are Netscape-based, if you're using the code base as the method for categorizing. Why? All modern browsers are based on NCSA Mosaic, including IE and Netscape.

[macaddictann]

*Hugs her Firefox/bird*

I have five browsers at the moment. Five. I was having nothing but problems with my browsers (yes, even Safari--sorry) on my usual sites. Something would always be wrong or weird or missing. The only thing that showed everything as close to correctly as I can probably ever hope for was Netscape. But Netscape's so flaky. So I was bouncing around from one to another and getting really pissed, to the point of a near-nervous breakdown. And then yee-ha! I think someone passed me a link to a list of different browsers, and here I am. :) I'm using Firefox .10 at work and Firebird at home (haven't bothered upgrading any, and I'm on Jaguar). I just installed the upgrade at work the other day and added a couple of extensions.

Man, I've totally forgotten pop-ups even exist (except insofar as I mention them here). Pages load so fast. And with the exception of those stupid IE-specific form things, everything works. :)