Is Firefox ugly?
Tuesday is launch day for Firefox 3, and here at thriftmac we feel we can finally recommend Firefox on an equal footing with Safari and Camino. But there are still some nit pickers out there — among them, Johan Sanneblad, who insists that problems remain with Firefox’s look and feel. He notes that buttons, menus, window design and form layout are not quite up to OS X standards. And now that he’s pointed out these inconsistencies, I’m afraid they might start bothering me as well.
Posted Monday, June 16, 2008 in Web-browsers
Firefox faster than Safari?
This is the best news I’ve read about Firefox 3 so far: Lifehacker quotes TechWeb as saying that Firefox 3 will not only be much faster than Firefox 2, but even faster than Safari. If that’s true, I’ll be one of the first in line to try it out.
Posted Monday, May 19, 2008 in Web-browsers
Camino 1.6
The one-time thriftmac browser of choice has hit version 1.6 after a year of hard work. Yes, we used to extol the virtues of Camino (just like Firefox only better!), but lately we’ve been seduced by Safari’s siren call. That’s not to say we don’t still recommend Camino as a good alternative. If, for example, you find Firefox to be kinda slow and Windowsy, head for Camino — it behaves much more like a good Mac app.
Featured in the latest update are toolbar search improvements, a streamlined find interface, tweaks to tabbed browsing, easier software updates, enhanced AppleScript support, beefed up Keychain support, expanded feed detection, and more.
Posted Thursday, April 17, 2008 in Web-browsers
Firefox 3 beta 5
The latest beta of Firefox 3 is out, and Mozilla Links describes what they deem to be a long list of new features. As usual, they tend to be Windows oriented, which is kind of irritating. All the screenshots are from Windows with the exception of a couple of token Linux efforts. And, as usual, they crow about big improvements that have not yet made their way to the Mac. I suppose we should be glad to have a Mac version at all, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that the Mac is an afterthought in the process. It makes me glad we have Camino as an all-Mac alternative built with the same Gecko engine.
Posted Wednesday, April 2, 2008 in Web-browsers
'Crazy ideas' for Firefox 4
With the imminent release of Firefox 3 in June, Chris Beard, VP of Labs for Mozilla is already talking up features planned for Firefox 4. Basically, he hopes to further integrate the browser so that it becomes more of computing platform than simply a way to surf the Internet. On top of that, he also has some ‘crazy ideas.’ Read more at Webware.
Posted Friday, March 28, 2008 in Web-browsers
Macworld looks at Firefox beta
Macworld senior editor Rob Griffiths takes an in-depth look at Firefox 3 beta 4. He notes native OS X widgets for a more Mac-like look, much speedier startups and page loads, and a compelling new way of storing bookmarks.
If this article is anything to go by, Firefox 3 may be the upgrade that finally pushes the browser into the Mac mainstream. It’s always had a lot going for it — most notably a fine collection of add-ons — but for many Mac users it’s just been too slow and ugly.
Apparently, beta 5 is due out soon, and we can expect to see a final release this spring.
Posted Saturday, March 15, 2008 in Web-browsers
Firefox 3 Beta 4
The latest beta of Firefox 3 is about to be released, and Mozilla Links has a review of all the bells and whistles. A bit disappointing is that some of these features are not yet available for the Mac — although they will presumably be there in time for the final release. For example, Javascript is said to be three times faster than it is in Firefox 2. It would be cool to take it for a test drive, but the necessary optimization has yet to make its way to OS X.
But we all know Firefox diehards won’t let a little thing like this stop them from checking it out.
Posted Monday, March 10, 2008 in Web-browsers
Flock 1.1
Flock was announced with much fanfare, but it was in beta for such a long time that its great promise was all but forgotten. It’s not only out of beta now, but it is steadily making improvements.
Think of Flock as Firefox with built-in social web features, and you’ll get an idea of its potential. Macworld UK gives version 1.01 a glowing review. And Mozilla Links has a brief rundown of new features in the latest version.
If you’re into YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Blogger, LiveJournal, Gmail and Yahoo! Mail — to name a few — Flock is definitely worth a try.
Posted Thursday, March 6, 2008 in Web-browsers
Firefox 3 beta 3 reviewed at Applelinks
Charles Moore has an extensive review of Firefox 3 beta 3, the highly anticipated next-generation browser. Everything you could possible want to know is right there, and all from a Mac perspective. Thanks, Charles!
Posted Sunday, February 24, 2008 in Web-browsers
Donate rice for Firefox
Mozilla is celebrating 500 million downloads of Firefox since it was first released on Nov. 9, 2004 by encouraging everyone to donate some rice through a test of their vocabulary. Get the details here.
Posted Friday, February 22, 2008 in Web-browsers
Get SuperCollapse II and the game of your choice FREE when you sign up for a 30-Day Free trial to GamePass. ($40 Total Value)
