Firefox 3 continues to amaze

[pokerfan]

So I had some free time today and decided to read the http://www.tweakguides.com/Firefox_1.html">tweak guide from start to finish. It starts getting really good around page six but I found several things to uh, tweak from reading even the first few pages. Finding out how to make "mail to" links launch GMail (or any email client) instead of Outlook was transcendent. The last vestiges of M$ are slowly being excised from my machine.

[truedelphi]

1. What else do you like??

Being so out of it computer wise, I'd like to make the transition but don't know if I could.

If I knew all the good reasons to do it, maybe I'd attempt it.

Any encouragement offered would be appreciated.

[RoyGBiv]

4. Try here ...

http://www.switch2firefox.com/

Testimonals and such.

[pokerfan]

8. The only thing I hate about that site is the name

the emphasis on "switching." Makes it sound much more traumatic than it really is.

The thing is, one can try it without getting rid of your current browser. It coexists just fine with IE. Just don't make it the default when you are first prompted. You user will be asked whether you want to import your current bookmarks, saved passwords, browsing history etc. from Internet Explorer.

[RoyGBiv]

10. I agree ...

I was going to make a point of that but then backed off for some reason.

It's not like buying a new car. I mean, the thing is free for one thing, and your computer doesn't care how many browsers you are running. Hell, I use four different ones.

[pokerfan]

5. The new bookmark manager for starters

You can keep doing it the old way with hierarchical folders, but if you're like me, it's easy to lose track of where you placed something. The new way is more like a database. You attach tag words to your bookmarks instead of just stuffing them into a folder. A bookmark can have multiple tags if you want. Then you can go back and search/sort by entering the tag and find all the bookmarks that share that tag. It's a lot more flexible and powerful than a set hierarchy of folders.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

6. Do it

I can't get over how terrific Firefox 3 is. So freakin' fast, your head spins. Really slick.

I miss the tinyurl add-on, though.

[villager]

2. I finally got a "dual boot" set up on my PC laptop, and really like the Linux side o' the avenue...

n/t

[tridim]

3. I just see it as another new "standards based" browser..

That continues to do things in very UNstandard ways. Not good IMO.

But, I'm happy that you like it. :)

[RoyGBiv]

7. Such as?

It passes Acid2.

It doesn't pass Acid3, but then nothing but the development releases of Opera and Safari pass Acid3, and the test itself may not even be entirely valid at this point since bugs keep being found by those trying to come into compliance.

Anyway, just curious.

[pokerfan]

9. Yeah, like IE ever cared about standards

:rofl:

[RoyGBiv]

11. They're not even trying ...

...and they admit it.

I had to laugh at their take on "standards" as being more like "guidelines" rather than "rules." I think someone in PR had just run across that reference and thought it sounded good. IE7 is a bit better than their previous versions, but still far, far short.

You'd think IE8 would be a golden opportunity to catch up, but noooooo. Standards compliance doesn't fit with what their trying to do, or words to that effect.

Yeah, no shit.

[tridim]

12. Mostly flash plugin issues (my business), some rendering issues still remain as well.

I have no choice but to develop for all browsers and it has always been FF that causes the most grief.

IE isn't all that great either, but at least it renders what I tell it to render, every time.

[RoyGBiv]

13. You've got it backwards then ...

The problem with embedding Flash objects is that so many developers have for so long done it in non-standard ways that the major browsers support those non-standard ways. And IE doesn't support the *standard*. So, since it has such a huge market-share, this creates a nightmare for developers even attempting to be standards compliant.

As for rendering issues, if IE does it the way you want 100% of the time while another, standard-compliant browser does not, this might suggest the markup you're using isn't standards-complaint, no?

Anyway ... I feel for you. The proliferation of IE early in the game and their absolute refusal to maintain a standard of any type is one of the main sources of the problem. Now you've got a situation where people like you have to jump through a dozen hoops to try to make things work for everyone.

[tridim]

16. Except that IE is the major browser, by far.

The boss says it comes first.

That said, my code is always 100% compliant. Believe it or not FF has issues with rendering compliant code. It's mostly minor stuff and I can always program around the bugs, but I'd rather not have to deal with it.

[RoyGBiv]

18. Version 2 or 3?

FF 2 was never 100% compliant, so that makes sense.

Version 3 is ... well, it always depends on how one defines 100%. With the CSS/HTML/XHTML standard, it is.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

14. The "Download Embedded" add-on author needs to provide an update

It's one of my most frequently used add-ons, and I'm not doin' the happy banana dance until it's back in my arsenal.

[pokerfan]

15. oooh... that sounds like a sweet plug-in

My add-ons:
NoScript
FlashBlock
SiteAdvisor
AdBlock & Filterset G
DownloadHelper
DownThemAll
PDFDownload
Greasemonkey
StumbleUpon

[Amerigo Vespucci]

17. It is...

...you go to a Web Site where there's an imbedded QuickTime movie and click the red arrow and it's YOURS.

The option is to use IE and yank it out of the cache folder.

FireFox also has "Download Helper," which is SIMILAR to "Download Embedded," just not as GOOD.

I also have EVERY one of the add-ons you've listed...I SALUTE YOU!

:patriot:

I also like "ForecastFox" (weather updates) and "Update Scanner" (lets you load a favorite Web Page and see changes since your last visit highlighted).

Also, because I design Web Sites for a living, I couldn't live without "Web Developer" and "HTML Validator."

:toast: