FireFox?

[cicer]

All right, I'm just about ready to cave. I know, I know, everybody who's anybody uses FireFox already, but I have held out because I like my comfort zone and am afraid of having figure out how to work a new browser. But I'm almost ready to think about switching (mostly because the new version of IE is heinously ugly and I refuse to update, which kind of leaves me out in the cold). So tell me, is FireFox really all that and a bag of chips? Is it hard to use? Should I just suck it up and make the switch? Tell me what to dooo.

Comments

[katmaxwell.livejournal.com]

Yes, it really is all that and a bag of chips! I didn't want to switch over either when everyone else was, because all I could think was "but I hate tabs! D: And IE works!" and then I figured, just download it and give it a go.

I've never looked back. If nothing else, the add-ons make it golden. I couldn't live with LJlogin, a widget that lets you log into any LJ account without going through the page -- it's all through a click of a button! I use the del.icio.us plugin religiously, and am in love with my downloader and Adblock Plus (which helps block popups/ads/etc).

I also fell in love with tabs; I thought I'd hate them, but once I discovered that I could cycle through tabs with ctrl+page up or ctrl+page down, I fell in love. I'm one of those people who doesn't like to have a bunch of items in my taskbar, so the fact that I could have one window open with 20+ tabs, all showing me what they were and easily go-through-able? (My phraseology is amazing!) Golden. It's wonderful.

Downsides are, of course, that it can crash sometimes when you're doing something strenuous -- especially if you have a bunch of add-ons like I do. But even then, Firefox automatically saves your session so that when you restart it, all your tabs load back up where you had them! (I have no idea if the new IE does this. The new IE makes my blood boil. I try to avoid it as much as possible.)

... but yes. I could keep going. It's simply a better, more efficient browser in my opinion. If nothing else, I base this on the fact that it takes forever for IE to even load pages -- and I've never been able to discover why. But yes. Firefox is love, and totally worth the strange "culture shock" you experience when you switch.

... WOW TL;DR

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Iiinteresting. Yeah, one of the biggest things that has been holding me back is the tabs thing. Haet tabs. That's also mostly what's kept me from updating to IE 7, ironically. But faster browsing would be a big, big plus. IE is so slow. I think I shall try it.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

No one waves a gun at you and makes you use the tabs, you know.

[cicer.livejournal.com]

I knew that, but I didn't realize how easy it was to circumvent them! I can see it's simpler than I thought, though. Oops.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Heee.

[scribblemoose]

I find Firefox incredibly easy to use, and not really all that different from IE. I find it much faster than IE and far less prone to crashing.

Do you currently use IE7, the version with tabs? Because tabs are probably the biggest difference between Firefox and IE up to version 7 - and also one of the handiest features, as it saves having zillions of windows open.

If there's anything else you'd like to know I'd be happy to help if I can. :)

[cicer.livejournal.com]

I haven't updated to IE 7 because I hate the look of tabs. However, if I want Firefox, I guess I'll just have to suck it up and get used to them. :) Thanks for sharing your opinion!

[scribblemoose]

If you don't like tabs, you can use Firefox without. If you close all but one, it doesn't show them, and you can use hte 'tools' menu to set it to open links etc. in new windows instead.

But honestly, they're fab. :)

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Oooo. Shiny. As I said to lady_ganesh, I didn't realize how easy it was to just not use them. For some reason I thought they were more of a default. Duh.

I'm testing them out and seeing if I can get used to them! I do tend to keep a lot of windows open, so I can see how this would really declutter things. I am fully prepared to fall in love with them and have to eat my words. XD

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Firefox's tabs are much nicer and easier to use than IE's, btw.

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Just tested both browsers out, and yes, they definitely are!

[psycho-shoelace.livejournal.com]

I've been using Firefox for about two years and no complaints so far. It's safer, it's faster and it's more user-friendly than IE, in my opinion. What's also really good about it is how easy you can get and use the add-ons and the tab system. Give it a try, at least!

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Safer and faster would be A++ awesome. I shall try it!

[andmydog.livejournal.com]

Firefox is badical. It's easy to use, has great tech support, and there's loads of fun widgets you can install if the fancy strikes. ljlogin is my lord and personal saviour, I kid you not.

[cicer.livejournal.com]

I have heard tell of these 'widgets'. I don't know how many of them I'd actually use, but I may check them out once I get accustomed to the new browser.

[harukami]

I pretty much love firefox, and I too had been reluctant to switch. I find it really easy to use, the plugins -- if you get them -- are pretty self-explanatory, and it did things like introduce tabbed browsing (before ie did). Also lol lj widget for gamers = yes.

[cicer.livejournal.com]

The support of Firefox seems to be universal. :) Really, I've lookes around, and hardly anyone has anything bad to say about it. That's a pretty ringing endorsement.

As I said above, I'm really not crazy about tabs, and I only have one LJ acount so I don't need the widget. But I'll try it out anyway!

[harukami]

HEH. I used to hate tabs until I got firefox, which -- isn't saying you'll change or eeven that you should change, but I'll say I got addicted to them because they became so damn handy XD

[cicer.livejournal.com]

A lot of people have said that, and I can see that once I get used to them I might agree. They're not so bad. :)

[wk-recomend.livejournal.com]

Firefox = LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE :D

So, yes. Make the switch. Do it. Dooooooooooooooooo iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. You will love it.

It is very easy to use. Just d'load it, go through the set up and go. :D

The tabs also equal love. :D

So do iiiiiiiiiiiiiit. :D

D

[cicer.livejournal.com]

I'm going to at least try it out. I figure if I don't like it I can just switch back, though everyone is telling me I'll love it. XD

[devikun.livejournal.com]

Hahaha. What everyone else said about Firefox, except mine is HOT PINK FOR BREAST CANCER AWARENESS. Firefox skins are love ^____^

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Ooo, skins? I didn't know they had those.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

It is the most customizable interface evah. My search tab has imdb, lonely planet, expedia, google, wikipedia....

[hungry-worm.livejournal.com]

I've been using Safari (Mac) so far, because I didn't like Firefox' way to download files and it's look... but after reading the comments I feel like downloading the new version and giving it a try again. XD Safari has started crashing on me lately, that's why. :P

BUt yes, I remember that Firefox was quite fast. The downside to it and Safari is in my opinion that you seem to have less options in saving webpages. IE gives you the option to save linked pictures and movies, too, which is the main reason why I still keep it - in case I badly want to save a webpage with links to many other sub pages. I should check if there are ways to make Safari and FF do that.

Other than that, forget IE; any other alternative is better, and tabs are massive love. *can't live without tabs D:*

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm getting the feeling I'm in the clear minority when it comes to tabs, though. XD

[hungry-worm.livejournal.com]

*realizes she posted about Safari and not FF* I obviously am an idiot. XD I don't know if FireFox allows you to disable the tabbed browsing, but I'm sure it should be possible to open new windows instead of having them open in tabbed mode. It might just be a thing you grow to like slowly... once you like it, you can't be without it, but getting used to it in the first place is strange. As for me, I dislike switching browsers generally, because ehh, new look, new feel, I need to fiddle around with it to get familiar with the functions, download the handy plug-ins that make it better etc. In short, it requires effort and I'm lazy by default. :)

[doire]

"Save page as" and choose type "web page, complete" if you want to do what I think you want to do.

And adblock! Firefox is worth it just for adblock.

And as you type dictionaries.

[hungry-worm.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip with the web pages. I really haven't used FF much, and I must agree that the main reason was the interface... it just doesn't really appeal to me, I prefer Safari (but haha, I used to have toule letting go of IE back when I switched, because initially I didn't like Safari's look and feel, either).

I noticed that FF is behaving better than Safari when it comes to uploading stuff to Mediafire.com or Gigasize.com, so maybe I'll see if I can get used to it. (Safari blocks pop-ups, too, so that alone doesn't convince me. XD)

[slashfairy.livejournal.com]

i'm mac, have been for years. have to use IE sometimes at uni or on jobs, hate it. safari...ok for downloading.

but firefox, oh man... agreed ljlogin is a dream; tabbed browsing a dream; and the support really is all that and a bag of chips. the few times i've needed them they've been right on it.

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Hm. That's good to know. Thanks!

[thawrecka]

Firefox uses up a great deal of memory. Other than that, everyone raves about the tabs but most newer versions of most browsers (inc IE and Netscape) have tabs now.

[cicer.livejournal.com]

It does? That's not good. I'll try and run it and see how it works on my system.

Yeah, I really don't like tabs at all. Maybe I can get used to them, though.

[thawrecka]

You do get used to tabs and it seems to be something newer versions of pretty much all browsers are getting, anyway.