Problems with Firefox 3

A short while ago I upgraded my Firefox browser to version 3 on our trusty family computer. This computer while getting on in years(8 years old) is still the family workhorse running Windows 2000. I do like Firefox as a browser but this version seem to give me a few hiccups. Most recently it crashed and I wasn't able to open it at all. I'd get a pop up window that said:

Firefox had a problem and crashed. We'll try and restore your tabs and windows when it restarts. Unfortunately the crash reporter is unable to submit a crash report.
Details: The application did not leave a crash dump file.

I would click "OK" and then nothing. I tried it in "safe mode" and I got the same result. I decided to try and switch back to Firefox 2 and see if that would help but I soon ran into another problem. The browser would work but whenever I tried to go to an encrypted page I would get a message like:

Firefox SSL Protocol has been disabled

You don't realized how much you need this until it's gone. I tried to check on it through Firefox using the Tools/Options/Advanced/Encryption route to no avail. Everything according to the settings was correct though I still had the same result. After trying a few different things I came across the idea of creating another Firefox profile. I'm not sure exactly where I came across this idea(I think it was through a Firefox support page) but I gave it a shot. After creating a new profile and opening it I was happy with the result. Then I had to move my bookmarks to my new profile and I was up and running. It was kind of a pain but I worked it out. I'm still not sure what caused the problem. I haven't switched back to Firefox 3 just yet. I'll probably just leave it for now and see how it goes. Thanks for coming by and have a good day.

FireFox 3

I recently downloaded the newest version of the Firefox web browser called appropriately Firefox 3. I've been using Firefox so long I forgot what IE looks like. I consider it to be on my short list of essential software for anyone and I've recommended it to others. I've only been using it so far for a short time but so far it's working great. If you haven't upgraded it yet you can click on the banner below to download.

Safari feedback

I thank you all who have commented on my Safari review. Given some of the content of the feedback that may be surprising. What has surprised me is to the tone of some of the comments. Everyone has opinions and I don't have a problem with that. You would think that it was the developers of the browser making comments. I don't think Apple will go out of business because of what I said. A few points I'd like to make out:

• It was the first time trying it out. Think of it as taking a car out for a two minute test drive. I doubt you figure out every feature or function of the vehicle in that short of a period. It was just an initial impression of it. Like I said in the last post I found the "Tab" function and works just fine. I didn't see it the first time around. You could think of it this way. Say you own and drive a car for several years. You get to know where every feature, function, knob, lever, pedal etc. by heart. You can find the stuff in the dark if you had to. Then what if you had to you use someone else's car. It would take awhile to get used to where everything is. Safari was no different. Many of you have apparently used it before so you know where all the features are.
  
• I grant you that the review was sparse for info and depth. If you expecting something more I apologize and will take note of it in the future.
  
• Safari as a browser is quite alright to use and I meant nothing derogatory towards it. I'll even up on my scale of 10 to a 7. I have used it a bit more and have found it to be quick and responsive.
  

In conclusion like I said it was only meant as more of a first impression comment than a full fledged review. I will strive to be a bit more thorough in further comments or reviews in the future. Just one other quick comment is that I hope this attitude isn't indicative of Apple users. Granted I'm a "PC" guy but I try and keep an open mind about things. I think Safari's a good browser and I also love iTunes so I'm not against Apple in any way. Thanks for coming by and like I said I do appreciate your comments.

Re: Safari

  Thanks for all those that have responded with comments. Yes I found the tab feature and I stand corrected. Please keep in mind this was the first time using it and it was just my first impression. There usually is a learning curve before someone's up to speed on a new program. Forgive me I hadn't fooled around with it a whole lot. I just needed to adjust myself going from Firefox to IE too so I expect Safari to be no different. I certainly didn't expect such a wide response. Thanks again for the input.

Safari - Quick review

Just for the heck of it I downloaded and installed Safari web browser from Apple. I pretty much use Mozilla's Firefox for 99% of my web surfing and if you twist my arm real hard I might even use Internet Explorer once in awhile.

The interface is fairly straight forward and simple to figure out. I notice the Apple grey color similar to my iTunes interface so at least they are consistent. Web surfing is comparable(as far as speed) to Firefox or IE. One thing that was obviously missing was tabbed browsing which both IE and Firefox both have. I've gotten so used to it that I didn't realize I had about five windows open before I noticed. I don't see any options for it either. Kind of surprising given that this was the latest release.

All in all it seems like a competent browser but kind of seems spartan. I would expect something more from Apple. Perhaps I had to high expectations. I may try this out once in awhile to see how different pages look or have trouble opening or viewing stuff in other browsers. I'll be sticking with Firefox for now. On a scale of 1 to 10 I give it about a 5.

Bye, bye, Netscape

I can't help feel a bit of nostalgic over the story of Netscape closing it's doors this coming February. I remember when I really rediscovered computers and the internet in the late 90's . Netscape was almost synonymous with the internet boom of the later half of that decade. I honestly can't say the last time I even used Netscape. I did early on but I gradually only used Internet Explorer and now Mozilla's FireFox (ironically born from the ashes of Netscape). The internet is growing up I guess.

View Internet Explorer via FireFox

I use FireFox (and encourage others to do so) 99% of the time. Once in awhile though a page will work funny or just won't come out right. Especially something like Windows Update. I tried an FireFox extension called IE View which gives you an option to open with Internet Explorer when you right-click on it. I tried it out and it works great. Give it a try if it sounds like something you'd like. I found out about this one through PC Daily Tips.