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On Ditching IE And Starting To Use Firefox

All Acting Regiment

20:07 / 16.06.05

I think the best way I can sum up my recent move to Firefox, apart from telling everyone who hasn't already got it to get it, is to supply you with an anecdote.

IE used to be slow. Really slow. It would try to load a huge image file, completely ignoring the fact that it would be more useful to just load the (fucking bastard) text.

So, I'd have a lot of downtime during my internet usage. One of the things I used to do was imagine how I could find a small, beleagured army of tiny little men, about as tall as two of my fingernails end to end. I had a plan worked out. They could live in the cavity my removable 2nd harddrive doesn't stay in; I could bring them bread, little chunks of it.

Then I thought: Teh Spiders! Yeah? I mean, if you were tiny, the spiders'd be after you wouldn't they. So I got to thinking how I could rig up a long, sharpened peice of wire they could use as a pike.

Then, I imagined one of the little men turning round to me and saying: "No, no, no. We're not real. Get a better browser and stop pestering us."

So I did.

16:04 / 20.06.05

and with that you wiped from existence a community of tiny bread-eating men. They have merely been imaginary but think of their long travails against the spider hordes armed with nowt but pike-like pieces of wire. They fought long and hard only to be destroyed by their creator on a whim. On a whim!

Is the quick and tabbed browsing you now enjoy worth their bold sacrifice I ask you?

Well in my opinion it probably was, welcome to the world of Firefox. I'm loving it.

08:09 / 21.06.05

ctrl+t!
WOOT!

All Acting Regiment

09:10 / 21.06.05

Well the other day I found a small marketplace under the desk selling "Spider Steaks", so I think they're doing okay.

nedrichards is confused

11:21 / 21.06.05

And Ctrl+W, learn the power, the power to fight! Also, I know I shouldn't tempt you becuase that's bad and evil and stuff but I'm suing the the Deer Park Alpha 1 which, when it becomes a lot more stable and clever will become the next generation Firefox 1.1 these days. And it kicks your ass *all over the shop* with its awesomeness. Happy times.

ONLY NICE THINGS

11:35 / 21.06.05

I'm mainly using Safari at the moment, which I find pretty much identical to Firefox in functional terms, although the "shut tab" clickies on the tabs themselves are a bit accident-prone.... ctrl(apple)+T is a thing of beauty - I can't believe Microsoft haven't installed it yet in IE.

12:24 / 21.06.05

I have to use IE at work, but I’ve tried Firefox at home and on a superficial level I couldn’t really see any advantage. In fact, I recall that it fucked with the format on some pages, including Barbelith I think (although I can’t check that for now, to be sure). So, please slap me around a bit and tell me why I should be using Mozilla. Bear in mind that I’m probably a bit clueless – for example, I don’t really understand how tabbed browsing is better than just opening up another IE window (ctrl+N!).

12:55 / 21.06.05

tabs=less power needed.
its only one instance of a program running, not two, three, etc.
it also seems to be less susceptible to viral infection.
i dont know if i imagined it, but it seemed a teensy weensy bit quicker.
it also has better functionality for webdesign purposes, allowingyou to do stuff like highlight something and 'view>source' for just that something.

also, it looks prettier on your desktop.

12:56 / 21.06.05

oh, and i havent noticed it fucking with the format.
(on it now, btw)

ONLY NICE THINGS

13:17 / 21.06.05

In fact, I recall that it fucked with the format on some pages

This doesn't affect the qualitative experience, but I feel I should point out that this is not Firefox's fault - if HTML is written well, Firefox reads it. Thhe problem is that Internet Explorer tolerates and in some cases encourages bad code, so if a designer has only checked the page on IE it may not render well. Firefox is standard-compliant, IE isn't.

More generally - the main advantage is size and modularity. Firefox is a small program, compared to IE, which has a basic set of functions. If you need more, you download extensions, but if you don't need them you don't have to download or run them. It's also a lot more secure and less prone to exploits than IE, in part although not entirely because it does not allow ActiveX controls to download and install software onto your computer - you are much less likely to get spyware or adware from surfing with Firefox, although as it becomes more popular this will change.

I find tabbed browsing uses my screen more effectively, but your mileage etc.

13:23 / 21.06.05

Ahhh, hadn’t really thought about the size and the power thing. To be honest, I can normally flit between 6 or 7 IE browser windows without noticing any lag – the only downside seeming to be the need for a very fat task bar. But if the thing would run faster using tabs, that’s tempting of course.
I’d heard about the improved security, but I think my fairly conscientious approach to other precautionary measures, and (touch wood) a virus-free history, has made me a little complacent about the advantages that might confer. Having another layer of security does appeal to my paranoia though.
When I get home I’ll check out the format screwiness I remember from my original experiment with Firefox. Maybe it was a glitch with an early version, maybe I was doing something wrong, maybe I imagined it. Ah, no, I mention it here. Will fire it up again tonight and give it another go.

13:52 / 21.06.05

toksik: "ctrl-t! WOOT!"
me: (wonder what that does...) a new tab! you beauty!

ned-o-tron: "and ctrl-w, learn the power!"
me: (give that a go too...) ...FUCK!! oh well, at least I have a new tab from toksik to work back from.

But anyway, I installed firefox a few weeks back, following the recommendations in another thread; I have to say I love it. Tabbed browsing, the way it manages downloads, bulletproof stability.

It just works really nicely. Give it a go if you haven't.

14:37 / 21.06.05

as somebody who is known to design web pages and who is feeling particularly ungenerous this afternoon, I will say that IE is a fucking disgraceful piece of obselete shite that is holding back the web by its simple refusal to properly follow and support standards and technologies that are several years old now (i.e. prehistoric in net terms) purely because of its market share derived from monopolistic business practices

and I hate you if you use it

hate hate hate hate

IE6 is a bit better with CSS, but still not good at all and there is no possible excuse for it being so shit given that everything else in the universe seems to manage it

anyone who still uses IE5 - and there are a lot of people who do - might as well be browsing the net on an etchasketch, but thankfully the pathetic GUI-monkeys who pass for corporate web designers in this godforsaken world have mostly stopped pandering to the demands of its users who would, in a fair world, have their mouse-fingers cut off

14:45 / 21.06.05

Nice one, fridge. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with toksik and Haus’s measured, reasonable and tolerant responses to my confession. I was kinda waiting for you to turn up, hoping for a more proportional response. You haven’t let me down; I really feel the hate, and it's compelling. I thank you.

14:54 / 21.06.05

no problem mate, any time

15:36 / 21.06.05

I think it should be reiterated tha Firefox is great for avoiding infection - Adware, Spyware and Viruses.

Like Haus says, the more popular it gets the less likely this is to remain the case, but for now...

16:09 / 21.06.05

If you really want to blow your mind download greasemonkey, an extension that allows you to add site specific pieces of DHTML.

Why is this cool? Ok install greasemonkey, check out this blof entry on the need for an animated history on wikipedia then download this example script. Then check out this Wikipedia page.

Cool neh?

Oh just tried it on our wiki, doesn't work and generates an error message 'Permission denied to call method XMLHttpRequest.open' any ideas if that's fixable?

16:34 / 21.06.05

I think I have some weird virus or somethin' that's not allowing me to download anything. ANything I try to download I get sent to a consumer alert page with a 401 error. So I can't download firefox. Is there anyway someone could send me the firefox over aim or something?

16:51 / 21.06.05

Can you not use a download manager, Jeb?

17:10 / 21.06.05

I don't know what that means.

18:25 / 21.06.05

oh, and

firefoxes

I couldn't find an image of an Internet Explorer but undoubtedly it would just be some spotty bloke wanking. You might find that cuter, but that would make you too weird for my liking.

11:15 / 22.06.05

Try using this link

ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/1.0.4/win32/en-US/Firefox%20Setup%201.0.4.exe

IE does FTP and it might bypass the trouble you've been having.

All Acting Regiment

11:47 / 22.06.05

P'raps the most satisfying part of it was going to each and every IE icon, right clicking on it, and deleting it. So that now it looks as if there was no IE ever. I know that's a bit immature, but still.

Update: recently found a small pyramid with effigies of an eight limbed Death God inside it. Hollowed out jelly tots for sarcophagus. Tiny voices doing bizarre chanting late at night: In-Zhy! Whin-Zhy! Down From Ye Spout! etc.

12:02 / 22.06.05

As I've said elsewhere, though, please ensure you keep running IE peridically to get security updates. You might not be using it, but the little bastard is still lurking in the OS ready to screw your computer.

14:16 / 22.06.05

Yeah, the only site you actually need it for is the Windows Update page on the microsoft site *sigh*.