Why Mozilla? Pros and Cons (1 Viewer)

Ronald Epstein · Aug 20, 2003

In another thread I read a member disgustingly
state, "...and I'm not sure why anyone would
use IE over mozilla these days."

Okay. Tell me about Mozilla.

I went to their home page located here:

http://www.mozilla.org

Why should I give up Internet Explorer and
switch to Mozilla?

What are the advantages? What are the cons?

Is Mozilla FREE like Internet Explorer? As
fast, powerful and full-featured as IE?

Also....

I see Mozilla 1.4 and FIREBIRD
browsers. Which one do I want? What are the
differences between the two?

The better you sell me on this browser, the better
you'll probably sell the rest of us.

Matt DeVillier · Aug 20, 2003

disgustingly? cmon Ron, there was a smiley at the end

Mozilla is a free open-source browser that is the basis for Netscape 7 and a few other browsers. The current version, 1.4, offers an integrated suite of apps much like the old Netscape Communicator 4.x series - a browser, mail client, chat client, html editor, and a whole lot more. When you run the installer, you can choose which components are installed though.

Not too long ago, the Mozilla guys decided to move to a separate browser apps, Firebird, and mail app, Thunderbird. both are still based on the Mozilla core, and are in pre-1.0 status right now.

Mozilla is faster than IE rendering pages. It loads about as fast if you use the "quick start" option. the biggest plusses for me are the banner ad handing, cookie handing and pop-up handling. tabbed browsing is also very convenient. the mail client is tops, and doesn't suffer any of the security holes that outlook express does.

the only con is that there are some web pages programmed to use IE-only features, and won't render perfectly on Mozilla. I find that they are few and far betweek these days though.

the best thing to do is just download it and play around with it. I'm not anti-MS by any means, but I know a better browser when I see one

I'm sure others will offer their $.02 as well

Tony-B · Aug 20, 2003

I will tell you about Mozilla, Ron.

Yes, it is free just like IE. Concerning the Mozilla 1.4 VS Firebird question, I would just get Mozilla 1.4, since Firebird is still being worked on.

Mozilla is extremely fast. I think it's even faster than IE. Some of the nice features about it are that you can block all pop up ads, and even turn off images that don't originate from the server that the web site is on (sorta like banner ad blocking). Another neat little thing is that you can use skins on Mozilla.

What I think Mozilla's biggest selling point is the tabbed browsing. Like, with IE, you have multiple windows open for all the different pages that you are on, but in Mozilla, you can have a bunch of tabs at the top of the window that allow you to switch pages quickly, and without cluttering up your taskbar.

I noticed that you like the Google Toolbar, however you would not be able to use that with Mozilla.

Ron, just download it and try it out. You have nothing to lose.

John_Berger · Aug 20, 2003

I'll just give you a run-down of Mozilla's pros and cons.

Pros

Costs as much as IE -- Free!
Pop-up blocking built in with ability to allow pop-ups from certain sites
Image blocking (to prevent banner ads as so forth)
Very fast, particularly in comparison with older versions of Netscape
Tabbed browsing (which you will quickly grow dependent upon)
Complete IMAP/POP mail client (with full version)
IRC chat client (with full version)
Newsgroup client (with full version)
Password, form, and cookie management
Open-source, thereby continually being improved by people all over the world, not just by a single monopoly who has no real benefit or incentive to improving their browser
No susceptibility to Microsoft-proprietary security shortcomings because of unnecessary operating system "integration"
Reputed to adhere to web standards more than IE
Compatible with the vast majority of standards-compliant web sites

Cons

Not 100% compliant with some web sites that implement Microsoft-proprietary code
Some plug-ins don't automatically recognize that Mozilla is Netscape

Some other statements about Mozilla...

World Class: Best of 2003, Web Browser
- PC WORLD Magazine

Editor's Choice Award: Best Web Browser, 2003
- LinuxJournal Magazine

"Mozilla has already become my default browser ... it is as fast and slick and full-featured as I want"
- Andrew Leonard, SALON Magazine

"Beyond Bliss"
- TIME Magazine

NickSo · Aug 20, 2003

If you're looking for a faster, less buggy browser with tabbed browisng, but not willing to sacrifice incompatible coding with IE, check out AVANT BROWSER. http://www.avantbrowser.com/

I was told about this at another forum, i downloaded it, and it works pretty well. its based on IE, and it runs fairly well, fast too.

Definitely a great altenrative to Opera and Mozilla with the compatibility of IE.

Kimmo Jaskari · Aug 20, 2003

It's not entirely on topic, but Opera http://www.opera.com is a great "power browser" choice. It implements the tabbed browsing feature much more completely than Mozilla and has many other nify features - buit-in search fields for tons of search engines including Google and Google Groups to mention just one. You can even customize it and add, say, a built in little line where you can enter text and have the search take place here in the forum.

Mozilla, however, is a safer choice than IE + Outlook Express since it is not nearly as vulnerable, nor as big a target for virus writers.

JamesHl · Aug 20, 2003

I don't have anything new to add, but will emphasize my favorite points:

Popup blocking
Tabbed browsing
Speed

I'm also incredibly annoyed with the way Microsoft is choosing to release needed updates to internet explorer, which is to say that you will get no updates until their new os comes out. How can they say things like this with big holes in things like their CSS support? feh.

Ronald Epstein · Aug 21, 2003

Welp, I downloaded Mozilla. In fact, I am using
it right now.

I must say it does seem to be faster than Internet
Explorer and I do like the "tabbed" window features.

I might just make this my default browser.

Kolya · Aug 22, 2003

Ron, if you have a three button mouse, I strongly suggest going into Mozilla's preferences under Navigator | Tabbed Browsing and checking "Load links in the background" and "Middle-click" for Open Tabs

This way, you can middle-click on links in a document, and they'll load in the background while you continue to read. You can middle-click on the tab itself to close the tab.

Ronald Epstein · Aug 22, 2003

Koyla,

Thanks for this tip.

I have the Logitech MX7000 mouse and I
believe it is a 3-button mouse (I am at work
right now so I can't check).

If all works out, MOZILLA will probably end
up as my choice browser. I do notice that its
loading times are FAR faster than IE.

JamesHl · Aug 22, 2003

Did you get mozilla or firebird? Firebird has less of the junk (assuming you don't use the integrated email etc.), so it loads somewhat faster and takes up less space on your drive, although the amount is really negligible. Firebird is basically just the browser component of mozilla only.

Rob Gillespie · Aug 22, 2003

I must admit, I don't really see what all the fuss is about. Mozilla is basically the same as Netscape was when I first got online at home in '97. It seems a little faster than IE on some pages and maybe the same/slower on others. The popup and ad blocking seems erratic and the bookmark organisation is cumbersome. I already use a third-party ad blocker (AdSubtract Pro) and that's way stronger anyway.

The tab feature is OK but Opera has been doing that for ages. Opera also has that cool mouse gestures feature.

Having the quick-start option enabled means another 15mb of system memory is taken up before even loading Mozilla to use.

It's nice, don't get me wrong. I'm just not seeing anything about Mozilla that would make me dump using IE.

JamesHl · Aug 22, 2003

How's the popup blocking erratic? I have literally never had a popup ad using firebird, perhaps it's the sites I visit. The bookmarks seem the same as IE to me, and the quick start blah can be circumvented by using firebird instead, which starts much faster.

Plus it seems like the toolbar takes up less space.

Jeff_HR · Aug 22, 2003

Mozilla is faster than IE rendering pages. It loads about as fast if you use the "quick start" option

I've been using Mozilla for several weeks now instead of IE. It has not been my experience that Mozilla is that much faster than IE. The main pluses for me are the tabbed browsing & password management. I do miss using the Google bar. The only site that I've found that is allergic to Mozilla is www.freerecordshop.com

Click to expand...

.

Click to expand...

Rob Gillespie · Aug 22, 2003

James, it's possibly just down to me being new with Mozilla, but when the box saying "Block unrequested popups" is ticked I don't expect to get ANY popup windows, and that's not what is happening.

Kolya · Aug 22, 2003

I do miss using the Google bar.

With Mozilla, you don't need the google toolbar.

Go into Preferences | Navigator | Smart Browsing and choose Google as your search engine. You can now google for stuff in two ways:

1. Type your query into the address bar and press the down arrow button so that "Search Google for ..." is highlighted and press enter.

2. highlight the text to be googled, right-click and choose "Web Search for ...".

With respect to speed, I feel that Moz is generally slower, but not enough to matter.

BTW, You're welcome Ron.

Click to expand...

JamesHl · Aug 22, 2003

James, it's possibly just down to me being new with Mozilla, but when the box saying "Block unrequested popups" is ticked I don't expect to get ANY popup windows, and that's not what is happening.

Weird. I never get any with firebird.

Click to expand...

Todd H · Aug 23, 2003

I never get any either. Rob, can you give us a URL of one of the sites giving you a pop-up so we can check?

I love Mozilla because

A) Pop-up blocking is the best I've ever seen.
B) Tabbed-browsing rules!
C) Can block banner ads by simply right-clicking on them and selecting "Block Images from this Server."
D) Can manage cookies and determine what sites can and can't install cookies on your machine.
E) Less security holes than IE.

I dual boot between XP and Linux and use Mozilla exclusively on both operating systems. The only time I use IE in XP is when I'm using Windows Update.

Rob Gillespie · Aug 23, 2003

Link Removed is one.

The popups are actually part of the site when you click on the details of any the products.

It may be part of the design to allow them, but if it's supposed to stop popups I don't expect them to appear - period. There were others but I'd need to reinstall Mozilla to try them again.

Todd H · Aug 23, 2003

You have to remember there is a difference between third party advertising pop-ups and webpage feature pop-ups. I checked the site and the only pop-up I got was when I clicked on something like More Info under a product picture. If you really wanted to stop the pop-ups when you click on More Info, just turn off javascript. Not sure why you would want to though since it would make it hard to find any info about the products they are selling. But you can do it rather easily just the same.

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