Made the browser switch today...

[ZoomZoom71]

After some recent slow downs in the performance of my IE7 browser, I decided to download Mozilla Firefox. So far, it's much smoother, and much quicker to load pages, than IE7. (well, except for PGL threads, which must load everyone's gamercard each time you view a thread. can we turn off that "feature"?)

I must say, though, I already miss some of the niceties that IE7 had. I don't have a button in Firefox for my favorites to drop down. Yeah, It's just above in the 'Bookmarks' menu. But I don't like how that opens to the side, instead of below, so I leave the Bookmarks in the side bar. The biggest thing I miss is the ability to open a new tab for a new website from my Favorites by clicking the arrow on the right of the website name. In Firefox, I actually have to Right-Click on the site, then select 'Open in New Tab', for this to happen.

Am I missing something?

[MadBryan]

My bookmarks are on top on my mac and I click on file and select new tab. Not to much trouble. I've heard you complain about gamercards before and I think you need a new computer.

[ZoomZoom71]

I want to get a new PC, but I'm prolly gonna have to wait until after summer. I'm amazed how slow my 2ghz P4 has gotten. I even bumped my RAM up to 2.5gb. It's only gotten slower in the past few months, it seems. Anyway...

[ZoomZoom71]

Oh, and I can't hit Alt-S to make a post in Firefox? WTH?

[MadBryan]

Maybe Crippler will chime in and set you straight. I just use it and don't know much about it

[Thornes70]

Just a thought - do you ever clean out your history, and unplug your modem/router for about 30 seconds? That can help with your loading times.

[ZoomZoom71]

My temp internet files get deleted whenever I close IE, by chosen setting. Not sure I understand the reason for the modem/router reboot.

[Thornes70]

Apparently, both your modem and router store crap in them. I didn't believe it much either when a friend said some dude at Comcast told him to do it, but when I did it myself, I did actually notice a change in pages loading.

One thing tho - every once in a while, it changes my NAT, so keep that in mind. But that's an easy fix.

[D_Litch]

Zoomie baby! Welcome to the dark side!

FF is customizable to fit anyone's needs, just check out here and give some add-ons test-runs. Some suggestions:

AdBlock - Takes care of any and all ads.

IE Tab - Allow you to access IE only documents and forms whilst still in FF

ForcastFox* - Display the weather in your area. Updates via Accuweather.

FoxyTunes* - Puts a little control bar at the bottom for your media player of choice and allow you to control your music while still in FF.

Those are some good starter plugs, I use a good deal of other ones, but those 4 will suit anyone's tastes. Also, another pro tip is the Customize browser menu (located via View->Toolbars->Customize...). It will allow you to move any plug-ins/buttons to literally anywhere in FF.

*I don't use these two rascals anymore because I'm a whore for speed and prior versions had known memory leaks. Supposedly those leaks are fixed, but I've learned to live without them.

[Peench]

Originally Posted by ZoomZoom71

Oh, and I can't hit Alt-S to make a post in Firefox? WTH?

Yeah, this was an updated feature they added. Pretty lame. The beauty, however, is that you can change how it works. Do this:

1. In your address bar, type 'about:config' and enter.
2. Filter for 'ui.key'
3. change chromeAccess to 5
4. change contentAccess to 4

Alt-S will work again.

There are loads of awesome aps available too. Right now I have Fasterox, Forecastfox and searchstatus installed. I recommend em all.

[lovekeiiy]

I use firefox too. Usually to open a blank tab, just do the ctrl T combo. It's the same in IE; it should be noted I changed my IE setting to open blank tabs when I do the ctrl T.

[2Times]

Originally Posted by ZoomZoom71

I must say, though, I already miss some of the niceties that IE7 had. I don't have a button in Firefox for my favorites to drop down. Yeah, It's just above in the 'Bookmarks' menu. But I don't like how that opens to the side, instead of below, so I leave the Bookmarks in the side bar.

You can open and close bookmarks with Ctrl B. If you don't like the side bar, you can save them in the Bookmarks Toolbar. Go to organize bookmarks and you can add things to that folder.

Hope that helps.

[Crippler]

Zoom. Baby. Congrats on putting on your big boy pants.

Give it some time to adjust and you will never go back. I promise. FF3 is WAY faster than ANY browser out there right now. Insanely faster. Not to mention the default skin just rocks. They just released RC1 of FF3 too. Some of you cats may want to try that. It just rocks. Try this javascript test with your browser; Javascript speed tests .: Celtic Kane. Then go try it w/ FF3. On this test, I get 455ms w/ FF3 on a 2ghz PC. Easily 3-4x faster than FF2 on the same PC.

As D said, add some add-ons and customize FF to you. AdBlock Plus is a must. I also have IE Tab, Piclens <---rocks the house, and a few others. Right now I'm not running much in FF3. PicLens is AWESOME for browsing Flickr, Google or Youtube. I highly recommend it. It's a much cooler way of searching those sites. Try this with Piclens.--> Search Google or Flickr from within Piclens with Megan Fox and watch as a wall of hotness appears before your eyes. Yummy.

To open a link in a new tab.....just middle-click on it (usually the scroll wheel). Boom, opened in a new tab. If you ever want to reopen tabs you have closed. Just hit ctrl-shift-T. Good for those, "oh shit, I just closed that tab" moments. The about:config page lets you go crazy with tweaking. But don't go nuts in there if you don't know what you're changing. You can basically change anything within FF with about:config and with using the chrome files. Just Google FF speed tweaks and you'll find settings for the about:config.

[ZoomZoom71]

Alt-S test

[supafreak]

I might have to give Firefox a try again if FF3 is as fast as advertised. I swtiched back over to IE7 last year when I got Vista. I had used firefox since it started but wanted to give IE a fair shake again. Since I moved all my rss feeds to Google Reader, I haven't missed Firefox much. There are several nice add-ins, but I can do most of that through the gadget sidebar in Vista.

I will have to d/l the latest Firefox and give it a try though.

[ZoomZoom71]

How do I keep my URL bar from displaying websites as I type a URL? I found the place in the Options to limit the history and turn off the record of searches, but it still shows as I type addresses where I've previously been. Do I set the history to 0 days?