Why You Should Switch to Firefox

by Ben Goodger

Firefox empowers you to accomplish things online faster and more efficiently than any other browser, period. Offering the industry’s best implementations of features such as Tab-Browsing and popup blocking, as well as a horde of other seamless innovations, Firefox stands out ahead of every other web browser.

It’s all about YOU

The Firefox team has focused on the big picture – improving real world performance and increasing the value you get out of your time online. What are you doing online? How can we make that easier for you? Page layout speed is only one part of the equation. Firefox’s tools will change the way you browse, they will make browsing more intuitive, more convenient, and at the same time orders of magnitude faster. In fact, we believe you’ll at least double what you get out of the internet. Firefox’s tools work with you, rather than against you, as invisibly as possible. Read on to find out more.

Tab-Browsing

Firefox makes browsing easier than ever before with best Tab-Browsing around. Tab-Browsing changes the way you use the internet by allowing you to open links on a page in background “Tabs” and then read them when you’re ready. No confusing new windows, no need for context menus, just hold down Ctrl when clicking a link, or use your middle mouse button (if you have one). Tab-Browsing is central to Firefox, you can set your home page to be a group of Tabs. You can open an entire folder of bookmarks in Tabs.

Browsing with Tabs makes browsing the internet faster and more efficient. You can concentrate on reading each page without the confusion of having to switch between windows. As you’re reading each page, links you have opened in background Tabs load, so when you’re ready to read them they’ve already loaded and you don’t need to wait.

Tab-Browsing can be likened to a TiVo DVR with two tuners – record two programs while you watch another – but in the case of Tab-Browsing you can download many pages in the background while you read the first. TiVo has changed the way people watch TV, and likewise Tab-Browsing is a revolutionary change to the way you browse the internet. Firefox brings you the simplest, most intuitive version of Tab-Browsing you will find.

Popup Blocking

Firefox stops annoying popup windows dead in their tracks. Experience the web as it was supposed to be – peaceful, convenient, accessible.

Some sites make legitimate use of popup windows. When Firefox blocks a popup window, it displays an icon in the status bar. Clicking this icon shows a breakdown of the popup(s) that Firefox stopped when loading the current page. You can then allow some or all of the popup windows to be shown.

Find Stuff Faster

Much of the time you spend using a web browser is spent looking for things. That’s why Firefox has the best search functions of any browser. Ctrl+K takes you to the Google bar. Enter what you’re searching for and hit Enter to search Google. Entering a search into the Location bar does an “I’m feeling lucky” Google search (that is, it automatically loads the first result returned by Google for that search).

Firefox’s collection of Smart Keywords make it easy to look up words in the Dictionary, check on stock quotes, etc. Just type the keyword, then the word, stock symbol or other value in the Location Bar, and hit Enter. A full list of Firefox’s supported Smart Keywords is available here, and if they aren’t enough for you you can make your own!.

Firefox’s “Find Stuff Faster” mantra is more than just skin deep. Other parts of the browser have been engineered with search in mind. Take Tab-Browsing – run a search in one tab, then open search results in background tabs, and flick between them to compare. Bookmarks and History have QuickFind bars that let you quickly locate a bookmark in a long list, or a place you visited several days ago.Firefox’s handy browser context menus also let you instantly search for selected text.

Simplified Privacy

Your privacy is important to us. Firefox makes it easy to keep track of information that the browser has stored while you’ve been surfing, such as things you’ve typed into forms, Cookies, filesyou’ve downloaded, pages you’ve visited (History), and so on. You can quickly clear any of these things from the Privacy panel of Tools, Options. If you’re using a public or shared computer, you can also instantly clear all stored information with a single click.

Annoyance Eliminator

Aside from preventing popup windows, Firefox will also stop a number of other actions that have been annoying web surfers for years, like status bar tricks (e.g. animating status bar tickers, and spoofing that prevents you from seeing where links really go). We’ve designed Firefox so that the standard settings offer the least annoyance. Controls for these settings can be found in the Web Features page under Options.

Firefox comes with the same sophisticated set of controls as Mozilla that allow you to control cookies, Javascript, and other settings to suit your tastes.

Better Bookmarks and History.

Firefox makes it easier to organize your Bookmark collection with its handy Bookmarks manager (Bookmarks, Manage Bookmarks… menu item). Create folders to group similar items, and add annotations to remind yourself of why you bookmarked a particular item later. Sort on any of a number of properties including Name, Location, Date Last Visited, etc. Firefox also lets you associate a Keyword with any bookmark so you can open it by simply typing its keyword in the Location Bar of the browser.

Both Bookmarks and History are available as convenient Side Bar panels for quick access. Simply hit Ctrl+B for Bookmarks, and Ctrl+H for History. Links open with a click.

Best Accessibility

Firefox offers the best set of keyboard shortcuts about. Ctrl+L quickly focuses the Location Bar. Ctrl+K the Google Bar. Ctrl+T opens a new tab and Ctrl+S does what it should do – save the current page. A full set of keyboard shortcuts is available here.

Firefox also features sophisticated ‘Type-Ahead Find’ for links that make it easier for users with accessibility needs (such as those using screen readers, or even laptop users with inconvenient pointing devices) to select links. Simply start typing the name of the link that you want to select and Firefox will shift focus to it.

Intelligent

Firefox remembers what you’ve filled in web forms, to make searching for things again, or filling out things like your name and address a simple process. Firefox also features a handy Password Manager that automatically fills out user-name/password fields on sites that require you to log in.

More Responsive

Firefox feels more responsive in day-to-day browsing than competitors like Internet Explorer. Pages appear on screen sooner, and there are fewer annoying lock ups. The effect is a browser that feels faster.

Customize Toolbars

Set up your toolbars the way you want them. Have just a thin strip with everything on one bar. Have a set of toolbars with every option available within reach. Firefox’s toolbars are fully customizable so you can have it the way you like it. Choose View, Toolbars, Customize…and simply drag on the items you want. Firefox even lets you create new toolbars. Third party extensions often add Toolbar items to the Customize Palette as well.

Most Extensible

Firefox’s user interface can be extended by developers using industry standards such as XML, CSS, JavaScript etc, as well as complex C++ add on modules. Examples of such extensions include everything from relatively simple utilities to advanced tools such as a JavaScript Debugger and Document Inspector. A full list of existing extensions is available here. Extensions are easily installed.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Firefox is built on the Mozilla Gecko layout engine, one of the fastest layout engines available today.

More Space for Pages

We place a great deal of importance on space for web pages in Firefox. That’s why our browser has more space devoted to web pages than Internet Explorer, Opera, or Mozilla. Firefox offers 2% more space to web pages than Mozilla, 4% more than Internet Explorer, and a whopping 10% more than Opera. (Standard configurations tested, sidebars closed, window maximized at 1600×1200). You can get even more space by rearranging the content of the toolbars. Firefox also offers a Full Screen mode (Press F11 to enter/exit) that devotes even more of the screen to the web page.

Simplified User Interface

We’ve put a lot of thought into making using Firefox easy and obvious. Browsers like Mozilla and Opera seem to be focused more on esoteric features, at the expense of all-round usability. That’s why we have created a browser that works in the simplest and most straight-forward way out of the box. Defaults have been carefully chosen so you don’t need to spend time setting up the browser. Menus and dialog boxes are kept clean andfree of options that only a marginal number of people use. If there’s a featurethat Mozilla or Opera has that Firefox lacks, it’s probably for good reason. But if you really do need a particular enhancement, a large number of quality extensions areavailable for free.

Personalize With Themes

Firefox supports a large number of quality themes which can be downloaded for free. These themes can change the appearance of everything from the browser window, to dialog boxes, buttons, menus, etc.

Industry Leading Standards Support

Firefox has world beating support for W3C standards like CSS, DOM, etc. Where browsers like Opera may fail on a dynamic page, Firefox usually succeeds.

Fast to Get, Fast to Use

Less than 3 minutes to download over a broadband connection, Firefox can be yours in no time at all. Firefox starts up and runs much faster than Mozilla because of its significantly optimized code.

Convinced yet? If so, Download it now, Free!

If not, download it anyway, you have nothing to lose. We’re confident that if you give Firefox a try, you won’t go back.