Getting  Along With Your Computer Column Archive

Browse Around
By Cate Eales
Appeared July 12, 2007 on castanet.net

If I had any doubt in my mind that people who like Firefox and people who like Internet Explorer are really different, that doubt was erased recently when I received an email from a Firefox user asking how to hide the menu, and another question from an Internet Explorer 7 user asking how to show the menu! I've got an answer to both questions, and some other browser tweaks to for users of both browsers.


What is Firefox?
Firefox is a web browser, like Internet Explorer. (Internet Explorer is known as Windows Explorer in Vista.) Firefox was introduced in 2004 and has grown in popularity in part because it is often faster and more secure than Internet Explorer, and because it is easily customizable.

There are many "Add-ons" for Firefox, available free. You can easily find, install, and use add-ons to do everything from blocking ads  on web pages to showing the current weather in your status bar. You can even get an add-on to back up your add-ons. If you hate Flash on websites as much as my husband does, you'll love Flash Block for Firefox. It automagically blocks all Flash content on a web page, but it puts a Flash logo in place of the content. So if you do want to see one of the Flash items, you simply click on the Flash logo and the content is displayed.

Menu Bars
If you want to hide the menu bar in your Firefox browser, you can use this add-on to do it. (It's easy to turn it back on, too.) On the other hand, some users of Internet Explorer 7 are struggling with the new way of doing things. I use IE7 so infrequently, I'm still struggling with the new way of FINDING things! In IE7, the menu bar is turned off by default. That makes it hard to figure out how to get to your Favorites, and how to save a page to your Favorites.

To toggle the menu bar on or off:

Save IE7 for a Rainy Day
I encourage people to try Firefox and see if they like it. Even if you do, you'll find some of the Firefox features have now been incorporated into IE7. Maybe you will still prefer IE7, but even if you adopt Firefox as your default browser, you'll still encounter a website from time to time that requires Internet Explorer. Potential net viewers of Live Earth learned that lesson last weekend, but there are other sites. So don't try to ditch Internet Explorer entirely. Keep it around for the odd time you need it. And guess what? There's a Firefox add-on that allows you to run Internet Explorer from within Firefox! Get it here.


Do you have a Firefox add-on that you really like? Please email cate@rlis.com and tell me where to get it and why you like it. If there's an add-on out there that really doesn't work for you, I'd love to hear about that, too.


Thank you for all the comments, questions, and suggestions; please keep them coming. Remember that you can browse the column archives at any time here. We're open 24/7/365!  If you'd like to subscribe to this column by email, please visit this link.  It's easy, and free. If you'd prefer the RSS Feed, click here.


Links
Wikipedia article on Firefox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefox
Firefox http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
Wikipedia article on Internet Explorer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer_7
Internet Explorer 7 http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/default.mspx
Adblock for Firefox https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10
FEBE backup extension http://customsoftwareconsult.com/extensions/febe/febe.html
Forecastfox http://forecastfox.mozdev.org/
Flash Block http://flashblock.mozdev.org/
Hide Firefox menu bar https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4762
Tweak IE7 settings http://www.intelliadmin.com/blog/2007/01/tweak-your-ie-7-settings.html
IE Tab http://ietab.mozdev.org/
Get Cate's column by email http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=20618
RSS Feed: http://rlis.com/rlis.xml
Cate's list of good, free software http://rlis.com/columns/column75list.htm

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Cate Eales has been helping people make online computing safe, accessible and fun for over 20 years. She lives in Kelowna with her husband, Eric, and her dog, Sandy. Cate is a partner in Real Life Internet Solutions, helping individuals and small businesses with virus, spyware and malware eradication; personal computer training and management; digital image management; music transfer; and website design, hosting and management. Email Cate at cate@rlis.com with your comments, suggestions, or questions. To browse the column archives, visit the Real Life Internet Solutions website at www.rlis.com.