Tip #8: Make Firefox Better
What I want from a browser
- To show the pages correctly
- To show as much as possible from a page (to remove the need of scrolling)
- To provide me with an easy way of accessing pages.
What I don’t like at Firefox
- The search bar is superfluous. I really like what Chrome is doing (and the latest version of Opera?): use the address bar as search bar.
- There is no ad blocker
- There is a lot of wasted space: bookmarks toolbar, menu bar (just think how often you use the top menu), big icons
After a few tweaks I got a browser looking like the one in the picture below that satisfies almost all my needs.
Tweaks applied and how/why to use them
Firefox 3 Review
For those who don’t know, Firefox 3 Final was released today. As any new version of a software product it brings a lot of new, cool and improved features.
The first change that almost any Firefox 2 user will notice is the new graphic interface. This remembers about Internet Explorer 7 GUI at some point :) The icons where redesigned, the back/forward buttons were completely changed, the address bar has new features and more customization is possible.
In my opinion one of the major updates is the Download Manager. Now downloads can be resumed even after you completely close Firefox (if the server supports this feature) – this was a feature I always wanted in Firefox.
The new address bar provides auto completion – when you start typing it displays results from browsing history and bookmarks. The links from bookmarks have a golden start next to them.
Also now it is easier to bookmark a link, just click the white start from its right and the bookmark wizard will appear. Taking about bookmarks, the bookmark manager was redesigned and offers integration with Foxmarks and similar bookmark-backup tools.
Remember when you have tried to zoom a page in Firefox 2 and only the text changed its size? Now when zooming the graphic elements change their size according to the magnification level.
If you think that’s all you are wrong. The addons manager was changed, now you can install some extensions directly from it and offers the possibility to view and enable/disable plugins (adobe acrobat, flash, silverlight, shockwave etc.).
What I’ve told until now are just visual changes. The guys from Mozilla said that the pages load faster, the memory usage was drastically reduced and web standards compatibility was improved but I cannot confirm this because I’ve been using Firefox 3 for only 8 hours.
Also, I’ve found one bug but I think that it will be fixed soon by Microsoft. Even though I have installed Silverlight, Microsoft’s website cannot find this plugin and asks me to install it. :)
Overall, the new Firefox brings some new cool and useful features and I think that any Firefox 2.x or even Firefox 1.x (are there any? :) ) should update to this new version.
Download Day 2008
The quote below is from the official Download Day 2008 website. The guys from Mozilla want to set up a new World record for the most downloads in 1 day.
Set a Guinness World Record
Enjoy a Better WebSounds like a good deal, right? All you have to do is get Firefox 3 during Download Day to help set the record for most software downloads in 24 hours – it’s that easy. We’re not asking you to swallow a sword or to balance 30 spoons on your face, although that would be kind of awesome.
If you want to help just click the one of the links above. :)
The download date is not yet known but they will announce it soon. That day will be Firefox 3 launch date.