A Cool new 3-Dimensional effects add-on for firefox has arrived. Tab Effect is a Firefox extension that provides transitional effect when switching tabs. It is a 38 kb .xpi script and requires DirectX 8 to work. The cube effect shown here is within the Firefox browser only and does not affect any OS transitional effects.

Labels: 3D, Effects, Firefox

Posted by Anish Mohile at 9:51 PM | Permalink | Comments

Here's something for broadband people that will really speed Firefox up:

1.Type "about:config" into the address bar and hit return. Scroll down and look for the following entries:

Normally the browser will make one request to a web page at a time. When you enable pipelining it will make several at once, which really speeds up page loading.

2. Alter the entries as follows:

Set "network.http.pipelining" to "true"

Set "network.http.proxy.pipelining" to "true"

Set "network.http.pipelining.maxrequests" to some number like 30. This means it will make 30 requests at once.

Right-click anywhere and select New-> Integer. Name it "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and set its value to "0". This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it recieves.

Go to the filter bar again and type network.dns.disableIPv6. Normally it says ” false ” under value field , Double click it so it becomes ” true “.

Go to the filter bar again and type plugin.expose_full_path. Normally it says ” false ” under value field , Double click it so it becomes ” true “.

Now you need to Create new Preference name with interger value for this got to Right click -> New -> Integer. Here you need to type content.notify.backoffcount and click ok. Now you need to enter 5 in value filed and click ok.

Now you need to Create one more Preference name with interger value for this got to Right click -> New -> Integer. Here you need to type ui.submenuDelay and click ok. Now you need to enter 0 in value filed and click ok.

I did it myself, and it works wonders!!

internet

Labels: Broadband, Firefox, Increase Spead

Posted by Anish Mohile at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments

Its finally here!!!! After Opera, the long awaited firefox add-on for downloading torrents has been released. Called FoxTorrent it is very to use and works in the same way as a normal torrent client. Its a 310 kb .xpi file which gets instanly installed. All you have to do is just restart firefox after installation, then download the torrent file you wish to open, the add-on automatically detects it and opens it in firefox. And there you have it the torrent downloaded straight through the foxtorrent download manager.

internet

Labels: Download, Firefox

Posted by Anish Mohile at 6:37 PM | Permalink | Comments

Microsoft co-founder and chairman Bill Gates sat down with Peter Jennings to discuss the future of the technology industry. Gates talked at length about Microsoft's effort to upgrade security in the computer industry, his foundation's charitable work, and his goals for the company.

This interview follows Bill Gates announcement that Microsoft will be releasing their newest version of Internet Explorer this summer. The new version, called IE 7, will add new levels of security to Windows XP SP2 while maintaining the level of extensibility and compatibility customers have come to expect from IE.

JENNINGS: I read an article coming up here on Firefox (Web browser) and its perceived ability to do this better than you. Is that fair?
GATES: Well, there's competition in every place that we're in. The browser space that we are in we have about 90 percent. Sure Firefox has come along and the press love the idea of that. Our commitment is to keep our browser that competes with Firefox to be the best browser best in security, best in features. In fact, we just announced that we'll have a new version of the browser so we're innovating very rapidly there and its our commitment to have the best.

JENNINGS: Are you going to have to push your browser faster because of competition?
GATES: Well, competition is always a fantastic thing, and the computer industry?

JENNINGS: I knew you were going to say that (laughs).
GATES: (smiles) ... is intensely competitive. Whether it's Google or Apple or free software, we've got some fantastic competitors and it keeps us on our toes.

Labels: Firefox

Posted by Anish Mohile at 9:02 PM | Permalink | Comments

Microsoft's tight grip on the Internet browser market is rapidly slipping. According WebSideStory, an independent Internet traffic site, as of April 2005, Internet Explorer use has fallen below 90 percent of the market in the United States and as low as 69 percent in Germany. What's making people leave IE are the numerous security concerns and the simple fact that functionality (tabbed browsing and a built-in RSS feed reader) promised in version 7 of Internet Explorer, expected to be in beta late this summer, is already available in other browsers. Add to that Microsoft's controversial decision to offer the next version of Internet Explorer only to people running Windows XP SP2, and you see why those running older versions of Windows are starting to look elsewhere.

Rapidly forcing IE from desktop dominance is Mozilla Firefox. This open-source browser receives our highest rating, in part because it includes tabbed browsing and RSS feeds, is very easy to use, and is well supported with a variety of third-party plug-ins. Firefox's popularity has recently helped unearth a few vulnerabilities, but we've been impressed with the speed and forthrightness with which Mozilla has patched its browser. In short, we just don't feel as vulnerable surfing the Web with Firefox.

Netscape 8 takes the best of both worlds. It runs both IE and Mozilla's engines, should sites you want to visit render properly only with IE. Netscape 8 also includes tabbed browsing, and it's easy to use. Another browser actually built upon the Microsoft IE engine is Deepnet Explorer. Think of Deepnet Explorer as Internet Explorer the way you'd like it to be--today.

Two unique browsers are also available. One is Apple Safari RSS, designed to run on the Mac OS X operating system. Bundled with Mac Tiger OS (and available for download for previous Mac OS X users), Safari offers tabbed browsing, an RSS reader, and increased speed for Mac users fed up with IE for Mac.

Finally, there's Opera, which uses neither the IE nor the Mozilla engine. We like many of the cool new features introduced in Opera 8, such as its ability to stretch and resize Web pages to fit your desktop needs without sacrificing content. Unfortunately, Opera comes with a catch: in order to get all of the advanced features, you'll need to pay $40 or put up with an endless stream of banner advertising on the free version. This makes the value proposition for Opera 8 questionable at best.

Labels: Firefox

Posted by Anish Mohile at 8:49 PM | Permalink | Comments

Firefox 2 vs. Internet Explorer 7

For years, Microsoft Internet Explorer has enjoyed near dominance of the Web browser space--but not any more. Since the release last year of Mozilla Firefox 1.5, Firefox has been steadily eroding Internet Explorer's claim of superiority. According to information from NetApplications.com, in October 2004 Internet Explorer had 92 percent of the market; in September 2005 that dropped to 86 percent; and as of September 2006 Internet Explorer's market share dropped to 82 percent, with Firefox's rising to 12.5 percent. In two years Microsoft ceded 10 percent of its audience to its competition.



Internet Explorer 7

Installing IE 7 requires a reboot and takes forever. Plus the download is giant, and you have to turn off your virus scanner. My installation went smoothly, but I got the feeling IE was reprogramming my computer's DNA as it worked.
The IE 7 installer asks users to temporarily disable their antivirus and antispyware protection, which doesn't inspire confidence. Installing IE 7 requires Windows validation, a restart, and a connection to Microsoft servers, which significantly slows down the process.
IE 7's installation recommended that we back up important files, close all programs, and eventually restart, while Firefox asked us only to close the old Firefox. And Microsoft checked that we were running a valid copy of Windows XP before we could download IE 7, which felt intrusive (if not insulting) next to the hands-off Firefox installation. But I'm not crazy about IE 7 or Firefox creating browser icons by default for my Windows XP desktop, Start Menu folder, and Quick Launch bar; you'll have to uncheck those during installation if you don't want the shortcuts.
The two browsers both look very good. IE 7 is a bit slicker than Firefox, and it takes more chances with the interface, pushing the standard menu items off to the side. It may take users a few moments to learn where everything is, but it is a thoughtful redesign.
Departing from the classic look of version 6 by hiding the menu bar, IE 7 allots more space to the main browser window. The full-screen view is particularly well designed--tabs and the address bar disappear until you hover over them, creating a true full-screen window. The tabs are clunkier than necessary.
Internet Explorer's status as the browser people love to hate is unlikely to change anytime soon. IE 7's drastic redesign is likely to alienate users initially rather than wow them, even though it's now easier to find functions via graphical icons--once you stop looking for the now-gone drop-down menus of its predecessor. IE 7 thoughtfully offers more customization than in the past, such as the ability to add more search engines to its search field.
With the latest versions, both browsers treat tabs similarly. You can close tabs with their own little close boxes and open new tab windows by clicking in the tab bar (IE 7 makes it more obvious by displaying a tiny, empty tab). Both highlight the active tab subtly (too subtly for my taste), and let you drag tabs around and save open tabs. Differences: Firefox makes it easy to reload all tabs; IE has a thumbnail viewer.
IE 7 includes a New Tab button to the right of your last open tab that takes up unnecessary screen space. I couldn't find a way to remove it. IE 7 bunches two Favorites icons, all open tabs, and the standard browser toolbar in the same row of real estate. A helpful tab preview icon displays thumbnails of all your open tabs for any window.
Is it my imagination, or does Firefox open a new tab about a millisescond faster than IE 7 does? At the same time, IE 7's blank tab can help users discover tabbed browsing.
There are fancy little flourishes in both browsers (IE has page zoom; Firefox has a spelling checker), but the big news in new browser features right now is RSS reading. Both browsers recognize when a page has an RSS feed, and both will parse XML and display a readable page instead of code when they see it.
RSS feeds: Once you've subscribed to a feed via IE 7, it's easy to see, sort, manage, and read your subscriptions from a two-panel interface. Firefox's Live Bookmarks do a similar job, but not as neatly. I only wish IE 7 detected available feeds better.
I have to defer to security gurus in this category. Historically I've been impressed with how seamless installing security patches to Firefox has been. As far as privacy, both products now let you quickly erase tracks from your browser, which is good.
A phishing filter within IE 7 checks the Web pages you visit using heuristics and a whitelist of legitimate sites. IE 7 lets you clean out your history, temporary files, and Web cookies with one button, but it's not easy to delete specific files in those groups. Another nice browsing-security touch is the "Web page privacy policy" feature. The past history of exploitable security holes in IE is a factor to consider.
At least during setup, IE 7 appears to care about security by giving you the choice to install a phishing filter. Firefox doesn't make its security offerings obvious during setup. Both browsers allow you to clear cookie crumbs that show the sites you've seen, but we found such features tricky to find within IE 7's new interface.


Firefox 2

Firefox, on the other hand, is a small download and installs in about 30 seconds, no reboots or gene sequencing required.
Installation of Firefox 2 was much faster and easier, completing in a minute or two. It scanned my old version for incompatible extensions, then updated any that were available. Firefox 2 did not include my custom-created search engines, only those defaulted by Mozilla. Any custom engines need to be manually moved into the Searchplugins directory.
Firefox was a faster download, plus it migrated every toolbar and all but one of my dozen bookmarklets from Firefox 1 without a hitch.
Firefox doesn't have a radical visual refresh, but it does have some new UI features, such as a "word wheel" in the search bar. Firefox destroys IE in the extension and plug-in department. There are hundreds of tools for Firefox to enable all manner of customizing. IE has extensions too, but not like Firefox.
Hovering over a tab in Firefox 2 now highlights it, and each tab has its own close button, which was previously possible only with add-ons. Most themes aren't yet available for Firefox, but one of my favorites, Littlefox, works OK. Selecting a new theme now prompts Firefox to ask whether you want to restart the browser to see the effects. Customization for Firefox 2 via add-ons is a major bonus.
Firefox's open-source status and myriad add-ons give it a community edge over IE 7.
One change in Firefox 2 that is a step backward from the last version: If you open a lot of tabs, Firefox shrinks their size a little and puts arrows at the left and right of the tab bar so that you can scroll back and forth. The previous version shrunk tabs a lot, so you could fit many more into the tab bar. I'm dinging Firefox's score for that one. IE 7 has the same problem.
Firefox adds a new Close Tab button to each open tab but didn't add thumbnail previews (a feature that can be added via Firefox extension). It would be nice to incorporate more features from Tab Mix Plus, such as the ability to customize how Ctrl-Tab switches tabs.
Firefox's tiny drop-down menu next to its tabs is a convenient shortcut for finding recently viewed pages, and its layout offers more room for tabs--although once we had a dozen tabs open, we were forced to scroll awkwardly to view the thirteenth tab and beyond. Luckily, though, if Firefox crashes, you can restore those tabs, which IE 7 can't do.
Firefox does a much better job of managing feeds: It will let you subscribe in Firefox's own reader, which awkwardly makes bookmarks of headlines, or in Google, Bloglines, Yahoo, or any reader application you have on your PC. IE will subscribe itself only to feeds, and it doesn't display RSS content as reliably as Firefox.
In Firefox 2, I love the Manage Search Engines dialog, but I'd say the Session Saver feature is the biggest improvement. I know that many people who accidentally quit the browser will love it.
Firefox's RSS features are even more flexible since (as Rafe mentions) they can let you subscribe with a third-party newsreader. Overall, however, I found the RSS features somewhat clumsy in both browsers and easy for RSS newbies to overlook. IE 7's easy ability to zoom in on a Web page makes for better browsing if you have vision problems. Ctrl-T does the same trick within Firefox, but most users may not memorize such keyboard shortcuts. Firefox also checks your spelling, which could save you from embarrassing yourself in a hasty e-mail or blog post.
Firefox makes it a one-click operation, though, which is much better. On the other hand, it's far too easy to reveal all your stored passwords in Firefox. You can put (another) password in front of this feature, but most people won't, leaving their passwords easily visible to anybody who gets on to their PC.
Also adding antiphishing measures, Firefox 2 offers a choice to check sites from a preexisting blacklist or via Google. Firefox 2 also offers more customization than IE 7, letting you specify which warning messages you'll receive and allowing you to view all your cookies in a list.
Firefox's stronger reputation for security and Mozilla's practice of addressing vulnerabilities soon after they're discovered precedes its latest update.

CONCLUSION
Firefox 2 still rules the browser roost for now, despite a much improved version of Internet Explorer. The most obvious new feature for IE 7 (tabs) has been in Firefox forever, and the security additions from Microsoft aren't enough for us to allay concerns over new possible exploits. Lastly, the extensibility of Firefox 2 is its knockout punch, and IE's add-ons cannot compare. The flexibility and customizability of Firefox might be best suited to more advanced Web users, but it has earned its spot at the top of the browsers.

Labels: Firefox

Posted by Anish Mohile at 8:13 PM | Permalink | Comments

FirefoxIE is a customization of Firefox 1.0 by Mozilla.org to make it look and feel more like Internet Explorer. It is an alternative for those who want to keep all of the convenience of the Internet Explorer browser plus gain all the security of the Firefox browser and more.

FirefoxIE has a eight step but very simple guide to make your Firefox application resemble IE. It shows you how to change icons, toobar text, padding between toolbars and some more customizations.

internet

Labels: Firefox

Posted by Anish Mohile at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments