Firefox for Dummies

I've looked at loads of stuff in the forums about 'Firefox', which is allegedly a super-dooper internet thingy, and I still have some questions...

Can someone please explain to me in relativly simple terms (without taking the pi$$) what is so good and different about Firefox as opposed to IE or whatever.

Does Firefox work under AOL (Don't knock it - it works, and that's good enough for me)

How does it cope with McAfee ant-virus/firewall software?

Is there anything else I should know about Firefox?



Please remember - the only stupid question is the one you didn't ask!

 

Its an internet browser

Its open source

Its free


Thats about all I know, I use it at home and since using it my spyware/adware checking has picked up a hell of a lot less crap on every scan

 

'Tabbed browsing' (which apparently the latest version of IE also has/will have). Basically a way of having multiple pages open without having to open a second 'window' - does actually make a lot of sense and changes the way you use the internet.

And as has already been pointed out, lots of dodgy scumware is written for IE and will be avoided if you're running FF.

 

So that'll be 'tabbed browsing' that makes it different then?

 

Legs - I've been playing with it for a few hours now, and I have the following observations:

1. It's very quick - much quicker than IE.
2. It's functionally a lot simpler.
3. It's a great deal more helpful - it certainly isn't shy at telling you what's going on behind the scenes.
4. You can upgrade it and add themes - although I'm having a few problems doing it across the Mozilla suite right now...
5. Tabbed browsing = very funky indeed.

Not a techno whizz, but it rocks! Just downloaded Thunderbird as well...trying to match themes is trying my patience somewhat...

 

Wossat then?

 

Have a read through the main benefits listed here

I don't use AOL, but I understand that you can now use most other browsers with AOL including Firefox.

Perfectly well. One advantage of Firefox is that there are less exploits/security hacks written for it, therefore it is/should be more secure.

I like Firefox because it is free (yes I know Internet Explorer is as well), a small download and more secure than IE. In my experience it is also faster to load webpages and makes the whole browsing 'experience' more pleasant. The only small minus point is that some websites don't display correctly/at all with Firefox (although this is becoming less of an issue) - so you will need to keep IE installed as an alternative.

If you fancy trying Firefox, just download it from the link above and give it a try. You can run it alongside IE and see if you like it, if you don't just uninstall it!

As you can tell from my signature; I'm a fan of Firefox!

 

It's all here: http://www.arrse.co.uk/wiki/Computer_Advice

msr

 

Like to see you uninstall IE

Says who?

Once again - not true!

You can make IE just as secure as Firefox if you know what you are doing. Quite a lot of the exploits in IE affect Firefox too. As these exploits generally make calls to the OS, which Firefox allows, as it's built to emulate IE to make browsing almost the same. So it's more of the OS at fault than anything else. Firefox are inherently slow to patch their systems too.

Try the fact that over 90% of companies globally still use IE as their primary browser, so IE aint that bad.

For me, I use a mixture of all 3. #1 Opera, #2 IE, #3 Firefox.

At the end of the day, it comes down to the browsing habits of the users and what they click on, surf to, determines how vunerable someones surfing is.

 

Says who? The company I work for doesn't 'give' us Firefox, but everyone's using it.

 

I say and speaking from experience...

Right think this... major bug comes out that affects both IE and Firefox at the same time. M$ publish their patch, which your Network Admins download, deploy and your machine is automagically patched the next time you start up/login on etc.. Now how do they do this with Firefox? They can't. Most users dont think - oh lets go download a whole new copy of Firefox as there is a bug. They just carry on... major bug remains and the org is at risk. One day someone uses your machine, visits site X, gets hit by the exploit and then your Network Admin is chewing your arse for using Firefox and not updating. This also leaves you vunerable to getting a P45 for installing unsanctioned, non-corporate software etc. I've seen it happen a lot!

 

Wrong on both counts. It doesn't automatically do it in all circumstances, thus leaving the risk. It all depends on the working environment. IE patches can be downloaded with SUS/WSUS, manually and then just deployed using AD, SMS or some 3rd party software. Doesn't apply to Firefox if the user downloads it for themselves.

Secondly, most companies use IE because they can get support on the product from IE, whether the usual free support or even paid support. Imagine the automatically downloaded fix for Firefox breaks a product that the company uses, then the company can cease to function. Whereas the IE patch can be tested and deployed in a controlled manner, or not deployed until a work around is obtained.

All major risks a company takes into consideration