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I’m generally well ahead of the crowd when it comes to Firefox. In fact, I’ve been running pre-release versions as my primary browser since the days when the Mozilla browser was known as Firebird. However, early versions of 3.6 were particularly crashy (along with the Flash 10.1 beta) and buggy in inconvenient ways (couldn’t access my work email due to some sort of cert issue). So I’ve largely abstained. And thus, have been uninformed. Two updates in particular have impacted my workflow – one positive, the other negative.

First, Mac OS X finally gets a true and native full screen (aka kiosk) mode–which you can see below. This has been my second biggest complaint (after cut & paste keyboard shortcut placements) since making OS X my primary mobile computing platform in 2007. It’s still a little unpolished, in that the sliding address bar and tab animation isn’t smooth and I can’t pin the bar. Also, unlike the traditional F11 keyboard toggle, the slightly more cumbersome Command-Shift-F is required. However, this feature is a big deal for me and will allow me to be more productive (and comfortable) on a 13″ screen. As the majority of what I do is web-based. For comparison, Opera has a native kiosk mode but I never found a way to display tabs. And select Chrome alphas have also provided fullscreen OS X Web browsing, but with limited keyboard shortcuts and it’s been disabled in the current public beta build.

The other Firefox 3.6 change that surprised me is that new tabs open directly to the right of an existing tab, rather than at the far right in the last position. As I frequently have a dozen or more tabs open and often open tabs for later review, I prefer stacking new stuff at the end. Fortunately, while there isn’t a Preference pane option to restore the prior functionality, the prior behavior can be re-enabled (top pic): In the address bar, type about:config to bring up the much more granular and obscure options. Then filter those elements via ‘tab’ and change browser.tabs.insertRelatedAfterCurrent from true to false by merely double clicking it.

(This post republished from Zatz Not Funny.)

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On the grand continuum from inconsequential bug fix to massive upgrade, Firefox 3.6 isn’t a biggie. But it could be very worthwhile: Mozilla is claiming a 20 percent speed increase (including faster startup and JavaScript improvements) and more stability. I haven’t played with 3.6 enough to form my own conclusions other than “so far, so good,” but just about the only things I don’t like about Firefox are that it feels slow to load, sometimes seems to bog down, and freezes and/or crashes more than it should.  A smoother-running Firefox could get me back on that browser more or less full time.

(At the moment, I use Firefox maybe 25 percent of the time–but I’m more likely to use Chrome on Windows, and Safari on OS X.)

Other improvements in 3.6 include the integration of Personas, a nice one-click system for applying skins to the browser; a new plug-in system that detects outdated plug-ins and helps you install updated versions, and improved form autocomplete features.

There’s also stuff that–for now–is mostly of interest to developers and those who love bleeding-edge Web technologies, including enhancements to HTML5 video and embedded fonts. But while Mozilla says that Firefox has the world’s best support for HTML5, that boast is only true on a theoretical level: Both YouTube and Vimeo have started offering HTML5 video in the past 24 hours, but their players don’t work in Firefox, because it only supports video in Ogg Vorbis Theora format, and they only provide video in H.264 format. (Which means that HTML5 video won’t mean a whole heck of a lot for most people until all browser makers and video sites agree on a standard.)

For now, Firefox users need to seek out 3.6 and install it; Mozilla told me that at some point, earlier versions of the browser will ask you if you’d like to get it. It’s a major enough upgrade that past versions won’t auto-install it without your explicit permission.

Should you get Firefox 3.6? Yes, if you’re a Firefox fan–once you’ve verified that your favorite plug-ins are available for it. And if you’re an ex-Firefox user who’s drifted off to another browser over speed or stability issues, it’s also worth a look. If you take it for a spin, I’d love to know what you think. You don’t need a download link, but here it is just in case.

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Is the Android Marketplace secure?

Droid lock feature is flawed.

Nexus One gripes pile up.

USB 3.0: really, really fast.

LG’s Wii-like HDTV remote.

Make your iPhone a plane.

Definition of “e-reader” is changing.

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Doing the math by version number rather than for all versions of a particular browser radically shifts the result, since IE users as a lot are clearly the browser users least likely to promptly upgrade to a new version: IE 8, IE 7, and IE 6 are all still in wide use, presumably because IE remains the default browser in the Windows world, and plenty of folks who find themselves with a default never bother to change it. Which is why Microsoft must still go out of its way to urge people to upgrade from IE 6--an eight-year-old browser that dates from an era before there was a Firefox, a Safari, or a Chrome.

So how does browser usage by version break down among Technologizer visitors? Glad you asked. Here are the top ten browser versions–Firefox 3.5 has a humongous lead, Safari 4.0 is in second place, and IE doesn’t show up until third place. The numbers below are percentage of visits to the site over the past month…

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Firefox: the good, the bad.

NVidia won’t take on Intel.

Hey, where’s TweetDeck for iPhone?

Google invests in mobile advertising.

Android’s app storage problem continues.

AT&T’s faster laptop broadband adapter.

Will Google take on Skype?

Shazam launches a paid app.

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(It’s definitely the dominant browser in the Technologizer community–around 40 percent of visits have been made using it this month, via 28 percent with IE, 18 percent with Safari, and nine percent with Chrome.)

In celebration of Firefox’s first half-decade, here are some quick reflections on why it’s one of the most significant software products of this or any other era:

1. It reignited the browser wars. Back in 2004, Internet Explorer had more than ninety percent of the market and seemed to be on its way to as close to 100 percent as any product could conceivably attain. Other alternative browsers, such as Opera and earlier versions of Mozilla, had market shares that looked like rounding errors. Then Firefox appeared and quickly gained traction. Its strategy for success was a clever one: It was just a good browser, period. And today, there are more significant browsers than during any period since the inception of the Web: IE, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera, and the Firefox variant I have a soft spot for, Flock. There’s probably some alternate world in which Firefox didn’t come along, IE’s market share is still monopolistic, and the Web is a much less interesting place.

2. It helped enable powerful Web apps. The leading browser of the pre-Firefox era, IE 6, was notoriously, willfully contemptuous of Web standards. Writing sophisticated Web-based applications such as e-mail clients that work with it was an exercise in frustration, albeit one which any company that wanted to write such apps had to go through. But Firefox set a good example by adhering to standards such as CSS and JavaScript that enable today’s Web apps. And Safari (which predated Firefox), Chrome, and even IE 8 all get it, too.

3. It’s the most mainstream open-source project to date. Linux is a remarkable accomplishment, but its domain remains servers and geeks who are passionate about software. Firefox showed the open-source community could build something that appealed to just about everybody–including folks who have no idea what open-source software is.

4. It’s spurned bloat. In many ways, today’s Firefox 3.5 doesn’t feel radically different from 2004’s Firefox 1.0. That’s a good thing–Mozilla has added features sparingly and avoided the temptation to lard its browser up with “improvements” that mostly add clutter. Instead, it offers one of the richest platforms for add-ons that the software world has ever known, allowing every Firefox user to build a browser that has exactly the features that he or she wants.

5. It gave the Netscape story an unexpectedly happy ending. The tale of the once-mighty Netscape Navigator was a sad one, whether you believed that its fall was due to unfair tactics by Microsoft or self-inflicted wounds (or a bit of both). By 2004, Navigator appeared to be well on its way to irrelevance. But Firefox, which exists only because of Netscape’s long-ago decision to open-source its code, is in effect the next-generation Navigator. With all due respect to F. Scott Fitzgerald, its success shows that there are indeed second acts in American lives. At least if the American in question happens to be a piece of software.

No, Firefox isn’t perfect–if I get a moment, I’ll write about five challenges it faces–but its huge influence made the world a better place. Even if you use IE or one of its other competitors.

Your thoughts, celebratory or otherwise?

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Windows IT Pro’s Orin Thomas has a piece up with the title In five years will block Internet advertisements by default. He isn’t quite that extreme in the story itself, but he does say that he thinks the popularity of the Firefox add-in Adblock Plus will inevitably lead to most users blocking ads.

Putting aside for the moment the question of what that would do to the Web economy (including, er, ad-subsidized sites like Technologizer), I don’t think Thomas’s scenario will happen in the sweeping form he describes. For one thing, ad blockers have been around for a long time, and if their inevitable domination of the Web is in progress, it’s happening really slowly. For another, every major purveyor of Web browsers except Opera is either a major advertiser or a major seller of ads, or both–even Mozilla makes millions from the Google ads its default home-page search displays. (I’d be very surprised but not utterly disbelieving if Google were to build ad-blocking into Chrome–but if it turns it on by default, I’ll eat my MacBook.)

Of course, as with everything on the Web, it’s ultimately consumers who call the shots–if enough folks use ad-blockers, the Web will have to adjust, one way or another. (I continue, incidentally, to have no problem whatsoever with the fact that a meaningful minority of Technologizer readers block ads–I don’t need everybody to see the ads as long as a critical mass of folks do.)

What say you?

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But first some advice.

The day after I wrote about my Firefox favorites, the world almost ended for Firefox fanatics: A major security hole was discovered in Firefox. Great timing, no? Not to fret, if you upgrade to Firefox 3.51, the world will be okay again.

You’ll be happy to know if you’re still using Firefox 3.06 or so, all of the add-ons I mention will work. But if you’re a worrier, and already upgraded to 3.51, you’ll find a few won’t install. My guess is that individual add-on developers are working overtime to satisfy your overwhelming need for updates. If you continue feeling stressed, just up the meds for a week.

Most important is that you experiment with these add-ons and extensions one at a time. I don’t want to hear any whining (you will anyway, I know it) if you enable them all at once, cause new sunspots, and feel faint.

Let’s start.

* Deskcut adds something Internet Explorer users love: A way to generate desktop shortcuts by using a right-click context menu. Now you can resume making a mess out of your desktop. (Seriously, keep your desktop neat and clean; all those icons grab system resources.)

* I searched and couldn’t believe Firefox was missing a valuable Internet Explorer feature: A way to run a downloaded app immediately rather than download it. OpenDownload takes care of the problem by adding “Open with Win32 application” from Firefox’s download dialog. [Thanks, Todd.]

* I recently talked about sites that tell me the time anywhere in the world. FoxClocks is handier: It puts customizable world times a click away in Firefox’s status bar. [Thanks, Bill W.]

* Page Info is an overlooked feature built into Firefox. Go to Tools, choose Page Info, and click the Media tab to snatch items off the page that are otherwise difficult to get. [Thanks, Todd.]

* Want to do something at a site that insists–no, demands — you use Internet Explorer? Use IE Tab, a simple extension that lets you open a tab that emulates Internet Explorer. Take that, IE! [Thanks to Grant Van Weerdhuizen.]

* If you want to open up a bunch of tabs with specific links, and on specific days, install Morning Coffee. About as close to Maxthon’s Groups as I’ve seen, it stores sets of bookmarks and opens them on specific days. For example, I can look at financial sites once a week, say Fridays only, my fav video sites on the weekend, and check sports scores on Sunday. Way cool. [Thanks again to Grant.]

* Tab Mix Plus is an essential add-on, one that I use constantly. The current version doesn’t work with 3.51, but Ivan Taylor told me about the stable development version–and it works just perfectly.

* Update Notifier automatically tells you when there are updates for your extensions and themes. [Thanks to Kirstie McKenzie.]

* I never bother with themes or overlays that change the look of a program. I always figure that whatever the program gives me is okay. Yet Todd said Qute 4 and Kempelton are better designed, with clearer, easier to spot icons. Todd’s right; I settled on Qute 4 and I encourage you to try it.

* Menu Editor lets you hide or rearrange nearly all of Firefox’s menu items, including the easy-to-become-messy right-click context menu.

[This post is excerpted from Steve's TechBite newsletter. If you liked it, head here to sign up--it's delivered on Wednesdays to your inbox, and it's free.]

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When I first contemplated switching, my Firefox fanatic friends insisted it could do everything Maxthon did, only better. Firefox has a multitude of free add-ons, cool extras to whittle down your browser feature wish list. The add-ons let me modify Firefox to almost replicate Maxthon. (No matter what anyone says, Maxthon outshines Firefox in managing favorites, and saving sites and favorites in groups is wonderfully effortless.) The added bennie is that Firefox offers better security than Internet Explorer.

If you’re an Internet Explorer user, I encourage you to look at Firefox. It’s free; the transition for most people isn’t a big deal (see Switching is Easy); and you don’t have to give up IE to play around with it. (But I bet you will…)

Here are a few of the cooler Firefox add-ons I’m using. Give them a whirl and let me know what you think.

1. AutoPager does the clicking for you and automatically scrolls through those annoying multiple-page sites–way convenient.

2. If you’re an advanced user with lots of extensions, you’ll definitely want to install MR Tech Toolkit; it’s the tool for installing and managing extensions, add-ons and themes.

3. I use the Extended Cookie Manager to set cookie permissions. It’s great for when I want to allow a cookie to be set for a session — or for eternity.

The Extended Cookie Manager lets you change cookie permissions quickly and easily.

4. Grab Easy DragToGo and you’ll be able to drag and drop links from a tab and open them in new tabs–just like Maxthon does.

5. Like living on the Firefox edge? I have just the tool for you. Tweak Network gives you a way to fiddle with the number of simultaneous downloads from a site, and more important, speed up page loads using hidden network settings.

6. How many times have you had to wait 60 seconds when downloading a file from RapidShare or MegaUpload file sharing sites? There’s no more waiting if you install SkipScreen.

7. Tab Mix Plus is an essential add-on that lets you control every conceivable tab function.

Tab Mix Plus lets you tweak tab functions.

[This post is excerpted from Steve's TechBite newsletter. If you liked it, head here to sign up--it's delivered on Wednesdays to your inbox, and it's free.]

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