Firefox 0.9.3 and climbing!

I decided it was time I confessed. My favorite browser is not Microsoft IE - pronounced, "aiyeeee..." for some obscure reason, by the way. Nor is it Netscape.

Right now, it is Mozilla's svelt and oh so intelligent Firefox web browser.

I like it because the extensions for it are so powerful it makes the web easier to search, create pages for, test, investigate, and analyze, than ever before.

My favorite extensions for Firefox at the moment? That is easy.

In no particular order, they are...

CSS Edit

real time CSS displayer/editor - if you are a web guy/gal and you don't have CSS Edit, you could be an expert on CSS - if you had just downloaded it 5 minutes ago. This little extension is the killer app for the Firefox sidebar.

Web Developer toolbar

If you are a web developer... you need to get this tool bar. Do not tell anyone, do not ask for permission... just - get - this tool bar - now! Whatever you have to do, just get it. It lets you resize your browser to standard screen sizes with one command, validate the current page's CSS or HTML with one click. View the HTML source for a page with one click. It will identify the CSS class and id attributes everywhere in the page. It lets you view forms and form fields, HTTP request and response headers - you name it. You make web pages or web applications for a living and you don't have this toolbar - then you are missing out my friend.

Sage

Lets me view RSS news feeds without even leaving my browser or even flipping back and forth between it and another program. Why leave my browser to look at a list of news stories in another application, just so it can throw me back to where I am right now. Do I look like I am made out of time??? Sage solves that problem.

MAB

An Amazon browser. Lets me search through Amazon site for products a lot faster than regular, generic web browser mode. Sometimes you want to flip pages. Sometimes you just want to look at a list of the things you might be interested in displayed in a nice, concise list. MAB does that.

Googlebar

Do you Google? And you don't have the Googlebar, or you think you can only get one for MS-IE? Think again, my friend! Search Google for a phase or word instantly: the news site, the regular search engine, the per-computer OS site, whatever. It lets you translate a page to English instantly. It does so much you could find yourself using it more than many frequently applications on your computer. This is useful for anybody using the web, not just developers.

Reasons I like Firefox so much are:

• speed - it is fast.


• smart - it knows more of the HTML standard and CSS standard for web pages than any other browser out there.


• safe - fewer privacy violations than with that other browser. It does not do ActiveX. It does not run Visual Basic Script. It renders pages the safe/standard way: HTML 4.01; CSS 1, 2, 2.1; Java 2; Javascript. The stuff that the web invented, Firefox was built for. So you can use the web - without being afraid.


• stable - if Firefox takes a powder, it will not take the whole operating system including the desktop to the powder room with it. You know who I am talking about? Yeah, you do.


• portable - truly portable; it works with any popular operating system, not just ahem one.


• convenient - it lets you block popups, monitor cookies that try to take extra liberties, has anti-phishing guards, can notify you when updates come out if you want, state of the art SSL/TLS secure protocol support (HTTPS), full control/viewing capability of your bookmarks, cookies, passwords, history, etc.


• extendable - with one click on Extensions command in the Tools menu, you can go shopping for free extensions at their extensive, comprehensive, frequently updated extension repository web site. So thoughful, let's shop - it won't cost a dime!


• customizable - in this modern age of ring tones and cell phone well paper, you have got to be able to change the look and feel of your browser to show your personal tastes - and love of style. This browser was designed for your attitude from day one, baby. Click on the Themes command in the Tools menu and feast your eyes on all the personalizing cool looks you can put on your browser like a new skin. C'mon, be honest. Would you rather someone complimented you on that new coat you just bought last week - or that slammin' browser skin you downloaded this morning? That coat is old, this skin is new.


• free - MS IE only works on one OS and that happens to the be one it has the most problems on. Firefox does not require you to buy an OS to get a free browser. It would not be free if it did.

Want to get Firefox and try it out? You bet you do!

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