Firefox : Java Glossary

Benefits

• It automatically downloads and installs updates.
• It works under Vista.
• It does spell checking when you enter data into a webform.
• It supports user-written add-ons. One that impressed me is called FireBug, not to be confused with DOM Inspector. It lets you instantly view the source of the CSS, Java and JavaScript on the web page, using a expanding outline. Unfortunately it does not automatically upgrade to the Firefox 3 version. You must install it via the link above. It also lets you edit and see the effect of changes, but not permanently save changes. Most useful is the inspect element command that lets you see the HTML and CSS used to generate an effect in somebody else’s website without having to wade through all kinds of extraneous HTML. It does not have a built-in form filler, but you can select one of several add-ons. It shows you how the various CSS rules combine. This alone is reason enough to install a copy of Firefox/Firebug. Another add-on that is fun and mildly mind-blowing is CoolIris, aka PicLens, that lets you rapidly browse hundreds of images and search for images in Google, Yahoo, Flickr, Deviant Art etc. You can get CoolIris to index the images on your website. You can get CoolIris to index your own website if you have both thumbnail and full size versions of images named in a consistent way.
• It supports user-written themes. The themes can do major overhaul of the look and feel. I use the Curacao theme. I like each of my browsers to look distinctly different so I can easily tell which one I am using. Other distinctive themes are Miint, Camifox, Noia, Orbit Orange, Strata Human and LittleFox. There are also a number of elegant new themes marked experimental, i.e. beta. Unlike Opera, Firefox does not let you configure the toolbar colour scheme. It is fixed by your choice of add-on theme. You have to find a theme with a colour scheme you like. Unfortunately, designers seem overly fond of grey and blue. You will have best luck with a theme recently updated. The theme API is constantly upgraded, and the older themes won’t fully support the current one. Don’t be afraid to try out half a dozen. You can’t really judge them without installing them. When searching for themes, use the advanced search feature to select just themes for Firefox 3.0 to 3.1.
• The Google toolbar works in Firefox. It does many useful things. Try it out.
• It is more robust connecting to a shared printer than Opera.

Annoyances

• Firefox is quite sluggish. It is slow to start and ofter can’t keep up with my typing speed.
• Firefox is a RAM pig. You need a machine with abundance RAM for it to work properly.
• If you change your Java JRE, you may have to completely uninstall Firefox and reinstall it to get Java working again.
• When you hover over a link, it will display where the link is about to go to, but it displays at the bottom of the screen, so it is easy to miss.
• When you hit Ctrl-F to search, the box where you fill in the target displays at the bottom of the screen, so it is easy to miss.
• You can’t configure the view source editor. You have to used the default editor.
• The import bookmarks from Opera did not work. It picked up the wrong file. However, I was able to import bookmarks by importing them into Internet Explorer and from there into Firefox.
• Firefox ignores <col, both the class and the alignment attribute.
• You can write add-ons to Firefox, little programs that run inside Firefox and interact with it. You write them in XUL (XML) and JavaScript. It is one of the ugliest coding languages I have ever seen, but it is multiplatform and there are a great many complex add-ons written in it. Learn more about how to do it.
• The Firefox help site makes you do a verification typing test before you can post on the forum to ask a question. No matter what you type, it claims you failed the test. A serious case of tantalising. It makes you wonder if there really is a help forum.
• Firefox 3.5.5, Sea Monkey 2.0, Safari 4.0.2, Flock 2.5.5, Chrome 3.0.195.33 and Opera 10.01 all have a “bug”. They will not render <col class="xxxx">s correctly. Avant 11.7:40, IE 8.0.6001.18702 and IE 7.0.6000 render it correctly. The Opera people say this is a feature not a bug. The language lawyers claim the W3 spec says that the browser is supposed to ignore the color attribute from the <col class. Logically, I think the <col styles should apply to the entire column, but not to <th rows. In addition Firefox, Sea Monkey, Safari and Flock also ignore the <col align attribute. Opera and IE render it properly. Last revised/verified: 2009-11-11
• If you change your master style sheet, the effects won’t show up until you both clear all history and reload the page.