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Mozilla Firefox - Why You Should Get It

Firefox has been created by the developers of the old "Netscape Navigator" browser. While Netscape lost out to Microsoft during the 'Browser Wars', they were still around. They had dominated for several years as Microsoft and others began really developing their web browsers. Netscape also had a side project called Mozilla that became a popular underground "antiMicrosoft" browser. While it was a good browser, it lacked the ability to dislodge Internet Explorer because of the wide spread use of IE by millions who really did not understand the intricacies of web browsers. Netscape then became Mozilla and then created a newer browser; Firefox. It was designed to compete directly with IE. It was bred to be small but powerful browser. It does not come with the many security problems that plague Microsoft's IE and other products. Firefox also has the expandability via "extensions" or plug-ins to add more features and customizations Firefox is a better browser, as I have found, due to the ability to simplify one's browsing experience and greater flexibility as in its tabbed browsing. Please consider switching to Firefox to better secure your web browsing experience. Now, here is the Caveat, some web sites are truly designed with IE in mind. So some times you will need to use IE to get all the enhanced features of the site. But that is O.K. with me; I have only found one that really requires IE to do what I want to do.

Getting Mozilla Firefox

To download Mozilla Firefox, go to http://getfirefox.com and select “Download Now!”
When asked to ‘Open the file’ or ‘Save it to your computer’, select ‘Open’ to begin installation. If you save it to your computer, save the file to your desktop and double-click the FirefoxSetup-0.9.2.exe to start the install.
Users can also purchase the Mozilla CD from the Mozilla Store http://store.mozilla.org which includes Mozilla Firefox.

About Your IE Settings

Firefox imports your existing settings from Internet Explorer. An import wizard will run when you first install Firefox (and is also available later through the File menu, File > Import), and it imports your Favorites, Internet Options, cookies, stored passwords, and a variety of other data. This saves you time customizing Firefox to fit your needs.

Internet Explorer and Firefox Terminology Differences

Internet Explorer	Firefox
Internet Options	Options
Temporary Internet Files	Cache
Favorites	Bookmarks
Address Bar	Location Bar
Refresh	Reload
Links Bar	Bookmarks Toolbar
Explorer Bar	Sidebar
Copy Shortcut	Copy Link Location

Some of Firefox’s Excellent Features

Tabbed Browsing: Instead of opening a separate browser window for each site you want to visit, you can open multiple sites within the same window when using tabs. You can also set a group of tabs as your home page.
Pop-up Blocker: Lets you allow or suppress both popup and popunder windows.
Cookie Manager: Lets you change what Firefox will do when accepting cookies.
Download Manager: Organizes your downloads by storing them in a single window to minimize clutter. You have full access to download statistics without using unnecessary multiple windows for each download.