The "Retro Game Reviews" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Firefox 2You may look at web browsing as a given; double clicking on the blue ‘e’ on your desktop, and you’re on the Internet. But Internet Explorer isn’t the only available web browser out there, and Mozilla Firefox is an award winning alternative.
At the time of writing (Sunday, 7th Jan 2007), Firefox was at version 2.0.0.1, however a newer version could be available as you read this. If you decide to give it a go, check to ensure you’ve downloaded the latest official release.
Firefox is available to PC and Apple Mac users, as well as those who choose to use Linux, and is available in many languages, free of charge.
At first look, Firefox may appear to be similar to Internet Explorer 6 (the version that came with Windows XP), but under the similar hat and coat is a web browser that can hold it’s own.
Tabs
First off, you can browse multiple web sites within the same browser window, without the need of clogging up your Windows task bar. Each tab can display the web site icon and title to make browsing them easier, as well as allowing you to re-order them, if you feel the need to.
Spell checker
Working in a similar way to how Microsoft Word does, the Firefox spell checker will let you know when you’ve made a possible spelling mistake while you’re typing in to a web sites form field (such as Freeola’s subject and message box when making a post), and offers up suggested corrections. This nifty little addition can make posting on chat forums a lot less embarrassing.
Bookmarks
A pretty basic feature that all good web browsers have (Internet Explorer calls them Favorites), that allows you to store web sites that you’ve visited and liked, so that you can easily refer to them again later. Firefox does however, allow you to set a keyword for each of your bookmarks, which you can then simply type in to your address bar to access, rather than having to go through your list of sites you’ve saved. For example, if you were to bookmark Freeola Chat, you could set the keyword to fc. From that point on, typing fc in to your address bar would load up the bookmark for Freeola Chat.
Live titles
A Live Title is a new feature that web site owners can offer that allow your bookmark titles to be updated with the latest site information, rather than remaining static. For example, if you were to add the Freeola gameaday web site to your bookmarks, the standard bookmark title text reads “Win free games - enter online free competition …”, but because Freeola offer a live title, you can select to have the latest site information appear as your bookmark title, which in Freeola’s case, is the date, name, and entry type of the latest gameaday winner.
If your favourite web sites don’t offer a live title of their own, you can actually create your own, or use one that someone else has created.
Live Bookmarks and Web feeds
A web feed is a relatively new way for web site content to be viewed on the Internet. Rather than relying on the user to browse a given web site to find what they are looking for, a web site can offer a web feed that will contain the content that the user would like. This is generally considered a replacement for the common mailing list.
Firefox offers the user the ability to use a web feed as a Live Bookmark, or to add it to a web feed reader.
A live Bookmark is displayed alongside the other bookmarks, but are grouped together in a way that lists one bookmark entry for each web feed entry. For example, if a user subscribed to a web feed that contained 5 entries, Firefox would display 5 bookmarks. This allows the user to see when new content has been added to the web feed by the site owner, and can click on the live bookmark that they wish to view / read.
If the user has downloaded their own feed reader or uses an online reader such as Google’s or Yahoo’s, Firefox will let them add it to the web site (once they have logged in).
Search facilities
Firefox offers two type of search, in the form of a web search box and an inline search function.
Web search
In the top right of Firefox is a search box, which allows you to directly search the web using your chosen search engine(s). Simply type in your search term, select your search engine, and go.
Firefox allows you to add and remove search options as you desire, as well as inform you of a search option that is available when browsing a web site that has it’s own to offer. Freeola’s cheats, walkthrough, and domain name web sites offer such search function, as do other non-search engine web sites.
Using the search box, Google (as well as some others) will offer up suggestions for what you’re typing in to search for. For example, if you were to type in b, Google would suggest bbc, bbc news or british airways (as well as other things). This may make searching the web a lot easier, as you may be offered a suggestion that suites your searching needs.
Page search
Firefox offers a page search feature that allows you to search the current web page for certain words, which is handy for larger pages (such as a Freeola chat thread). You can use the next and previous buttons to jump to each occurrence of the word(s) you’ve searched for, and can even highlight them in yellow.
Session Restore
An unfortunate problem with any software is the occurrence of a program or system crash, where the program (or whole computer system) will stop working and close down. In the event that this were to happen while using Firefox, the web browser will save your current browsing session and allow you to carry on from this point when you next open it up. For example, if a system crash were to happen at the time you were browsing the BBC News web site, downloading a file, while doing some online shopping, and filling in a reply on Freeola chat, Firefox will allow you to continue from this point on (even saving the text you’ve partly written in the Freeola chat forum).
Privacy
Don’t want the girlfriend to find out you’ve been looking at wedding rings from Argos? Firefox offers the ability to clear private data at a click of a button and even allows the option of automatically deleting private data every time you close the browser.
Private data includes web address history, cache, cookies, and download history.
Phishing protection
The term “phishing” refers to the act of trying to impersonate a legitimate web site, and this has become a popular form of fraud online, where fake web sites are set up and email sent out which try and encourage users to log in with their banking details to a site that looks like their bank, but is in fact a fraudulent site.
Firefox’s phishing filter attempts to protect users against such sites by checking a list of known phishing sites before allowing a users personal log in details to be sent out. This is done either by using a regularly updated list that is downloaded to the users computer, or using an online service (such as Google) to check each web site against an online list (similar to how Internet Explorer 7 works).
Whichever method is selected (by the user), the aim is to prevent personal data being sent to a fraudulent web site.
Add-ons
By and large Firefox’s biggest claim to fame is it’s vast array of additional downloads that can change the way you browse the web.
Previously themes and extensions were listed as separate items in Firefox, but have since been combined under the title Add-ons. An add-on is a small program or plug-in that enables you to add additional functionality to Firefox, effectively allowing you to personalise the browser to your own taste. You can view all the current add-ons via the official Mozilla add-ons web site, or if you have the ability and desire, can create one yourself.
Themes
A theme refers to how Firefox looks, from the back and forward buttons, to the scroll bar and options menus - and can be changed from the default look that you see when you first install it. If you go to the themes section of the Mozilla web site, you can browse and pick a theme which you prefer, and install it there and then. You can install more than one theme, and change which is used at any time.
Extensions
An extension refers to additional functionality that can be added to Firefox. There are many extensions available to Firefox, and each can be installed and customised quickly and easily. You can browse the currently available extensions and see which (if any) you feel would ease / extend your web browsing activity.
General extensions
A couple of handy extensions for everyday web browsing include IE Tab (for sites that still require Internet Explorer), Viamatic foXpose (replicates Internet Explorer 7’s quick tabs feature) and NewsFox, a web feed reader.
Web development extensions
Some recommended extensions for people who intent to build a Freeola hosted web site include Web Developer, Firebug, IE Tab, Html Validator and Total Validator.
One thing to note, if you install many extensions, you may find your computer / browser will be slower to start-up / run.
Overall rating
I would give Firefox a rating of 9 / 10 or 95%, because while I think it is a great web browser with a lot of functionality, there is always room for improvement when it comes to computer software.
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
Firefox 2You may look at web browsing as a given; double clicking on the blue ‘e’ on your desktop, and you’re on the Internet. But Internet Explorer isn’t the only available web browser out there, and Mozilla Firefox is an award winning alternative.
At the time of writing (Sunday, 7th Jan 2007), Firefox was at version 2.0.0.1, however a newer version could be available as you read this. If you decide to give it a go, check to ensure you’ve downloaded the latest official release.
Firefox is available to PC and Apple Mac users, as well as those who choose to use Linux, and is available in many languages, free of charge.
At first look, Firefox may appear to be similar to Internet Explorer 6 (the version that came with Windows XP), but under the similar hat and coat is a web browser that can hold it’s own.
Tabs
First off, you can browse multiple web sites within the same browser window, without the need of clogging up your Windows task bar. Each tab can display the web site icon and title to make browsing them easier, as well as allowing you to re-order them, if you feel the need to.
Spell checker
Working in a similar way to how Microsoft Word does, the Firefox spell checker will let you know when you’ve made a possible spelling mistake while you’re typing in to a web sites form field (such as Freeola’s subject and message box when making a post), and offers up suggested corrections. This nifty little addition can make posting on chat forums a lot less embarrassing.
Bookmarks
A pretty basic feature that all good web browsers have (Internet Explorer calls them Favorites), that allows you to store web sites that you’ve visited and liked, so that you can easily refer to them again later. Firefox does however, allow you to set a keyword for each of your bookmarks, which you can then simply type in to your address bar to access, rather than having to go through your list of sites you’ve saved. For example, if you were to bookmark Freeola Chat, you could set the keyword to fc. From that point on, typing fc in to your address bar would load up the bookmark for Freeola Chat.
Live titles
A Live Title is a new feature that web site owners can offer that allow your bookmark titles to be updated with the latest site information, rather than remaining static. For example, if you were to add the Freeola gameaday web site to your bookmarks, the standard bookmark title text reads “Win free games - enter online free competition …”, but because Freeola offer a live title, you can select to have the latest site information appear as your bookmark title, which in Freeola’s case, is the date, name, and entry type of the latest gameaday winner.
If your favourite web sites don’t offer a live title of their own, you can actually create your own, or use one that someone else has created.
Live Bookmarks and Web feeds
A web feed is a relatively new way for web site content to be viewed on the Internet. Rather than relying on the user to browse a given web site to find what they are looking for, a web site can offer a web feed that will contain the content that the user would like. This is generally considered a replacement for the common mailing list.
Firefox offers the user the ability to use a web feed as a Live Bookmark, or to add it to a web feed reader.
A live Bookmark is displayed alongside the other bookmarks, but are grouped together in a way that lists one bookmark entry for each web feed entry. For example, if a user subscribed to a web feed that contained 5 entries, Firefox would display 5 bookmarks. This allows the user to see when new content has been added to the web feed by the site owner, and can click on the live bookmark that they wish to view / read.
If the user has downloaded their own feed reader or uses an online reader such as Google’s or Yahoo’s, Firefox will let them add it to the web site (once they have logged in).
Search facilities
Firefox offers two type of search, in the form of a web search box and an inline search function.
Web search
In the top right of Firefox is a search box, which allows you to directly search the web using your chosen search engine(s). Simply type in your search term, select your search engine, and go.
Firefox allows you to add and remove search options as you desire, as well as inform you of a search option that is available when browsing a web site that has it’s own to offer. Freeola’s cheats, walkthrough, and domain name web sites offer such search function, as do other non-search engine web sites.
Using the search box, Google (as well as some others) will offer up suggestions for what you’re typing in to search for. For example, if you were to type in b, Google would suggest bbc, bbc news or british airways (as well as other things). This may make searching the web a lot easier, as you may be offered a suggestion that suites your searching needs.
Page search
Firefox offers a page search feature that allows you to search the current web page for certain words, which is handy for larger pages (such as a Freeola chat thread). You can use the next and previous buttons to jump to each occurrence of the word(s) you’ve searched for, and can even highlight them in yellow.
Session Restore
An unfortunate problem with any software is the occurrence of a program or system crash, where the program (or whole computer system) will stop working and close down. In the event that this were to happen while using Firefox, the web browser will save your current browsing session and allow you to carry on from this point when you next open it up. For example, if a system crash were to happen at the time you were browsing the BBC News web site, downloading a file, while doing some online shopping, and filling in a reply on Freeola chat, Firefox will allow you to continue from this point on (even saving the text you’ve partly written in the Freeola chat forum).
Privacy
Don’t want the girlfriend to find out you’ve been looking at wedding rings from Argos? Firefox offers the ability to clear private data at a click of a button and even allows the option of automatically deleting private data every time you close the browser.
Private data includes web address history, cache, cookies, and download history.
Phishing protection
The term “phishing” refers to the act of trying to impersonate a legitimate web site, and this has become a popular form of fraud online, where fake web sites are set up and email sent out which try and encourage users to log in with their banking details to a site that looks like their bank, but is in fact a fraudulent site.
Firefox’s phishing filter attempts to protect users against such sites by checking a list of known phishing sites before allowing a users personal log in details to be sent out. This is done either by using a regularly updated list that is downloaded to the users computer, or using an online service (such as Google) to check each web site against an online list (similar to how Internet Explorer 7 works).
Whichever method is selected (by the user), the aim is to prevent personal data being sent to a fraudulent web site.
Add-ons
By and large Firefox’s biggest claim to fame is it’s vast array of additional downloads that can change the way you browse the web.
Previously themes and extensions were listed as separate items in Firefox, but have since been combined under the title Add-ons. An add-on is a small program or plug-in that enables you to add additional functionality to Firefox, effectively allowing you to personalise the browser to your own taste. You can view all the current add-ons via the official Mozilla add-ons web site, or if you have the ability and desire, can create one yourself.
Themes
A theme refers to how Firefox looks, from the back and forward buttons, to the scroll bar and options menus - and can be changed from the default look that you see when you first install it. If you go to the themes section of the Mozilla web site, you can browse and pick a theme which you prefer, and install it there and then. You can install more than one theme, and change which is used at any time.
Extensions
An extension refers to additional functionality that can be added to Firefox. There are many extensions available to Firefox, and each can be installed and customised quickly and easily. You can browse the currently available extensions and see which (if any) you feel would ease / extend your web browsing activity.
General extensions
A couple of handy extensions for everyday web browsing include IE Tab (for sites that still require Internet Explorer), Viamatic foXpose (replicates Internet Explorer 7’s quick tabs feature) and NewsFox, a web feed reader.
Web development extensions
Some recommended extensions for people who intent to build a Freeola hosted web site include Web Developer, Firebug, IE Tab, Html Validator and Total Validator.
One thing to note, if you install many extensions, you may find your computer / browser will be slower to start-up / run.
Overall rating
I would give Firefox a rating of 9 / 10 or 95%, because while I think it is a great web browser with a lot of functionality, there is always room for improvement when it comes to computer software.