Firefox, tabbed browsing.

knzn

knzn

Joined
Jul 20, 1999
Messages
683
Thanks to someone here, Danelle I think, I have started using Mosilla's Firefox browser. It is working fine and I find a lot less spy/ad ware when running my detection programs now.

One of its highly advertised features is Tabbed Browsing. This lets you have two or more web pages up and running at the same time and you can click one and while it is loading click to another and read it while the first one is loading.

When I was using IE's browser, I used to run more than one browser simply by clicking my browser Icon for each extra browser I wanted to run.Then I could just click down on the task bar to bring up the one I wanted while the other was loading. So, am I missing something, or what is the big deal with tabbed browing? Don't get me wrong, I am not putting Firefox down, I just wonder if I don't fully under stand what tabbed browsing is.
 
In IE (and Firefox) simply hold the shift key while clicking a link and it'll open in a new window. Cuts down on mouse movement. Holding ctrl in Firefox opens the link in a new tab.

The main benifit (I think) for tab browsing is less toolbar clutter. You can have a bunch of webpages going at once, but only 1 space at the bottom of the screen is used.
 
You can also open a link in a new tab in Firefox by clicking it with the wheel button on a three buttom mouse. I have been using Firefox since about 0.8 release and like it much better than IE.

Tabbed browsing does help cut down on task bar clutter, but so does Windows XP. Windows XP will combine multiple instances of the same program into a single taskbar entry. Tabbed browsing just makes it easier to see what pages are open, and to navigate between them.

Firefox also has many other advantages over IE as well, security is one of them as you mentioned. Just remember that nothing is perfect, everything has flaws and security vulnarabilities. It just so happens that MS products so dominate the market that hackers only bother exploiting those products. I also believe that Firefox is opensource, so it would actually be easier to find and exploit security flaws. Just mentioning this as a warning though, and reminder that nothing on the internet is truly 100% secure.

All that in mind I just absolutely love Firefox. Much quicker, and more customizable than IE. Lots of cool extensions and skins are available too.
 
Also, I believe that each new tab in Firefox uses less RAM than a new IE window does. Plus Firefox has a built in Google search bar (very handy and spyware free!), can be set to have multiple websites as your homepage (several tabs) and all of the extensions available are fun to play around with. I have mine set up with mouse gestures for instance, so to go back a page, all I have to do is press the right mousekey and draw a line to the left. In short, Firefox rocks. :)
 
I used it for a few days....started to grow on me, but caused other problems....been awhile, maybe I'll check it out again.
 
Planterz said:
The main benifit (I think) for tab browsing is less toolbar clutter. You can have a bunch of webpages going at once, but only 1 space at the bottom of the screen is used.
Click to expand...

This is true!

ErikD said:
Tabbed browsing does help cut down on task bar clutter, but so does Windows XP. Windows XP will combine multiple instances of the same program into a single taskbar entry.
Click to expand...

This is not true. XP is pain in the ass. :mad: With firefox you can see what you have open. With XP everything gets smashed together and you can see!
 
If you would like to reap more benefits from Firefox's tabbed browsing, I would recommend you install an extension called Tabbrowser Extension. It's really quite good. It enhances the Firefox tabs far beyond what they are by default. I like it a lot.

After you install it, and restart Firefox, there is a new menu item, called Tab, where you can use it's functionality and edit it's settings. Poke around in there, you'll see things you'll like...

You can find it on this page: http://texturizer.net/firefox/extensions/

Some other really good ones, which I use, are Launchy, Diggler, and Firesomething (this one renames your firefox window for ya...mine is currently "Searacoon")
 
MicMurry said:
This is not true. XP is pain in the ass. :mad: With firefox you can see what you have open. With XP everything gets smashed together and you can see!
Click to expand...

Hey, I never said that it worked well, just that it would group things together! Natarully having 10 different IE windows listed together with no quick way or going to the desired one isn't as cool as having all these nice tabs, thats why I use Firefox.

Blackwatch,

Actually I think everything that can be done thorugh the extension can be done without it, you just need to go through a list of thousands of settings, find the ones you want, and set them up as you desire. At least that is what I did before finding that extension, but it sure does make life easier to be able to just use a few mouse clicks to get things done.
 
Wow, lots of Firefox fans here. Thanks for all the replys and tips.
Roadrunner :
I kind of wondered about the less ram issue. Things are a bit more speedy with Firefox for me, a plus for sure with my old slow computer!
 
knzn said:
Wow, lots of Firefox fans here. Thanks for all the replys and tips.
Roadrunner :
I kind of wondered about the less ram issue. Things are a bit more speedy with Firefox for me, a plus for sure with my old slow computer!
Click to expand...

Same here when I'm running on my laptop. My desktop has a full 1 GB so I don't notice much, but the laptop is a hand-me-down from a friend that I fixed up. Free but s-l-o-o-o-w. :)
 
Nevermind that last post, the laptop now has 512 MB of RAM. :D Just came in the mail a few minutes ago. Amazing what a difference that can make.
 
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