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If you’re like most people with a Windows machine, you use Internet Explorer 6 or 7 to browse the web. But there’s a few other browsers out there that you may not have even heard of, which may very well do a better job than IE. Firefox is the one that I’m going to focus on today.
Firefox released the third version of its browser on a week ago yesterday, and more than 8 million people downloaded the new version. What do these people know about this browser that you don’t? Keep reading, and I’ll show you.
The Firefox browser draws its roots from Netscape Navigator, which at one time was as dominant a browser as Internet Explorer is today. But eventually the developers of Navigator decided that they wanted to do something else with the beast, and they laid the plans for what would eventually come to be known as Firefox.
So why should you download Firefox and try it out? Have you ever been reading a website in IE that just looked like it was designed poorly? Maybe the graphics don’t quite line up, or things just look a little…off? Chances are, that page would load properly in Firefox. Microsoft has taken a few liberties with the web design standards and tweaked them so that IE doesn’t always follow the standard. That’s why you get funny looking pages.
Firefox follows the CSS (web design) guidelines much more closely, and, consequently, you’ll get better looking pages in Firefox. But what really sets it apart from IE, is the ability to customize it however you want.
While Firefox there are literally thousands of different themes available for Firefox, you’d be best to probably stick with the original, or maybe try one or two to see how you like them. Chances are, though, that you’ll come back to the original. But where the customization really shines is in your ability to install add-ons to the browser, to make it work the way that you need it to.
Without a doubt, one of the very best add-ons available for Firefox would have to be AdBlock Plus. What this plugin will do is block as much advertising as it can from each page that you browse. And if the odd advertisement slips through, you can tell it to block it, and you’ll never see that ad again on that site.
I have literally visited some websites while using another computer and asked the user when so-and-so site put advertising on their site, only to be told that it’s always been there. I didn’t know about it because I’d NEVER seen ads on the site. Give it a try. You’ll be amazed at the results.
If you like keeping an eye on the weather, give ForecastFox a try. It’ll display 3 day forecasts for all major metropolitan centers, and some pretty out of the way places as well, in your choice of format (imperial or metric).
As with the themes, add-ons number in the thousands, with some being must=haves that will just generally make your browsing experience better, while some are very niche-oriented (in 2006, for example, I installed an add-on that showed me live scores from the FIFA World Cup. I’m hoping that there’s another one written for 2010 tournament in South Africa).
If anyone would like a list of recommened extensions, leave a comment below and I’ll do what I can to forward you a list of add-ons that would be suited for your needs.
Regardless, though, you owe it to yourself to give Firefox 3 a try. We’d love to hear your thoughts if you do, too.