Getting New Computer. Help?

Quote: EvenBob

What is it that makes Firefox superior? Is it the tabs
feature? I've been using it for several years and thats
really the only difference I see. And it highlites misspelled
words in any text I'm writing.

Firefox has a pretty good HTML and javascript renderer inside it. So it works with some pages quite well and fast. All the browsers are tabbed these days, and have spelling highlighting.

Firefox also has a pretty good range of add-ons and helpers (ad block and many others). If you don't use 'em, or care... don't matter none. I prefer Chrome as it is slightly better at managing the memory and sandboxing itself away when executing scripts (and trust me, a lot of sites are running javascript and other such stuff to give you a better web browsing experience... it's all part of HTML 5, and in-browsers apps).

But it's like comparing three standard compact cars.... there's differences, but if all you do is drive the shops, you only really care about the trunk space and if the seat is comfortable for you.

It's the extensions. You can have your tabs tiered in multiple rows (TabMixPlus). You can block ads, which works in Firefox better than in other browsers, or block scripts you don't like. You can ensure half-typed posts are never be lost, and search through and recall from everything you've ever typed, should you wish to.

Aside from extensions, it's just a very good browser. And automatic history search in Firefox is the best. Say, if I want to go to this site, I just type "ve" (as in vegas), down, enter. And it remembers everything at first visit.


edit: Re: chrome - I've used chrome as a side browser for a while. It's got a little more "standard" behaviors, which helps sometimes. But adblocking doesn't work well there, history search doesn't seem to remember anything, and one day I noticed it had grown up to take over 1,100 MB between its various subfolders, even after clearing the cache.
That's a browser that I only ever used for a few fairly simple sites (that it renders better than others). So I nuked the bloatware. My backup browser is now IE, it may be the worst overall, but it's the one poorly built sites are tested on.

AdBlock alone is a good reason to use a browser with extensions, I barely see any ads anymore (don't worry, Wiz, Bovada banners are still showing up!). Even ads on youtube videos are gone....with hulu instead of commercials you just get to see a blank screen for 30 seconds).

Is adblock automatic or do I have to
activate it?

You have to install it. Click Firefox->Addons, then click Get Addons, type AdBlockPlus.
But it's simple, and once installed, it just works. If there is an ad it doesn't block, you can right-click it to block.

[ dp ]

Quote: EvenBob

Is adblock automatic or do I have to
activate it?

This another handy add-on, lets you remove anything annoying from web pages.

nuke

Quote: P90

You have to install it. Click Firefox->Addons, then click Get Addons, type AdBlockPlus.
But it's simple, and once installed, it just works. If there is an ad it doesn't block, you can right-click it to block.

Just a simple addition to this, you do need to have a 'list subscription' of which it gives you several options when you first install it. It used to default to 'EasyList (English)', the best in my opinion but now defaults to something called 'FanBoys List'. It takes 2 seconds to switch to EasyList and then bam, most ads are gone.

Quote: progrocker

AdBlock alone is a good reason to use a browser with extensions, I barely see any ads anymore (don't worry, Wiz, Bovada banners are still showing up!). Even ads on youtube videos are gone....with hulu instead of commercials you just get to see a blank screen for 30 seconds).

I assume that's because the Bodog ads aren't served from a host but are deeply integrated into the webpage itself.

It blocks them just fine. How Adblock works is it downloads a long list of advertisement networks and blocks their images. Bodog ads here are custom to the site, hosted on the same server, in the same domain, so of course they aren't on the list. But you can add images to block manually.