Mozilla Firefox......Kneel and Humble Yourselves Ye Server Afflicted
 

Whoa.......it's been getting old (apologies to all BF'ers) trying to get on to BF, open some threads, submit a post, etc.

So.......I've been using Mozilla Firefox as my browser lately and I am very pleased-- much better performance here at BF and elsewhere, too. Normally I use AOL (my ISP) but I'm impressed by Mozilla. Slicker than PowerGel through a goose!

Quick to download and to install....works well for me.

AOL is truly the dark side.

I have been using Mozilla for at least a year and overall it is better than Internet Explorer.
However, it doesn't help when the BF server is having a bad hair day.

Been using Firefox exclusively for more than a year now as well as their E-Mail program, Thunderbird. Very pleased with both.

Agreed. the only difference between the two, where BF is concerned, is the appearance of the timeout message.

Dogbait

OK for a different view and an attempt to get OT.... just a tiny bit. :) I think Mozilla is a lot like light weight inner tubes. They reduce the weight (or in the case of browsers, the clutter) and make it go faster, but are more prone to flats. I've had more virus problems with Mozilla than IE. While I hate to say it, because I'm one of those somewhat anti Microsoft people, it's been true for me and the people in my office. We were all using Netscape and then Mozilla, but had to switch to IE, because our systems were impossible to protect fully.

+1

Internet Explorer hasn't been extensively upgraded in many years, while other Browsers like Firefox and Opera now sport tabs, wicked toolbars and are faster. Firefox has some very nifty advanced features, too. Makes you wonder why so many stick with IE.

I use Camino, myself, which i think is an offshoot of Firefox. Of course, I'm on a Mac, so little worry about viruses, etc. :)

That's what they used to say about Firefox. As it's usage increased, so did the proliferation of security issues. Your day will come if Apple ever manages to capture more than a miniscule portion of the market..... currently at ~4%, they are coming on strong:D

Dogbait

Another Firefox user. Still get delayed on bad server days. Firefox also craps out running apps designed for IE. You can install add-ons, though, like popup blockers. Used with Norton Antivirus, security has been good so far.

- L.

I didn't even know AOL still existed.

With all due respect, I believe this is an antivirus issue - not a browser issue. When you browse to a site, viruses are either there or they aren't - your browser has nothing to do with it. Whether a virus is caught before it infects your local machine depends on your antivirus program - again, your browser has nothing to do with it.

If you're talking about how plug-ins and security are handled by the browser, then these are browser issues, but these are fully configurable on both IE and Firefox. Configuration is the key...

DeeGee, Mac here, too. I think if I tried to bring a PC in the house, my artistic wife would divorce me. By the way, Safari has been good for me.

When you say "much better performance" I am confused.

Is the hypothesis that the slowness of the BFN and other related problems somehow related to the type of browser that interfaces (I hate that word) with the server?

If so, I would like a more in-depth explanation of just how this might occur.

Logically, if the server is running poorly, it would seem to me that it would make no difference which browser on used to interact.

But then, I know little to nothing about servers.

Incidentally, Joe has just one server operating right now. While he says it will slow things down, it has speeded things up considerably for me.

Your point is well taken. I've been informed by several tech folks, all much more knowledgeable than I, that the software writers (for antivirus program, spam blockers, etc.) write programs that are compatible with IE first and include other browsers as time and money permit. Hence, their logic goes, the antivirus software itself is more easily meshed with with IE. But I do confess that all I really know is my experience and little beyond that.

I use both IE and Firefox browsers as I keep them configured differently for different browsing puropses. Firefox loads quicker as its less bulky; that may mean a server running slowly will load firefox less slowly (a little quicker). But its really the server thats the issue.
Incidentally I tried the beta version of IE 7 (sure looks a lot like Firefox) and its quicker than the current version of IE.

My teenagers introduced me to Firefox & I've been delighted. The new Yahoo-Beta version of e-mail made me upgrade to the latest Firefox yesterday. Have had no problems & the slowness of BF seems to be related to internet traffic times during the day, not to my browser. With only one server, we should be patient (we're all old enough to have grasped the concept) and just delight in our communications. Otherwise we could all go onto Instant Messaging.

Hi NOS88!

I don't claim to be an expert either, but I do host a weekly radio show that is a call-in computer-questions show. Although it may have been true in the past that software writers gave "preferential treatment" to Microsoft's IE, that time is long gone.

Again - antivirus programs are not "written for the browser;" they're, instead, written for the operating system. I feel comfy making the statement that you're equally likely to catch a virus regardless of what browser you're using. The only exception to that statement is if you're running Linux or Apple OS-X, in which case you are probably "below the radar" for the majority of virus writers.

So the bottom line is that if you're running a Windows PC, keep your antivirus and malware scanners up-to-date and feel free to run any browser you like.

You are exactly correct. If the server can't send info, the browser you're running can't make any difference at all.

I've had fewer flats and better performance from ultralite tubes and Firefox.

Al

I knew there was something different about you two... Chalk up another Mac user - personally I like the 4% - we're special:)

I use Safari but sometime accessing BF just sucks - the servers seem to buckle under the load and It won't matter what you're using.

// kak

I'm "one of those", who can use both Mac and Windows with no problem. (Mac preferred, and I only do windows if it's Win2K and up.) I've never had a problem with this forum while using Safari, or Firefox.
Use the update feature in Firefox. Nice, cool method to make sure you're up do date. This is important, regardless of platform.

On the windows side, I use Firefox, or IE with all the active X controls diabled. ( options menu, security tab, advanced. )

Good book for Windows users: "Windows XP Inside out" by Ed Bott, Craig Stinson, and Carl Seichert. (Microsoft Press). This is truly indispensable. It's in paperback now, about twenty five bucks at Amazon.

My primary machine is Linux with Firefox with occasional use of Konquerer. My work machine is XP with Firefox because I've been too lazy to install Linux; maybe one of these rainy days. I do use IE for Cycling.TV.

If the server is running poorly enough, then there will be no difference between browsers. However, if the server is running normally, or running only a little slow, certain browsers will be faster than others, because of optimizations in the way they make data requests.

Also, Firefox can be tweaked to render webpages faster (once downloaded, data still must be interpreted), a feat that IE doesn't duplicate.