Sunny Man’s Blog

October 25th 2006

(0) Mozilla Firefox 2

Blogging, Internet, Misc., News, Technology

I couldn’t go without doing a post on Mozilla Firefox 2, could I now. Yesterday night, Mozilla released the much awaited next version of their ever popular web browser Firefox. The launch wasn’t as publicised or, it seemed, as important as the 1.0 launch but none the less it took place and made a lot of people happy. The launch of version 2 of the browser has meant the inclusion of some much needed features, a user interface refresh and both minor and major bug fixes (although one still hasn’t been fixed even though they say they have! The release of the new version has brought about World Firefox Day, Firefox Party, an improved add-ons site (that has a search that actually searches for what you tell it to) and even a commemorative t-shirt (which I have!), but is all the hype that surrounded this version worth it? Make up your own mind at the end of this post, if you will. So, when is version 3 out anyway…

New Features

Firefox 2 introduces some new features like automatic in-built spell checking, a new default theme and phishing protection. All these things were provided by third-party extensions in previous versions of Firefox but are now built in for ease of use. I’m particularly pleased that a spell checker has been implemented because it will mean less spelling mistakes in my posts! But, this also means that you can install different dictionaries so I can keep learning Spanish. The good thing about the spell checker is that it works with ‘interactive’ text areas such as TinyMCE and other - something it didn’t use to do.

The new default theme is… different from the previous ‘winstripe’ theme that Firefox had before (on Windows). Personally, I’m not a fan because the icons are a little dull for my liking and the go button is something also not to my taste. But, apparently it’s had a very warm reception anyway. The theme introduces an update on the way Firefox handles tabs as well. Tabs now have their own individual close buttons and they’re styled differently and I do have to say it looks pretty nice the way the tabs are styled. At the right end of the tabs bar there’s also a drop-down list of open tabs so selecting one if you’ve a few tabs open is now easier than going through all of them via trial and error.

With the new release, Mozilla have put a lot of emphasis on security by introducing a phishing filter. In previous versions of Firefox this was also provided by a third-party extension such as the Google Toolbar but is now provided by both Mozilla and Google, in-built into Firefox. This is handy and puts the browser in good running with the less experienced web users as well as internet regulars such as myself, ahem :). As usual, if you use Google as your phishing filter, every website you visit is sent to them and this may deter some users from using the service (as was discussed in a previous post on Google).

Another feature that’s been introduced, following in the footsteps of Opera is session restoration. Firefox can now restore tabs you’ve lost or if you close the browser accidentally, you can open it again with the sites you were viewing before it closed. This is a very nifty feature for those who underestimate the might of their mouse!

Enhancements

There has been a lot of enhancements applied to Firefox 2. These include thousands of bug fixes and security upgrades. Firefox is one of the, if not the, most safest free web browser available on the internet thanks to thousands of security experts. The enhancements that have been made include upgraded security, more customisation options and improved feed viewing as well as the others I’ve mentioned above.

Firefox 2, as I’ve mentioned, introduces a phishing filter to help stop identity theft as well as a number of bug fixes but it also introduces a better add-on (themes and extensions) manager as well as a search engine manager and a new options interface. They’re all designed to make things easier, simpler and more aesthetically pleasing but at the same time providing more options for the user. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of available extensions and themes available for everyone to utilise - only Firefox offers that amount of customisation. The new options interface features some new icons as well as the new options for handling web feeds and the new security options. It’s all presented neatly and is actually very inviting. There are loads of options you can edit to your liking and they’re all sub-divided as well; how handy.

The Firefox Following

Firefox has a huge following of almost every type of user you can think of. In just over two years, Firefox has jumped into the mainstream limelight and was pushed into a market that was begging for an alternative to Internet Explorer and Safari. Almost everyone I know uses Firefox and if they don’t, they don’t use Internet Explorer. It’s a testament to the Mozilla folks and everyone who’s contributed to Firefox that the word is now out. Rocket Boom did a piece a while back where they went out into the city and asked random people whether they used Internet Explorer or Firefox. The results were surprising to many - the word of Mozilla Firefox had spread further than many had thought. Look how far it’s come.

Mozilla Firefox is gaining more and more of the market share every month and Microsoft is losing share every month. Community sites like SpreadFirefox are a hub of communication for suggestions, news and experiences between users and it’s free, open and inviting. Mozilla has expanded into Europe and Japan and is selling merchandise to help fund their venture - something worth while in my opinion. For some reason Mozilla fuels it’s community, it empowers them to make their products better. You can put names and faces to the people of Mozilla like Aza Dotzler and Ben Goodger unlike some other browsers which makes it a more personal affair.

The Best Thing

I carried out a small and simple survey over MSN Windows Live Messenger while writing this and asked people what’s the one best thing about Firefox in your opinion?. These were the top 5 answers I received with the top answer being the most popular:

1. Tabbed browsing
2. Easy to use
3. New security features
4. Session restore feature
5. Customisation options

So, Firefox 2. In the words of Cow, is Firefox fixing the wheel or is it just reinventing it? Try it out for your self, download it now and give it a whirl. Check out the add-on site also to extend Firefox’s capabilities.