Have given up on IE and started using Firefox. Thought you might like to know as Firefox allows you to download free extensions, one of which is called BBcode. Very easy way to insert BBcode on forums like this. There are a stack of other extensions available too.

It's all open source so is free and includes nifty little features like "tab browsing." Better than Internet explorer if you ask me.

[Edited on 7/8/04 by Chris_R]

I started using Firefox about a mounth ago, and agree it's much nicer than IE.

Sam

Same here - very good......

Would anyone know if this ok to use with AOL,as i've encountered probs before when trying to download stuff.

Or it may just be me

[Edited on 7/8/04 by bob]

Don't know about AOL but I've been using Firefox for a few months now on my laptop and it's really slick. IE is, in my opinion, just too damn risky these days due to the continual issues with security weaknesses. You don't even need to be browsing dodgy sites to pick up a virus or too either.

Cheers,
Craig.

I use Avant browser it is based on IE so is easy to get used to but it has a lot more user friendly features.
I find it verey good although i imagine the security issues are still there.

Bob - AOL software is hideous, gets itself stuck in your machine. Better to use their connection and use your own software. AOL is ok till you want to stop using it.

Fierfox is excerlent just like standard Mozilla
shame some pages don't work in it though
oh well

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jasper
Bob - AOL software is hideous, gets itself stuck in your machine. Better to use their connection and use your own software. AOL is ok till you want to stop using it.

---

i've been using firefox on and off for 8 months now, still have to use IE for some badly coded sites, but they're becoming rarer and rarer now.

firefox is very close to IE usabilty wise, and a lot safer really.

could someone explaine what firefox is (note i know zip about compo,s and am easily confused) nurse where are my pills!!!!!

it's an internet browser, like internet explorer, but less crap


http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

Fire fox is the way to go. Only found problems uploading jpegs to the archive sometimes get "This file format is not supported email chrisw if you think it should" Or no data contianed in this document. Minor flaws when you put it against Exploder. As for tabbed browser feature is cool.

I'll give it a try. I'm not keen on the bookmark bit, I like them at the side. I use MYIE2 and it has them on a flyout when you mouse over the screen side, nifty but it's still explorer based. It uses the mouse gesture feature which I've installed in Firefox and I like that.

Anyone tried the Thunderbird email client which is mentioned on the Firefox website? I use Outlook Express at present but again the security flaws scare me a bit at times.

Cheers,
Craig.

i used thunderbird for a bit, it's fine as far as a mail client goes really.

speaking of which, i really ought to go back to it

Not used thunderbird, dose it allow http mail accounts?

I installed Firefox today and I like it

Mongo, what are tabbed browser features? I haven't come across them yet.

for tabs, either middle click your mouse on a link, or hold control and click, it allows you to have lots of pages open on different tabs on the browser, rather than lots of windows


as for http mail, i'm not entirely sure, but give it a go

there are themes too. You can download new ones to change the way it looks.

I've found if you ctrl+b it opens bookmarks (favourites) as a side bar. I like the extensions bit so you can add what you think may be useful.

yeah the remarks made about AOL are right,it kinda takes over and wont let you wander onto something they dont like/agree with.

I was just wondering if if i instal firefox will it affect my AOL billing,i know this might seem as a stupid question but i've been bitten before when i had a BT internet account and those buggers charge the VAT as extra too.

If you are using firefox you just have to download the firesomething extension.....

once you have populated it with some suitable words you get endless fun and amusement everytime you open a new firefox window......

[Edited on 9/8/04 by protofj]

i saw an apple imac yesterday, it looked like a wonerful device. The best feature i saw in the 5 mins i was watching, was where it 'zooms out' on everyhting you are doing, then zooms in on a new 'window'. looked really cool. the guy had 20 days of music on it!

wasnt clit eastwood in this movie?

atb

steve

Have 148:13:54 on mine and I'm still stuck for things to listen to.

[Edited on 9/8/04 by Chris_R]

He only got the part because I turned it down. A plane controlled by brainwaves was too far fetched. I'm still trying to get my legs to follow orders.

[Edited on 9/8/04 by Peteff]

after using firefox for about a month on one of my pc's - an athlon 1400 with windows me, id say it was pretty buggy.

it crashes out at least once per session and slows up the pc.

its a good alternative against the crap that afflicts IE but it still needs some sorting out.

Also, it complains a bit about plugins that would normally be in IE

atb

steve

I'm using ver 0.9.2 and it's fine on my system (AMD Athlon XP 2000+). The previous version was very buggy though.

It's now on preview release 1.0. Some of the early extensions don't work with the new release but the browser side is stable.

I've been using it for 6 months and it's been fine, no crashes at all. Currently on version 0.9.3 with no issues other than a slightly slow startup first time it is used.

Cheers,
Craig.

I use firefox and thunderbird. thunderbird is much like the mozilla email client (surprise surprise). It's straightforward and does what it says on the tin, does proper style quoting (>) and smart word wrapping, all without the gaping security holes of the outlook family.

I find the tabbed browsing very handy for this site. switch it into the mode where middle button opens a new tab in the background (you can switch between background/foreground opening with shift, I found) and go down the main page click click click on all the forums with new messages. then click click click all the new topics, and they all load up in the background and you can trundle through them at leisure. Otherwise I keep forgetting what I've read and what I haven't.

[Edited on 5/10/04 by blueshift]

Blueshift,
Yes I downloaded Thunderbird and played with it a little bit but have never got around to copying all my mail across from Outlook Express. I use loads of mail rules and folders to keep everything neat and don't fancy the job of converting much...

However, with the ever present problem of security vulnerabilities with IE and Outlook I think I'll make the break before someone plants a trojan on my system!

By the way, do you know if it is possible to make Firefox load any faster by "pinning" the DLL's or something? That's the only thing that annoys me at present.

Cheers,
Craig.

firefox on my system give several errors - Ive had it only about a month

1. dll errors and jumps out

2. reports not enough memory (256mb installed)

3. refuses to launch at all after dll crashes.

4. long pauses before it wants to recognise a url


sae machine, using IE, has none of these probs....

perhaps I need to try latest vers.


atb

steve

quote:

---

Originally posted by craig1410
By the way, do you know if it is possible to make Firefox load any faster by "pinning" the DLL's or something? That's the only thing that annoys me at present.

---

the pc has had a recent total re-install and firefox put on it.

The faults occurred after this. Im pretty sure the pc is clean. I also run norton antivirus

the hd shagged itself previously - IE was used just to download firefox.

atb

steve

Curious. what OS do you run? mine's on XP SP1.

windows millenium edition

Aaaah everything becomes clear

Windows ME is famed for it's horrid rubbishness. (technical terms you learn if you do a CS degree). Suggest you try 2K or XP, should make computing life in general much more pleasant.

quote:

---

3. refuses to launch at all after dll crashes.

---

I've heard of these other browsers - but Bill Gates knows where I live!

Don't want a "visit"

Cheers

Chris

We call it midnight shopping down here

Not that i've ever done this and wouldnt condone such actions

Bob, shouldn't that be in the abandoned car thread.

ive just looked and im running version 1.0. thats as up to date as it gets.

As all the other progs ive run on the three PCs I have access to (1 at work, 2 at home) run fine on ME, there aint no way im changing just for firefox.

I use ME all day at work and crashes are rare.

There is no way im lining gate's pockets with the value of two copies of xp.

atb

steve

I'd echo what Blueshift has just said about Windows ME. It is truly aweful even when compared to other Microsoft OS's. Even Microsoft prefer to pretend it doesn't exist!

Blueshift, sorry about the "black magic" speak but I'm an Oracle database developer and "pinning" is what we call it when we hold a program or library in memory rather than have to load it each time. I'm sure you can do something similar with DLL's in Windows and shared libraries in Unix.

Steve, just saw your last posting - I understand how you feel, I try not to line Mr Gates's pockets under any circumstances...

Cheers,
Craig.

[Edited on 5/10/2004 by craig1410]

Generally, Im really late changing OS systems.

Mainly, cos since '95 came out, as far as a user is concerned, they are all the bloody same.

For developers, newer versions probably offer huge extra resources. We do whizzy stuff with it in the products we make at work. But for 98% of average Joe' surfing the net or writing to auntie marge, its all for nowt.

basically the same interface - might be whizzier in the background (embedded stuf) but apart from USB added in 98SE there is nowt different.

Apart from the Fisher PRice look that ME has.

I can say that i havnt really seen any fantastic difference in any version of windows ive used.

You do however get to a point where you are forced to change, cos the hardware you want to use doesnt get supported in the OS you are using.

Im not at that stage.

Xp forces you to register. That means buying software if you cange your hd, or video card,. it cries that it needs re-registering.

why should I move to something thats less flexible?

Microsoft have come out with nothing original worth having since 98SE.

Ok, it might be more whizzy and can play shoot em ups at the speed of light, but im talking serious use here. Give windows more power, and its just gobbled up with hardware that needs more software resources.

Diminishing returns.

Microsoft will replace Xp soon. Will it be any signifcantly better? or just more hyped.

But lets face it, if they dont 'improve' it, will they sell more copies. No. IF windows doesnt 'evolve' microsoft dont make money.

The scary thing is if microsoft says jump, then we jump. there is no other serious mass OS system. MAcs, unix, and similar are minority os.

If microsoft decided that win bollx 2005 had to be operated by your feet, thats what we would have to do. Thats the hold they have.

Upgrade to Xp. not for some time yet....

atb

steve

[Edited on 5/10/04 by stephen_gusterson]

I was VERY sceptical about upgrading too for similar reason as you Steve.

However, I have taken the plunge following advice from my uncle who is a software and systems analyst. I've now go XPSP1 and (touch wood) it truly is good IMHO. It's not once let me down and it is slick and user friendly, starts up in half the time of my laptop with W2000.

If I were you bite the bullet and do it - it is worth it!

Went around Hemel 'Magic' roundabout today - I SURVIVED!!!! What a crazy thing that is!!

ya know, every time I re-install ME i get a video by microsoft telling me how fantastic ME is.

You dont mean to say they lied

and that XP is the perfect os?

so, we had

95
98
98se
me
xp

(missed any?)

before Msoft got it right?

give it 18 months and people will be saying what a heap o crap Xp is / was and that you really should use winbollox 2008.

atb

steve

2000 and nt

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chris_R
2000 and nt

---

Steve,
I agree with some of what you said above but I don't think you can compare 95,98,ME to 2000 and XP due to the significant differences in the architecture. I am using W2000 Pro right now because it is stable and does everything I need it to. I use Windows XP Pro on my company laptop (I'm a software consultant btw) because this is the company standard and it does run better on laptops due to better power management and hardware support.

If you want to avoid having XP moan at you to reregister when you make hardware changes then use the corporate version, it doesn't need activation! I'm not encouraging piracy but the way I look at it, if you pay for the software then you should be allowed to use it without getting hassle every time you change the hardware!

Ideally, I hope to make the break and start using Linux as my desktop operating system shortly and be done with Microsoft for good! I have been using Linux since around 1994 and have a couple of servers up in my attic which act as firewall and web server amongst other things. Linux can do almost everything which Windows can do and a great deal more besides and it is virtually free and doesn't suffer from the usual security weaknesses as Windows. The only reason I have not yet dropped Windows is because I have a few Windows games which I play (mainly F1 sims and Counterstrike) which require windows. I think the next time I reinstall my machine I will create a dual boot with a copy of windows XP on a small games only partition and the rest set up for use with Linux. Everything else (Office progs, email, browser, software development tools etc etc) which I use every day is supported in Linux and I can always use something like VM Ware to run the few apps which won't run in Linux directly (eg. Visual Basic)

Anyone else out there made the switch to Linux on the Desktop?
Cheers,
Craig.

They'll be releasing a beta version of it in 2012, shortly followed by a series of patches. I formatted a computer for a friend recently,it was constantly crashing, and installed my old copy of 98 on it to check it over. I gave it back to him and he upgraded it to ME with his disk,and it broke again. Firefox runs on my 2000pro alright but you can use MYIE2 which is based on Explorer and has tabbed browsing and other features if you want the add ons.

Ditto craig's comments about 95, 98, me vs 2000 and XP. the latter two have a significantly better architecture and it shows in stability, lack of driver problems and weird bugs. NT4 was pretty rock solid too, but not as flexible, no USB support, innapropriate for a modern desktop OS.

I ran FreeBSD as a desktop OS for a while. I would do again, but I am a lazy fart these days and prefer to spend my time climbing and building cars rather than tinkering around getting my computer working just so. linux may be more plug-and-play these days but I wouldn't use it for snobbery reasons

I've got a couple of machine's I've been running Linux on (Mandrake 9.2 and Fedora Core 2)

I dual boot my laptop from XPSP2 to Fedora, but I haven't gone over completely because I still have software that needs Windows.

However, once I get an FC2 server setup here at home (that'll be my development and email server), that I can access from any different email client Outlook/Evolution etc, then I'll be almost completely Linux, with 2 servers and 2 desktops.

I have a machine in my garage that's been running as a server on Mandrake since Christmas and has yet to put a foot wrong. Deeply impressive stability.

I administer machines using a VNC connection, from inside the home, or when I'm working remotely. With XP, I feel that there's too much gilding on it that gets in the way of function.

Cheers,

Neil.

p.s. I've been running Firefox on an Athlon 1.4 for ages and have yet to experience any instability, either under XP or Linux.

p.p.s. My wife accidentally booted into Linux the other day and hadn't noticed that she was surfing on Mozilla. She thought I'd been p*ssing around with the icons and stuff. I expect to see much larger public Linux-usage on the desktop in the near future.

Blueshift,
Free BSD is okay I suppose, I remember that it held the record (and probably still does) for longest uptimes on www.netcraft.com
I actually have FreeBSD running on my Monowall firewall at home.

Noodle,
Glad to see that I'm not the only "pioneer" of Linux on this site. I agree, the reasons not to use Linux on the desktop have largely been addressed in the last year or two and there should be no reason for the average punter to feel locked in to the Microsoft "vision" any more. Linux is chipping away at MS's marketshare (as is Firefox) and long may that continue!!

I used to be an OS/2 user and actually bought a copy of Warp 3.0 back in 1996. This was a classis VHS versus Betamax situation where the technically inferior Windows 3.1/95 beat OS/2 purely on marketing know how. The difference with Linux is that no one person or company owns it so they can't pull the plug like IBM did with OS/2.

Cheers,
Craig.

I've been using Opera browser (now at version 7.54 and free) for a few years, faster than IE, built in pop up blocker ,e-mail, skins,themes etc.

Works well with ME (if you have to),since I only recently changed up to XP.