Good morning all,
I'd been using Mozilla's Firefox as my browser for about the last year and a half or so until I encountered problems with graphics showing up as text and staying that way. I never could get the issue resolved so I went back to using IE (v 7.0) and so far, so good. They've even incorporated some of the Firefox features that I came to enjoy and use regularly although I still don't find it quite as user friendly. Then I heard about Apple's Safari and tried it out because they claimed it was the fastest browser available. Even though it's almost identical in appearance to their iTunes player, I couldn't quite get the hang of it. So much for the speed factor. I was curious about which browser(s) SSO members are currently using and why. Any info you can send my way might just be more than helpful and would most certainly be appreciated. I'm using Windows XP Home Edition (if that matters) on a PC as opposed to a Mac. Thanx in advance.
As always,
Hollis
Web Browsers - what are you using and why?
Hollis,
Over the years, I believe I have tried most programs that are an alternative to Microsoft's Windows programs. Eventually, just as you did with your latest browser reversal, I go back to Gates. Fought it forever. Quicktime over Media Player, three or four different browsers trying to get away from IE, Corel programs rather than Office, etc, etc. White flag is now hoisted high above my house. I surrender. Microsoft has won. On the positive side...I do believe IE 7.0 is better than previous versions and, at least for me, has proven quite satisfactory.
Over the years, I believe I have tried most programs that are an alternative to Microsoft's Windows programs. Eventually, just as you did with your latest browser reversal, I go back to Gates. Fought it forever. Quicktime over Media Player, three or four different browsers trying to get away from IE, Corel programs rather than Office, etc, etc. White flag is now hoisted high above my house. I surrender. Microsoft has won. On the positive side...I do believe IE 7.0 is better than previous versions and, at least for me, has proven quite satisfactory.
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MissGoddess
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movieman1957
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Mr. O'Brady
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I've used Firefox for several years now. I have no trouble with graphics showing up as text unless I have Java or Flash disabled. I also use these extensions: Adblock Plus, NoScript, DownloadThemAll!, No Squint, Dr. Web's Antivirus link checker, and Orbit Downloader integration. Even if I turn off all the extensions, Firefox is much slower than it used to be, but still faster (for me on dialup, anyway) than IE7 and Opera. I won't change.
I was an IE user until I found Opera.
Was very pleased with Opera until I encountered problems.
Tried using IE 7.0, but it 'crashed' constantly.
I'm very pleased with Firefox, except for when I'm on 'Silver Screen Oasis'.
When on SSO using Firefox or Opera I must log on twice and then I loose the feature of 'Posts since last visit'.
So, it's IE for SSO and Firefox for everything else.
Even B
Was very pleased with Opera until I encountered problems.
Tried using IE 7.0, but it 'crashed' constantly.
I'm very pleased with Firefox, except for when I'm on 'Silver Screen Oasis'.
When on SSO using Firefox or Opera I must log on twice and then I loose the feature of 'Posts since last visit'.
So, it's IE for SSO and Firefox for everything else.
Even B
I use IE 6 for banking and money transactions. I dislike the lack of menu and oddly sparse toolbars under IE 7 - the Create-Fav Button is way too prominent and I was always creating umpteen "favorites" instead of "going back". Grrr...
Mostly, I use FIREFOX because I create a set of 7 or 8 'buttons' along the User Toolbar (under the URL line) containing my most frequently visited sites. Way too easy. I used OPERA years and years ago, in the pre-frames day, because it was stunningly fast in an era before today's heavy graphics and GUI mush slowed everything up.
Mostly, I use FIREFOX because I create a set of 7 or 8 'buttons' along the User Toolbar (under the URL line) containing my most frequently visited sites. Way too easy. I used OPERA years and years ago, in the pre-frames day, because it was stunningly fast in an era before today's heavy graphics and GUI mush slowed everything up.
Good morning Movieman, Ollie et al,
I found a way to create tabs in IE 7.0 that are almost identical to those on Firefox but you can only save them from one use of the browser until the next time it's opened. There's no option of creating permanent tabs for your favorites. Way too much work! The tabbed browsing was what really drew me to Firefox in the first place and was what converted me for good. I'd forgotten about the "posts since last visit" feature here at SSO and I don't recall where to look for it but I don't see it anywhere. Since coming back to "the dark side" (IE), I have to log in here at least twice before it takes, something that never happened with Firefox. Does Opera resemble Firefox in any way? If you'll go to NFL.com, you'll see miniature logos from all 32 NFL teams across the top. In my case, all those logos were showing up as text rather than graphics. I also started having trouble with sound and streaming video (at almost every site I'd visit.) The Mozilla site didn't offer a lot of help. It seems to be set up more for developers than the general public. Does anyone know of a site with updates and such? Mr O'Brady, you mentioned disabling Flash or Java. Under what circumstances would you disable either? It seems that both are integral to the whole browsing experience. I'm starting to think that this is all somehow a function of my PC and not the browser, but I'm not going to buy another PC over it. Thanks in advance!
As always,
Hollis
I found a way to create tabs in IE 7.0 that are almost identical to those on Firefox but you can only save them from one use of the browser until the next time it's opened. There's no option of creating permanent tabs for your favorites. Way too much work! The tabbed browsing was what really drew me to Firefox in the first place and was what converted me for good. I'd forgotten about the "posts since last visit" feature here at SSO and I don't recall where to look for it but I don't see it anywhere. Since coming back to "the dark side" (IE), I have to log in here at least twice before it takes, something that never happened with Firefox. Does Opera resemble Firefox in any way? If you'll go to NFL.com, you'll see miniature logos from all 32 NFL teams across the top. In my case, all those logos were showing up as text rather than graphics. I also started having trouble with sound and streaming video (at almost every site I'd visit.) The Mozilla site didn't offer a lot of help. It seems to be set up more for developers than the general public. Does anyone know of a site with updates and such? Mr O'Brady, you mentioned disabling Flash or Java. Under what circumstances would you disable either? It seems that both are integral to the whole browsing experience. I'm starting to think that this is all somehow a function of my PC and not the browser, but I'm not going to buy another PC over it. Thanks in advance!
As always,
Hollis
i have Firefox, but my main server is Talktalk, but again i usually use MSN. Talktalk is all right when i can get on it, but getting a signal is a bit of a pain. i was with Virgin before, but Talktalk offered me a nearly free service, charging and adding £4s a month to my phone bill. you see though it's Broadband it's connected to the phone line and my computer is up the stairs while the main phone connection is down. what tends to happen is that Internet Explorer will say this page is unavailable, then a diagnoze page will appear and i'll click that. then it'll ask for my user name and password and it acts as a battery type of booster and then i'm online. however, sometimes it'll try and fix the problem and that never works
Last edited by stuart.uk on April 9th, 2008, 2:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mr. O'Brady
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Hollis, I disable Flash and Java for safety purposes at all new websites, then change my NoScript settings to allow them if I trust the site. It's also a great timesaver since I'm on dialup. Ditto for Adblock Plus. I dearly love that one.
I went to nfl.com, and the helmets appeared at the top of the page. You might check under Tools: Options to see if you've blocked content or anything from the website.
My guess is that your Flash may be outdated. My Flash version is 9.0.115.0, but should be 9.0.124.0. Oops! You can check your version at http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/about/ . They also have a download link there if yours is out of date.
I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.11. I evidently missed 2.0.0.12 during the Programming Challenge, and I haven't updated to 2.0.13 yet. Oops again. Regarding Firefox updates, the default option is probably set up for automatic updates, but if not (again, I turned this off because I'm on dialup), you can just hit the Help button at the top to check for updated versions. I downloaded my Firefox extensions from here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/ . I'm no developer, and have never had any problems with the installations. Just search for anything that might grab your interest, and they'll give you a list from which to choose.
As for Opera, I only tried it one day, and was disappointed with the speed. It really didn't resemble Firefox or IE7. They claimed a speed advantage over the other two, but maybe it doesn't work as well with dialup.
Pat
I went to nfl.com, and the helmets appeared at the top of the page. You might check under Tools: Options to see if you've blocked content or anything from the website.
My guess is that your Flash may be outdated. My Flash version is 9.0.115.0, but should be 9.0.124.0. Oops! You can check your version at http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/about/ . They also have a download link there if yours is out of date.
I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.11. I evidently missed 2.0.0.12 during the Programming Challenge, and I haven't updated to 2.0.13 yet. Oops again. Regarding Firefox updates, the default option is probably set up for automatic updates, but if not (again, I turned this off because I'm on dialup), you can just hit the Help button at the top to check for updated versions. I downloaded my Firefox extensions from here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/ . I'm no developer, and have never had any problems with the installations. Just search for anything that might grab your interest, and they'll give you a list from which to choose.
As for Opera, I only tried it one day, and was disappointed with the speed. It really didn't resemble Firefox or IE7. They claimed a speed advantage over the other two, but maybe it doesn't work as well with dialup.
Pat
Thank you both good Sirs,
Thank you for the heads up Pat. I have a cable modem so speed is always there, but I was wondering about something. Are Java and Flash security problems? In all my years online I've never picked up a virus (that I know of) and hope I don't start anytime soon. If you strongly recommend doing so, I'll give it a try. What would be the best way to disable them temporarily?
Stuart, I think we're confusing ISP's with browsers. Different browsers simply offer different options for surfing. I was a dyed in the wool Firefox user from the day I was introduced to it. I'm going to try the fixes that Pat suggested and see what happens. I know it's a more secure browser than IE. Only Microsoft releases a product with known shortcomings and then offers the patch later on as it's developed. I've always heard that IE is less secure than others when it comes to viruses, spyware and the like.
Thanx again Gents.
As always,
Hollis
Thank you for the heads up Pat. I have a cable modem so speed is always there, but I was wondering about something. Are Java and Flash security problems? In all my years online I've never picked up a virus (that I know of) and hope I don't start anytime soon. If you strongly recommend doing so, I'll give it a try. What would be the best way to disable them temporarily?
Stuart, I think we're confusing ISP's with browsers. Different browsers simply offer different options for surfing. I was a dyed in the wool Firefox user from the day I was introduced to it. I'm going to try the fixes that Pat suggested and see what happens. I know it's a more secure browser than IE. Only Microsoft releases a product with known shortcomings and then offers the patch later on as it's developed. I've always heard that IE is less secure than others when it comes to viruses, spyware and the like.
Thanx again Gents.
As always,
Hollis
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Mr. O'Brady
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- Joined: April 3rd, 2008, 10:06 pm
Hollis, I've never had a virus, worm, or trojan either. It probably depends on the type of websites folks visit. Several years ago, however, I was Googling for new Windows drivers and ended up with a hardcore porn site for my IE start page, and hundreds of other porn sites listed in my favorites. After I stopped blushing, I re-formatted, then switched to Firefox, and never looked back.
If someone so desires, they can place a malicious Java applet on their webpage, and though rare, some Flash animations can also be problems if downloaded. Cross-site scripting is a concept I really don't understand, but it's also a problem, evidently. The only time I visit any off-the-beaten-path websites is during searches for rare 19th-century artworks. That's when I use the Dr. Web link checker. Otherwise, I just block Java and Flash as a timesaver.
That link I provided in my previous post has a NoScript link on it. It's a pretty simple extension to use. If you have scripting blocked by default, then you can just click on the little icon to allow scripting on the site either permanently or temporarily. All of the websites that I frequent are on a whitelist that allows all of the sites' functions to perform properly. Some people might find it a pain, but I love it.
It's really just a personal preference. I would never tell anyone they need it. I love my computer, hope to hang onto it for years, and have no plans to ever re-format again. Even though I don't have any sensitive personal or financial data on it, I just tend to play it safe.
Pat
If someone so desires, they can place a malicious Java applet on their webpage, and though rare, some Flash animations can also be problems if downloaded. Cross-site scripting is a concept I really don't understand, but it's also a problem, evidently. The only time I visit any off-the-beaten-path websites is during searches for rare 19th-century artworks. That's when I use the Dr. Web link checker. Otherwise, I just block Java and Flash as a timesaver.
That link I provided in my previous post has a NoScript link on it. It's a pretty simple extension to use. If you have scripting blocked by default, then you can just click on the little icon to allow scripting on the site either permanently or temporarily. All of the websites that I frequent are on a whitelist that allows all of the sites' functions to perform properly. Some people might find it a pain, but I love it.
It's really just a personal preference. I would never tell anyone they need it. I love my computer, hope to hang onto it for years, and have no plans to ever re-format again. Even though I don't have any sensitive personal or financial data on it, I just tend to play it safe.
Pat
Hi Pat,
Well, I tried the update to 2.0.13, the 3.0 Beta version as well, and I still have the same problem. Given that I'm no techie, it looks as though I'm back to using IE. I did post to the Moxilla forums site detailing the problem so now it's wait and see if anyone responds with their ideas on how to fix things. Thanks for the assist. Have a great weekend.
As always,
Hollis
p.s. I also updated to Flash 9.0.124, rebooted the system and? No luck...
Well, I tried the update to 2.0.13, the 3.0 Beta version as well, and I still have the same problem. Given that I'm no techie, it looks as though I'm back to using IE. I did post to the Moxilla forums site detailing the problem so now it's wait and see if anyone responds with their ideas on how to fix things. Thanks for the assist. Have a great weekend.
As always,
Hollis
p.s. I also updated to Flash 9.0.124, rebooted the system and? No luck...
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Mr. O'Brady
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- Joined: April 3rd, 2008, 10:06 pm
Sorry about that, Hollis. I just went back to nfl.com and disabled Java and Flash, and the helmets still appeared. Sounds like your Firefox settings could be messed up a bit, though. Even if you update, your settings don't change. Some of the geeks at the Forums will probably know how to fix it. Might involve changing your profile: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Manager .
Don't try it on my suggestion, though. I feel bad enough that you took my other suggestions!
Pat
Don't try it on my suggestion, though. I feel bad enough that you took my other suggestions!
Pat