Benefits Of The Firefox Browser

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by: ChrisChanning
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The ignition of project Mozilla dates back to mid 1990's. It all started when Netscape lost the battle with Microsoft over bundling of Internet Explorer browser into Windows. This event marked the end of dominance of Netscape Navigator and it soon started to lose its market share to IE. Netscape released its version 4 in the year 1997 but it was nothing as compared to IE4. It was high time for Netscape to bring something special which could outperform the Microsoft Internet Explorer if they even wish to turn tables around. So, Netscape announced the Mozilla Project in 1998 in which Netscape's source code was thrown open for developer use. And within six years, a web browser was developed which was not only fast, lightweight but also performed every function better than IE. Yes, this browser is none other than Firefox, previously known as Firebird.

Security is a very big issue with Internet browsers. After all, there is no reason in entrusting a browser that has multiple security risks in it that can lead to identity theft, ruin one's computer, or otherwise damage an investment that goes into every computer. Mozilla Firefox recognizes this, and likewise does not allow Active X components that are largely attributed to spyware and security holes. Microsoft's Internet Explorer, on the other hand, has long been associated with security risks that are usually wide open for months at a time- compared to the mere hours or days that Firefox can fix their security holes.

It's interesting to note that disk space requirements of Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Internet Explorer will require a hefty 80 megabytes, while Mozilla Firefox only takes only 4.9 megabytes in disk space to operate- quite a healthy difference!

Firefox derives its powerful rendering engine "Gecko" from its parent Mozilla products. Its rendering is precise and speedy though it fails Acid 2 test (a standard compliance test for webpage rendering) but still scores well above than IE, which lags at the bottom when rendering is considered.

An interesting feature of Firefox is the installation of themes and extensions which makes the browser user customized, a feature which is absent in IE. These themes and extensions are available at the Mozilla and other web developers Websites. The extensions can be added to perform a specific operation for the users such as adblock, Gmail notifier, etc.

Another distinguishing feature of Firefox is the tabbed browsing. With Firefox 2 you can open any number of tabs, rearrange the order of tabs and save all the tabs as bookmarks for latter viewing. Firefox tabbed windows are much superior to IE 7 in terms of memory usage. However one feature which is still missing is the thumbnail preview of each tab as available in Opera browser.

The latest addition in the inventory of Firefox 2 is the session restore. If you are in the middle of typing a long e-mail and suddenly your system hangs or crashes, then Firefox latest "session restore" feature comes to your aid. It restores all your tabs that were there before the system crashed with all your work intact! Also, spell check feature, derived from word processor, gives you ability to correct your spelling mistakes online with a click of mouse.

The future development of Firefox versions has already been started and version 3 which is likely to pass Acid 2 test is expected to release in June 2008. With this release Firefox is set to show doors to IE legacy.

About the Author

Learn more about Mozilla Firefox and Firefox download.

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<h1>Benefits Of The Firefox Browser</h1> <p> The ignition of project Mozilla dates back to mid 1990's. It all started when Netscape lost the battle with Microsoft over bundling of Internet Explorer browser into Windows. This event marked the end of dominance of Netscape Navigator and it soon started to lose its market share to IE. Netscape released its version 4 in the year 1997 but it was nothing as compared to IE4. It was high time for Netscape to bring something special which could outperform the Microsoft Internet Explorer if they even wish to turn tables around. So, Netscape announced the Mozilla Project in 1998 in which Netscape's source code was thrown open for developer use. And within six years, a web browser was developed which was not only fast, lightweight but also performed every function better than IE. Yes, this browser is none other than Firefox, previously known as Firebird.<br /><br />Security is a very big issue with Internet browsers. After all, there is no reason in entrusting a browser that has multiple security risks in it that can lead to identity theft, ruin one's computer, or otherwise damage an investment that goes into every computer. Mozilla Firefox recognizes this, and likewise does not allow Active X components that are largely attributed to spyware and security holes. Microsoft's Internet Explorer, on the other hand, has long been associated with security risks that are usually wide open for months at a time- compared to the mere hours or days that Firefox can fix their security holes.<br /><br />It's interesting to note that disk space requirements of Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Internet Explorer will require a hefty 80 megabytes, while Mozilla Firefox only takes only 4.9 megabytes in disk space to operate- quite a healthy difference!<br /><br />Firefox derives its powerful rendering engine "Gecko" from its parent Mozilla products. Its rendering is precise and speedy though it fails Acid 2 test (a standard compliance test for webpage rendering) but still scores well above than IE, which lags at the bottom when rendering is considered.<br /><br />An interesting feature of Firefox is the installation of themes and extensions which makes the browser user customized, a feature which is absent in IE. These themes and extensions are available at the Mozilla and other web developers Websites. The extensions can be added to perform a specific operation for the users such as adblock, Gmail notifier, etc.<br /><br />Another distinguishing feature of Firefox is the tabbed browsing. With Firefox 2 you can open any number of tabs, rearrange the order of tabs and save all the tabs as bookmarks for latter viewing. Firefox tabbed windows are much superior to IE 7 in terms of memory usage. However one feature which is still missing is the thumbnail preview of each tab as available in Opera browser.<br /><br />The latest addition in the inventory of Firefox 2 is the session restore. If you are in the middle of typing a long e-mail and suddenly your system hangs or crashes, then Firefox latest "session restore" feature comes to your aid. It restores all your tabs that were there before the system crashed with all your work intact! Also, spell check feature, derived from word processor, gives you ability to correct your spelling mistakes online with a click of mouse.<br /><br />The future development of Firefox versions has already been started and version 3 which is likely to pass Acid 2 test is expected to release in June 2008. With this release Firefox is set to show doors to IE legacy. <h2>About the Author</h2> Learn more about <a href="http://www.firefox-mozilla-3.com/">Mozilla Firefox</a> and <a href="http://www.firefox-mozilla-3.com/">Firefox download</a>. </p>

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