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Raw Bytes Computer News KPBX FM 91.1 Radio National Public Radio Network Frank Delaney Producer Broadcast on Wednesday Morning 7:35 AM During Morning Edition Support Public Radio ! The Theater Of the Mind |
In computer news this week 06/25/2008 A review of Firefox 3.0 – a
free alternative web browser The
majority of people today surfing the web today use the browser built into all
newer versions of windows – Internet Explorer – it’s all
they’ve ever known – and it’s built in – so they use
it, thinking it’s the only browser. But
others are always looking for improved features or performance or better
security or easy customization, and they’ve found that there are
actually alternative browsers anyone can download, and they’re all
free. In
comparison to the rental car industry, today’s browser marketplace has
a sold number 2 – and that’s Firefox – a browser by the
Mozilla foundation that has been winning ecstatic fans and gaining market
share against Microsoft for the past several years. But in
this case the number 2 browser in the world has such excited fans that
they’ve done strange things like taking out a full page ad in the Wall
Street journal extolling the virtues of Firefox. You don’t see that in the
rental car industry. Microsoft
has been strangely behind in the internet game since it started, allowing
giants like Google and Yahoo to establish themselves as the leading search
engines, leaving Microsoft’s MSN in the dust. And as internet users have
gained this sense of independence from Microsoft, they’ve sough
alternative software and ways of doing things. Firefox
emerged several years ago with some unique features that placed it head and
shoulders above IE with the concept of tabbed browsing windows. It took Microsoft awhile to come
out with their own new version of IE, which pretty much mimicked the new
Firefox Features. Then a
couple years ago Firefox 2.0 emerged, with built-in internet security and
several ease of operation features, and again it took Microsoft a new version
to come out with their own work-alike. At the time they had about a 25%
market share. And now
Firefox 3 is released with improved security performance, and vastly more
customization for the serious internet surfer. Now Firefox’s
market share is estimated at about 35 %, meaning one out of 3 surfers uses
it. Firefox 3
offers increased browser security against the many web things that go bump in
the night, offering detailed information on any website you visit.. Another thing
I’m sure has happened to us all – you know you bookmarked a site
– but you can’t find it in your labyrinth of bookmarks. Firefox
3.0 allow you to fine-tune your Book marking –introducing an
intelligent browser bar with Page tagging – allowing you to assign key
words to bookmarks – and allow you to better index and recall pages
you’ve bookmarked – For
example I have a Bookmark called Information sites – which include
several types of information – and now I can add the tags weather or
other relevant key words, and search by bookmark or tags.
Firefox
3.0 is free and available at the Mozilla
Website Oddly enough, if you
currently have Firefox 2.0 it won’t automatically upgrade you to the
new version, so you have to do that yourself. |
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For Raw Bytes This is Frank Delaney (C) 2008 MTA Micro
Technology Associates http://www.mtamicro.com/kpbx.html PO Box 31522 Spokane, Wa 99223-1522 (509)624-7230 |
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