h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I use Opera for nearly everything - except Microsoft updates, which insist you use IE. Compatibility generally isn't an issue. Good ad blocker, you can choose to update or ignore it, I love the mouse gestures and efficient tabbed browsing, and you can add the h2g2 search engine to the tool bar - what more do you need? It even saves sessions, so every time I open the browser, the tabs I had before are there.

Ah, but in Firefox, you can right-click on any text input and "Add a keyword for this search". So if I type "d foo" into my browser address bar, it looks up the word "foo" in dictionary.com. If I type "php str_replace" it looks up the function "str_replace" in the php.net function list. If I type "ws h2g2.com" it plugs the domain name "h2g2.com" into web-sniffer.net. And of course I've included h2g2 search on the list of keyworded searches.

I'm not sure whether Opera has that functionality. I must check.

I do have rather too many add-ons in FF. I should probably prune out the ones I don't use.

TRiG.

I'm currently testing ubiquity -- http://labs.mozilla.com/2008/08/introducing-ubiquity/

very so far

Ed & Winnoch2,

'Actually...the thing FF does for me is that sometimes it stays running in the background after I think it's closed. Or, at least...it thinks it does. It doesn't show up in my Task Manager, but if I try to fire up another instance, Ff tells me it can't.'

Check the mozillazine knowledge base article: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_in_use

Sorry to be lazy and reply to a post that I'm not actually replying to but...

Why do people have such a hardon about Firefox? It isn't much different from IE. Safari isn't much different from IE or Firefox. They're all web browsers. I appreciate that there have been some security issues with IE but it's still just a web browser. I have used firefox on my sister's PC and the only noticeable difference from IE, to me, is that it is different.

To me, using different browsers is pretty much like reading a poem copied out by two different people; it's the same poem but the handwriting is different. I may prefer one but they do the same thing.

Can you explain why you use one browser rather than another in terms of functionality? Do you object to other browsers because they aren't what you're used to or is there a functional difference? If you use just one browser, how do you know that there's a functional difference?

I expect I should have started a new thread to have asked these things so carry on at your convenience

>>Why do people have such a hardon about Firefox?<<

They do? How very kinky of them!

>>Can you explain why you use one browser rather than another in terms of functionality?<<

I have bitter memories of Internet Explorer's various incarnations, from whatever the hell IE version on Windows 3.1 on through XP's IE v6. Then I discovered Debian GNU/Linux, and thus no longer use MS Windows, (conficker ), or associated software, very much at all. I prefer the inherent security, speed, etc of Unix-style systems, have no interest in designing sites for IE, nor in viewing IE-only sites, and therefore have no reason to install IE.

(There actually is a way to install IE for Linux -- http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Main_Page )

>>Do you object to other browsers because they aren't what you're used to or is there a functional difference? If you use just one browser, how do you know that there's a functional difference?<<

On this particular machine, a laptop running Debian with the KDE4 environment, I have only two browsers installed: Konqueror, KDE's native file/internet browser, http://www.konqueror.org/ and Iceweasel, which is Debian's flavor of Firefox, ( it's all about the artwork and the name ..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceweasel ) XP is also installed as a 'guest' OS, on a 'virtual' machine, and so technically I do have a version of IE -- but have never bothered using it.

I generally use Iceweasel (Firefox), I suppose because I'm used to it and I can't be bothered configuring passwords and so forth on Konqueror Also there are many Firefox-specific plugins I use regularly, so there's a functionality reason, too. I've never bothered to change the default setting in KDE, so sometimes when I click on a local html file I've saved to disk, Konqueror will launch to open the file, which is perfectly fine, since it is significantly faster than Iceweasel at this particular task, (I have an instance of Konqueror preloaded specifically for this)

I won't get into the 'browser x is better than browser y' thing, but maybe this page can offer some enlightenment --

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/firefox.html

van-s:

You're quite right about browsers. For most people, in most circumstances, they're all pretty much-of-a-muchness. Use what works. Keep It Simple, Stupid.

My own reason for Firefox choice - well...the development of different browsers seems to leapfrog over one another. Opera (was it the first?) comes up with tabbed browsing and then Frefox and IE follow...etc. etc. I started using Firefox on an Ubuntu Linux machine, before later switching back to XP. ( sorry, Tal - I inherited a machine and simply haven't got around to fiddling). At the time, Firefox could do some things IE couldn't - so I downloaded it. Maybe IE can now do much the same. Maybe there's something even whizzier that I've not investigated. Do I care? Floreat inertia.

I like that you can set it to clear private data every time you close it so it doesn't remember passwords and you don't get the annoying drop down when you type a search and get everything you ever searched for starting with that letter.

The only other browser I have is Safari but as far as I know that won't clear private data unless you ask it to after every session and sometimes I forget, with Firefox it asks you each time so I can't forget.

I do like the spell checker although mine is on US English which is confusing because I'll think I've spelled something right and it will say it's wrong, I don't mind so much with things like colour and theatre but sometimes I'm unsure how to spell something and it doesn't really help because I'll be trying to work out the UK English spelling.

>>I like that you can set it to clear private data every time you close it

Yeah - it's pretty pr0n-proof.

What I like about 'fox is you can select any word/phrase on a page, right-click and Google it in one move.

You know how in IE you click on the right hand end of the address box and get a list of everything you've typed into it? In 'fox I get all my bookmarks (which are on a menu bar in front of me, ta), with little yellow stars. I haven't worked out how to change that.

And mine crashes so often I thought it was the CPU.

>>Yeah - it's pretty pr0n-proof. winkeye run

hahaha Well I wouldn't know about that!
I just use it to clear passwords

Basically, IE and Firefox are web browsers but Opera is now more like a web system.

Opera doesn't have the 'right click and search for text' function but it does let you add any search engine you want to the search window. You can then assign a key to each search engine so entering 'g fish' will search for fish using google, 'h fish' will search for fish using h2g2, assuming you've set it as a search option. If you type 'fish' into the address box it will give you a list of all the sites you ever visited with the word 'fish' in the address (eg. Joes aquarium/fish). If you don't want to keep a record of your online activities, Opera lets you delete all cookies, search data, passwords etc. on exit. If you want it to remember your passwords, you can set it to keep them but delete the search data and cookies, or any combination you prefer.

Unlike Firefox, passwords are only added when you click the wand button, Firefox adds them in the login box automatically when you arrive on screen. This means you can look at the landing page contents before you get pushed straight through to the next page.

The function I use most is the speed dial. When you open the browser you get your homepage. Close the tab and you get a group of 9 windows, each linked to your favourite sites. Click one and it will take you straight there.

Opera can also handle all your RSS feeds and email without leaving the browser and it has it's own social networking site. I only use FF for working on my website, that way I can keep searching in Opera for info and affiliate links at the same time (it could be done by using Operas tabs but I find it easier to keep the site tabs on Firefox so I don't get confused).

If you're an iphone fan you'll like the desktop widgets. RSS feeds on your desktop anyone?

I found the Google taskbar spell check set to UK/English is much more friendly than FF's one and the only add-on I have is adblock+ in FF.

The OP's machines sound like they need a good clean out of add-ons and how long since a defrag and a dump on the temp' files along with seldom used programmes as well as unnecessary programmes initialising on start up.

A good old grease an oil change would do wonders, regular maintenance you can't beat it.

Opera's also got a built-in BitTorrent client

And double-clicking on a word brings up a context menu from which you can do a search for it, or copy it to a note, or e-mail the entire paragraph.

I write all my Entries in the Notes function (later retrievable as text files) and since I have a widescreen monitor, keep my bookmarks open on the side.

I also like the "recycle bin" for retrieving websites you've accidentally closed - they even open in the same spot down the scroll bar.

btw...did we ever get to the bottom of why W***pedia routinely crashes browsers? (previous thread)

People spend a lot of time using web browsers, so a small improvement in speed or usability or blocking adverts can translate to a lot of time saved and annoyance avoided.

The other reason is criticism from the other side: web developers. Today, making websites is made hugely more difficult and annoying because of Internet Explorer 6 & 7. They are slow (many orders of magnitude slower than other browsers), they have bugs which will never ever be fixed, they behave differently from every other browser, and yet they are used by very large portions of the internet, so you have to support them.

Internet Explorer 6 and 7 are evil.

I wanted an embedded video in a web page. I threw some standard code together and it worked. Well, it worked in Ubuntu/Firefox, Ubuntu/Opera, Win/Firefox, Win/Opera, Win/Safari, and Win/GoogleChrome. I then spent half the day fiddling around with non-standard code to get it to work in IE.

And the CSS rendering bugs are legendary. Supporting IE is a complete time-drain for web developers, and everyone's life would be a lot easier if people would just stop using it! Please.

TRiG.

(I'm told IE8 isn't as bad, but I haven't had a chance to check yet.)

You don't need to close the tab to use speed dial. Ctrl+X, where X is a number, will bring you to the tab of your choice immediately. Or you can just type X into the address bar and press Enter. (This works either in Opera or in Firefox with the speed dial add-on.)

TRiG.

Which is kinda what I mean. All the browsers are converging on the same functionality. It's a trade off between the pain of forever making sure you have the latest version of the best possible browser or waiting a wee while until your current one catches up.

But even at that...say browser A does X but browser Y does B. Which to choose? Wait a couple of months and both A and B will do both X and Y.

But *then*...did you know that your browser could do X and Y...and R, S, T, W already anyway?

Incidentally...
http://www.saveie6.com/