Wow.

[WarLocke]

As the title says, I installed Mozilla today (am actually running late now, didn't know the download would be 12 megs, and I need to head out for lunch).

I've still got to fiddle with all the settings, and apparently need to redownload some stuff (like Flash, for some reason), but wow...

Tabbed browsing is worth switching browsers for all by itself. :blink:

[[wcip]Angel]

Sure beats the crap out of IE.. (and I haven't tried Mozilla myself) ;)

.. I'm an Opera-fan, not due to the tabbed browsing
(which one would assume would be the reason) but
because Opera doesn't crash as much as IE, it doesn't
support all the kinds of Internet-goofy-crap people
make, and it stops pop-ups in their tracks. I have zero,
nil, no pop-ups, none whatsoever. I've completely
forgotten the frustration of surfing ... ehh .. "American
culture" with 100 pop-ups every other second. I also
like the download manager that comes with Opera a
hell of a lot more than the one in IE.. Only reason I
haven't tried Mozilla, is because I'm completely satisfied
with Opera.

- [wcip]Angel
Avid Opera-supporter

[Yrrek]

Same with me, I have Opera, and once I get some money I will buy the full version! This is my favorite browser I have ever used, most definately!

[WarLocke]

I use FlashGet as my download manager. I find it works better than GetRight or Gator. The only problem I have (had?) with it is that it was picky about reconnecting if my connection was lost... Half the time it would try to dial back before IE did, which caused a funky freeze when IE tried to dial the number that was already being dialed. I never did figure out why that happened. Hopefully it won't happen with Mozilla.

Hrmm, gotta check and see if Mozilla comes with a pop-stopper...

- WL

[Kevin]

*nix versions of Mozilla have pop stoppers built in. Haven't really messed with a windows version of it.

[yangman]

I've just installed Mozilla on to my machine a while ago.

Haven't played around with all of the settings much, but the speed increase alone has been worth it.

One thing I don't like is how I can't do a "Open File" when downloading .exe's. There's probably some setting to change it somewhere...

[Quark]

First off, I recommend anyone using IE/Opera check this site out:
Complex Spiral

Hell, if you use Mozilla or a derivative, check it out anyway to see the cool effects.

Opera: Someone stated they used it b/c of stability. As far as I've seen, Mozilla is more stable. Working on my previous experience w/ Opera, Mozilla also has better standards-compliance.

Pop-Up Blocker: Built in to all versions of Mozilla. Which reminds me, all features of Mozilla should be near-identical across all platforms.

Image Blocker: Right click an image you find annoying (ads), choose "Block Images from Server", and reload the page. No more images from that server ;)

Now, for the Evangelism: Mozilla Firebird (formerly called Phoenix) is my choice. It's based off the Mozilla code, only it's a standalone web browser. No editor, no e-mail, no Useless Junk You'll Never Use ™. In fact, due to the CVS structure Mozilla is built off of, many changes in Mozilla also appear in Firebird (though the reverse is not true). I'm currently running the recent milestone release 0.6, but I've been using the nightly releases alot to stay up-to-date on it.

If you want to switch Mail too, Thunderbird is in early development - only nightlies, not even a 0.1 release yet. It's the same concept of Firebird (standalone, based off MozillaMail). It's highly experimental right now, as their adopting many of the Firebird practices.

Mozilla.org is currently pushing for 1.4's release. They are doing Release Candidates to make sure this build comes out right. Why? Because as of 1.5, the Mozilla codebase will be the standalone Firebird/Thunderbird group. There is a huge amount of work to be done to make everything either standalone or plugin based (Read more at Mozilla.org's roadmap if you want further details). However, there's huge benefits speed-wise and code-wise (much more organized). Extensions, which are able to enhance any part of the programs, are becoming much easier to encode, install, change settings, disable, and uninstall.

Current Setup:
Firebird 0.6
Edit: I recommend installing using the Unofficial Installer, as it adds registry entries some plugins (like Flash) want for installation.
Pinball Theme (Here for Mozilla)

Extensions:
Tabbrowser Extensions (This is a must have for Mozilla AND Firebird!)
SmoothWheel 0.3 (Better than the smooth-scrolling built in)
AutoScroll (Like IE's middle-button click then drag scrolling)

And if you have any question whatsoever about Firebird, it's probably answered Here

Addition: I've also got custom user.js, user-Content.css, and user-Chrome.css running, as specified at the link above in the various tips they give out. With it I totally disable blink, marquee, change around a bunch of menus and stuff, and here's the kicker block the vast majority of advertisements from ever loading. Images and Flash Ads.

[Elric of Grans]

Hail WarLocke,

I've used Mozilla browsers for a while now; these days I use Phoenix 0.5 (0.6 is renamed to Project Firebird; I've not got around to downloading the new version yet), which is by the same people, but slightly more optimised - and does not include all the extra junk I'll never use (ie email client, IRC client, etc). The popup stopper seems quite flawless too, amongst other things. Indeed, every last anoying thing I've ever seen people do with pages seems to be prevented. It also loads the program fast, and pages fly: very nice :)

[Quark]

Okay, as of 1.4b (beta release) and Firebird awhile ago (it was put in some time before 0.6) you can download a file and then run it directly w/ "Launch File" (like a movie).

"Open File," which, in IE, only downloads to a temporary directory and then immediately opens the file, is a security risk. That could be the wrong file, a false-link with Trojan, Virus, or Adware/Spyware infected files. Downloading then running the program means the user had a chance to check the file.

The only time I ever use "open file" is when I'm updating someone's laptop at my school's Help Desk, straight from my school's FTP server.

[swirly]

First off, I recommend anyone using IE/Opera check this site out:
Complex Spiral

Hell, if you use Mozilla or a derivative, check it out anyway to see the cool effects.

Opera: Someone stated they used it b/c of stability. As far as I've seen, Mozilla is more stable. Working on my previous experience w/ Opera, Mozilla also has better standards-compliance.

I've gone to that site in the past and again just now and everything loads just find. Basically all his complaints that are made in the demo's are about old opera versions. Here is a quote by Eric Meyer, who is the creator of that site, on opera 7 (opera is actually on 7.11 now, but the quote was based on 7 when it was first released)

Is Opera 7 better than Opera 6? Yes. Does it have a good CSS engine? Yes. Is it the best CSS engine I've seen? No. Close, but not quite.

So by what I have read from him, he places the mozilla type browsers just a little above opera now. From my experience I see it the other way around, following the standards to the tee has made me make more work arounds for things to work in netscape than for them to work in opera. It may depend alot on what type of things you are doing though. Basically both browsers still have some problems. Anymore I think it comes down to more of a personal preference. Both opera and mozilla have good standards support at this point so that shouldn't be a limiting factor in choosing one over the other.

I do admit that I have only tried netscape and not any of the mozillas. Still I prefer opera over everything I have tried so far. The latest version has made many leaps in support from the older one, unfortunately when many people here "opera" they still think of the older one. So opera has a little bit of a problem in that they need to change what people know about it.

edit: for those who are curious I got the above quote from Eric Meyer from Eric's Archived Thoughts. There are actually two places where he comments on opera 7. The one where I quoted from and then later where he says that all (or most, can't remember which he said and I am paraphrasing) the parts that he thought might be bugs in how opera 7 does things look to be differences in interpretation instead of bugs. Meaning that opera does things different than the mozilla browsers, but both do it correctly. The standards aren't concrete about some things and so there is room for difference and yet those differences both are correct. Anyway thats just an interesting css sidenote. : )

[Kevin]

You can do that with IE as well, I actually thought that was what was originally being asked about. When you save an .exe you can open the folder where you downloaded the file, run the file, or close the download dialog. You can also run an .exe straight from a the site, which is what you are refering to, but that is actually turned off by default with one of the patches (it may take SP1, dunno).

Just had to clear that up so that people didn't think that doing a right click save as, or just having the automated action being save and then using the open option after the file was downloaded did that. If you click on the .exe and immediately click open instead of save, then it does as described.

[Quark]

Yeah, I wasn't sure about the latest Opera version (which I tried to convey while writing that post). It's just my experiences with Opera overall (not just CSS) left me wanting. Besides the fact that Mozilla/Firebird are 100% free.

[swirly]

I realized that you weren't refering to the latest version, but figured I could give you a little information about it anyway. ; ) There do seem to be some people who just don't like how opera works just like there are some who don't like how netscape or ie or whatever work. There is large amount that is based just off of the feeling a person gets when using certain browsers. Different people have a different feel for different things. : )

[WarLocke]

OK, I've already downloaded/installed the latest Mozilla milestone (1.3.1? I think), but I have Firebird 0.5 queued in FlashGet. I'll replace Mozilla with Firebird in the morning, as I honestly don't think I'll ever be using the extra junk that came with Mozilla (the email program, java plugin I think, yada yada). A standalone Mozilla-type browser is exactly what I need/want. B)

I'm not clear on what extension are, though. They're like plugins? To add extra functionality?

FlashGet is gona earn its keep tonight -- I have Firebird queued, as well as the D2 Classic mp3 collection off of Battle.net (83mb zipped), the new Freedom Force X mod (56 new attributes and more powers, drool) and the "Strangers - Year One" compilation mod for FF (48mb zip). I'd be grabbing the LOD mp3s as well, but the server they're hosted on doesn't like me, for some reason.

- WL

[ithil]

Thanks, Quark. I just went through those pages and tweaked Firebird extensively. Pinball is beautiful.

[Quark]

I'm not clear on what extension are, though. They're like plugins? To add extra functionality?

Yeah. What is generally referred to as a "plugin" (I.E. Flash, Acrobat Reader) generally allows for a new type of webbrowsing (.pdfs, .swf, etc ...).

The "extensions" either change or add code for UI, Tab management, etc, directly on top of the Mozilla/Firebird code. For instance, Tabbrowser Extensions gives you a huge list of options, including stuff like loading new tabs in background (nice if you want to open up a bunch of news stories off a main site). There's even a Mouse Gestures one for people who use Opera and like that (I never liked them as I was always fighting my browsing style to not activate them erronously).

I've also uploaded my user.js, userChrome.css and userContent.css Here if you want to compare.

[yangman]

I was actually referring to both methods, but if it is being implemented already, then I'll just wait for them to finalize 1.4. (I've never had very good experiences with beta-builds)

When I still used IE, I used to use Open File quite often for exe and zip files when I know they are installation files or auto-extract zip files. I just don't want to save the files, extract them, then delete the compressed files. It was much more convinient for the original archive to be in a temporary folder that is automatically emptied.

[Quark]

Straight from: http://www.mozilla.org/start/1.0/faq/browser.html#2.9

2.9. Why doesn’t Mozilla allow me to run an .exe (executable file) directly from an Internet location?

    This is a security precaution to help avoid malicious software getting onto your system or network. Not allowing a program to run directly from an Internet location allows you to make sure that what you are running is indeed what it seems, and to scan the file with anti-virus software if necessary.

    Other files (documents) can still be launched directly from Mozilla.

[ithil]

What good does that really do? People who want to verify the .exe would save it anyway, and people that aren't going to will just run it and delete the installer. A better solution would be to add an option disabling Open File.

[WarLocke]

What good does that really do? People who want to verify the .exe would save it anyway, and people that aren't going to will just run it and delete the installer.

I kind of agree, but I think it's just because I'm anal. I have an "Installation Files" directory that I dump anything I think I may need later into (so I have the DivX 5.05 bundle in there, the Firebird installer, etc... as well as all my game patches/mods sorted into directories).

- WL