Firefox 101 - Web browsing made better
For the longest time, Internet Explorer had been the only widely available browsing application for surfing the web. Now, things have changed and people have a huge range of browsers to choose from, and that’s a really good thing.
There’s one browser that stands out from the crowd though and that is Firefox from Mozilla - believe me, if you don’t have it installed and running on your system yet, you really should get Firefox!
What is Firefox?
Firefox is another web browser, just like the Internet Explorer web browser you are used to, but with a number of differences - all of which are good reasons to make the switch today.
Why should I switch to Firefox?
Probably, because there are very few reasons NOT to switch:
- It’s a robust, lightweight and secure web browser (much more so than Internet Explorer)
- It has tabbed browsing, built-in search and is extensible (more on this later…)
- It’s made by the Mozilla Corporation and the developer community and is a free application
- It looks and feels a lot like Internet Explorer - but better
so the learning curve is pretty much flat - …and lots more geeky reasons, but these make sense to normal people
How do I ‘get Firefox?’
It’s really simple to download and install Firefox. Click the link on the right-hand side of this page (the one that says ‘Get Firefox with Google Toolbar’) to begin downloading. When asked, choose a place on your computer to save the application. The desktop is usually the best spot since its easy to find things there. Firefox is quite a small program, which means a quick download, and it should only take a few minutes to download it to your computer on a broadband connection (maybe 10-15 minutes on a dialup modem). Once the download has finished, switch to your desktop and look for the Firefox installer program. Double click to install the software and then follow the prompts. For most people, you can agree to all of the recommended, default options. Choose ‘Yes‘ when asked to import your favorites from Internet Explorer. Keep clicking ‘Next‘ to get through the installer wizard’s windows and then click ‘Finish‘ when you reach the end.
That’s it, you’ve installed Firefox - not too difficult, was it?
Once installed, there will be a Firefox icon on your desktop (look for an orange, circular icon with an ‘ahem’ firefox(?) on it!). As with any other Windows application, you just double click the icon to run it.
The first time you run Firefox, you are asked whether you want Firefox to become your default browser. That is, when you click a link in say an email, Firefox will open instead of Internet Explorer. This is a very good idea, but don’t feel that you need to make that decision right this moment. So, for the time being, click ‘No’ and have a play around to get used to things. It will ask you each time you start it up, so you can say ‘Yes’ on your second or third try if you’d prefer.
OK, so now you’re looking at Firefox. I told you it looks a lot like Internet Explorer didn’t I? While it looks a bit like it, and seems to work just like it, it’s really quite different both cosmetically and under the hood:
Security
It is well known in tech circles that Internet Explorer is one of Windows’ weakest links. It’s the application that sucks up all those web pages and sits out there all exposed and vulnerable on the wild world wide web and roughly 90 percent of all web surfers around the world use Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer has also seen some a myriad of updates over the years, and holes are continuously being plugged, and holes continue to be found.
This has made Internet Explorer a perfect target for hackers and people whose motives are less than admirable.
Internet Explorer 7, the next version of Microsoft’s popular browser, which is due for release in late 2006/early 2007, shows some promise and improvements on the security front, but it’s not here yet.
Firefox is nothing like Internet Explorer in this way. The holes and exploits in Internet Explorer simply aren’t there in Firefox and that fact makes Firefox the better choice for starters.
One of the single best first steps you can take in securing your computer while on the Internet (and I’ll be covering some of the other security fundamentals over the weeks) is to install and use Firefox as your main web browser application.
‘Automagic’ Updates
Firefox is also updated very regularly. The neat thing for novices and newbies here is that you never need to worry about remembering to update the software. Firefox does this all automatically for you. It quietly downloads them in the background without bothering you and it tells you when there are updates to install. All you usually need to do is shutdown and re-open Firefox and the job’s done!
Extensions
One brilliant feature of Firefox is that it is ‘extensible’. In more simple terms, this means you can add things on to it to make it do extra things!
These tend to be tiny little programs that run inside of Firefox offering extra functionality. Many are incredibly useful and can make a big difference to how you use your browser, making it much more than just a browser, others are quite frankly, silly little wastes of time - but fun!
I’ll be doing a seperate guide on how to install extensions as well as offering a few of my top extension picks for those new to Firefox. Be sure to check back for that…
[UPDATE: Firefox 102 - Extensions now online]
Tabbed browsing
This allows you to have multiple websites open at the same time in different ‘tabs’ underneath the address bar. This saves a bit of clutter along the task bar in Windows (the bit at the bottom of the screen next to the Start button where your running applications are shown) since all your web pages load within the same browser window.
To open a new tab, choose the File menu and then choose New Tab, or press the CTRL key and T at the same time. Voila! A new tab appears ready for you ready to open another web page into. Type in a web address or pick something from your bookmarks, then press CTRL and T again to add some more tabs until you have a few on screen (maybe 4 or 5) displaying your most frequently visited sites.
Now, you can set them ALL as your home page(s). Go to the Tools Menu, then Options and under the General tab in the Home Page section, choose ‘Use Current Page(s)’. Each time you open Firefox from now on, all of those pages will load without you having to touch your bookmarks (Bookmarks are the same as favourites in Internet Explorer)
This has to be one of the most useful features of Firefox. Tabbed browsing is all the rage these days - Internet Explorer 7 has taken a leaf out of Firefox’s book and will also sport tabbed browsing - copy cats!
Built-in pop-up blocker
Have you ever visited a website and had lots of annoying web browser windows pop up all across the screen? I’m sure you have. Well, those windows are called ‘pop-ups’ and they are REALLY annoying. Firefox blocks them for you!
Built-in Google (and other search engines) search form
What is the first thing most people do when they get online? Search for information. Where do they go to do that?? They go to Google. See that little box in the top right of the Firefox window next to where you type in website addresses? That’s Google. Type in your search phrase and press the Enter key. Google will furnish you with search results as if you were at Google in the first place.
Click the little G icon in the box…yep, all those search engines work too. Give them a try. Not satisfied? Click ‘Add Engines’ at the bottom to pick hundreds more.
Enough said.
Live Bookmarks
These are automatically updating bookmarks which use RSS to give you information about what news a website is showing without you having to visit it. This is a whole topic in itself in deserves its own space. Pop back again and we’ll cover Live Bookmarks, RSS and feed aggregators on another day. Lots to be said on this one and it just might change the way you view some sites… Intrigued?
[UPDATE: Firefox 103 - Live Bookmarks & RSS now online]
Wrap up…
There you have it - Firefox in a nutshell - a little taste of what Firefox has in store for you. Hopefully, this has piqued your interest. If you like Firefox, and there’s lots to like, tell your friends about it and of course let me know what you think too by leaving a comment… I’ll be doing more posts on Firefox as promised over the next few weeks go by so ’stay tuned’.
Enjoy!
UPDATE: Once finished here, be sure to check out the next guides in the series:
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