Saturday, April 5, 2008

FireFox (So cool !!)

What is Firefox?

Firefox Firefox is a free, open-source web browser for Windows, Linux and Mac. It is small and fast and offers many new features like popup blocking and tabbed browsing.

Firefox is based on the Mozilla code, and is one of the most standards-compliant browsers available.
Firefox is available for Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Firefox Features

Firefox has automatic Popup Blocking. This if fine for stopping annoying popup ads, but not so good for sites using popup windows in a good way.
Tabbed Browsing is a modern and time saving feature. It makes it possible to view many web pages in one browser window.
Google Search with auto complete is built into Firefox's tool bar.
Keywords for bookmarks with quick searches (e.g., type "goo xml tutorial" into the location bar and get a Google search page on "xml tutorial" in one step).
Dictionary Tooltip - double-click any word to see its definition.
Firefox has Improved Security. It is not integrated with the operating system and does not support ActiveX controls and VBScripts (features known to have security holes).
A built-in modern Download Manager downloads files in the background to the desktop.
Firefox has Customizable Toolbars, allowing users to add and remove items as well as create new toolbars.
With the Theme Manager, the users can change the look and feel of Firefox.
Firefox keeps itself up-to-date. Smart Update searches for updates in the background and informs the user about available updates.

Looking for the browser? we highly recommend Firefox. It is the safest, most secure browser available now and it is Browse Faster,Free Virus& Spyware BestBrowser Award Winning and free to download.

Benefit of Firefox

1.Enjoy a Better Web Experience

There’s a lot to do on the Web, and Firefox 2 is full of helpful features to make your time online more productive.

Improved Tabbed Browsing

Tabbed Browsing screenshot

We love tabs as much as you do, so Firefox 2 will open new web pages in tabs by default. Each of those tabs has its own close button, but don’t worry - if you accidentally close a tab, just go to the History menu to bring it back from the list of “Recently Closed Tabs.” You’ll never be crunched for space anymore, either. When you have too many tabs open to comfortably fit in a single window, scroll arrows will appear on either side, and a button on the right side will always show you an easy-to-read list of all your open tabs.

Spell Checking

Spell Checking screenshot

Sometimes you’re in a rush, and can’t remember if it’s “i” before “e” or the other way around. Firefox 2 has built-in spell checking to keep you from making any mistakes in your blog posts and Web-based email, so you can worry about more important things.

Search Suggestions

Search Suggestions screenshot

Some of the search engines in Firefox 2 can read your mind, and actually suggest search terms for what you’re looking for. Just start typing into the Search bar, and a drop down list of suggestions will appear. (Works for Google, Yahoo! and Answers.com.)

Session Restore

Losing your place while you’re doing things on the Web is a pain. Now, with Session Restore, if Firefox has to restart or closes when it comes back you’ll pick up exactly where you left off. The windows and tabs you were using, the text you typed into forms, and the in-progress downloads you had running will all be restored. You can even set Firefox 2 to always restore your previous session instead of loading a home page, so you’ll never lose your place again.

Web Feeds (RSS)

Web Feeds (RSS) screenshot

What do news headlines, indie rock podcasts, and pictures of kittens have in common? They’re all things that you can subscribe to with Web feeds. Firefox 2 gives you full control over Web feeds, showing you a preview and letting you choose how you want to subscribe. You can use a Firefox Live Bookmark, or a feed reader that you’ve installed on your computer, or through a Web service such as My Yahoo!, Bloglines or Google Reader.

Live Titles

Live Titles screenshot

Keep an eye on that auction or the status of a delivery using the new Live Titles feature in Firefox 2. Compact enough to fit as a bookmark label, Live Titles are regularly updated summaries of the most important information on a Web page. As the information on the page gets updated, so does your Live Title. Try one out in Firefox 2 by bookmarking www.woot.com.

Integrated Search

Integrated Search screenshot

Firefox helps you find whatever it is that you’re looking for. The Search bar comes pre-loaded with search engines for Google, Yahoo!, Amazon, eBay, Answers.com, and Creative Commons. Wherever you are on the Web, you can enter a search term in the Search bar and receive immediate answers from the search engine you’ve chosen. You can select a new search engine from the Search bar menu at any time, and add search engines from hundreds of your favorite Web sites.

Live Bookmarks

Live Bookmarks screenshot

Firefox Live Bookmarks let you view Web feeds such as news and blog headlines in the bookmarks toolbar or menu. With one glance, quickly review the latest headlines from your favorite sites and click to go directly to the articles that interest you.

Pop-up Blocker screenshot

Firefox keeps you in control of the Web pages you’re viewing, blocking annoying pop-ups. Firefox’s pop-up blocker notifies you when pop-ups are blocked via the information bar or icon on the lower right of the screen.

Streamlined Interface

The user interface in Firefox 2 has been updated to improve usability without altering the familiarity of the browsing experience.

Accessibility

Firefox delivers a better browsing experience for everyone - including those who are visually impaired. Firefox includes support for DHTML accessibility. Web developers can create pages that reduce the amount of tabbing required to navigate a document to minimize keystrokes for those with mobility disabilities. Firefox also includes support for Microsoft Active Accessibility, Microsoft’s accessibility API standard for Windows. This support allows Firefox to work with screen readers such as GW Micro’s Window-Eyes and Freedom Scientific’s JAWS. Firefox 2 (Windows version) meets US federal government requirements that software be easily accessible to users with physical impairments.


2.Stay Secure on the Web

The Web is a great place, but sometimes you’ll encounter bad people. Firefox keeps you safe from spyware, hackers, scammers and spammers, using the power of a vigilant and passionate community to protect you 24/7.

Phishing Protection

Phishing Protection screenshot

Phishing Protection takes Firefox’s security to a new level, helping to safeguard your financial information and protect you from identity theft. When you encounter a Web site that is a suspected forgery (known as a “phishing” site) Firefox will warn you and offer to take you to a search page so you can find the real Web site you were looking for.

Open Source, More Secure

At the heart of Firefox is an open source development process driven by thousands of passionate, experienced developers and security experts spread all over the world. Our openness and active community of experts helps to ensure our products are more secure and updated quickly, while also enabling us to take advantage of the best third party security scanning and evaluation tools to further bolster overall security.

Automated Update

Automated Update screenshot

Firefox’s update system always checks to see if you’re running the latest version, and notifies you when a security update is available. These security updates are small (usually 200KB - 700KB), giving you only what you need and making the security update quick to download and install. The automated update system provides updates for Firefox on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux in over 40 different languages.

Protection from Spyware

Firefox will not allow a Web site to download, install, or run programs on your computer without your explicit agreement. Period. You will be notified whenever downloading or installing software, and Firefox will always tell you what’s happening so that you can stay in control of your computer.

Clear Private Data

Clear Private Data screenshot

Firefox offers the ability to clear all your private Web browsing data with just one click with the “Clear Private Data” tool. You can be confident that when you clear your private data in Firefox it’s gone - whether you are using your own computer or one at the library.


3.Personalize Your Browser

Choose from thousands of useful Add-ons that enhance Firefox. It’s easy to personalize Firefox 2 to make it your own.

An Add-on for Everyone

You can choose from over 1,000 add-ons at the Firefox Add-ons Web site. A Firefox add-on can help you comparison shop, share bookmarks with your friends, see the weather in a corner of your browser, write to your weblog, get news, listen to music - all from inside the browser you already love. You can even change the appearance of your browser - from buttons to colors and fonts - so that it matches your own personal style.

Add-ons Manager for Extensions and Themes

Add-ons screenshot

The new Add-ons Manager improves the user interface for managing extensions and themes, making it even easier for you to customize Firefox 2. Install, uninstall, enable and disable your add-ons in a single place.

Search Engine Manager

Search Engine Manager screenshot

You can now quickly add, remove and re-order your search engines in the Search bar. Firefox 2 will also detect when a Web site has a search engine that can be installed, and will install it for you with a single click in the drop-down menu.


Source:Mozilla.com

Google Toolbar(FireFox)

Enhanced Search Box
As you type a search query into the new Toolbar's search box, you'll see a list of useful suggestions based on popular Google searches, spelling corrections and your own Toolbar search history and bookmarks. You can also click the "G" icon in the search box to search different Google sites, the current site, or sites for which you've installed custom search buttons.


Google Safe Browsing
Previously its own extension, we've integrated Google Safe Browsing into Google Toolbar - after all, who wouldn't want it? Google Safe Browsing alerts you if a web page that you visit appears to be asking for your personal or financial information under false pretences. This type of attack, known as phishing or spoofing, is becoming more sophisticated, widespread and dangerous. By combining advanced algorithms with reports about misleading pages from a number of sources, Safe Browsing is often able to automatically warn you when you encounter a page that's trying to trick you into disclosing personal information.

Note: This feature doesn't appear in the Google Toolbar if you're using Firefox 2.0+, as the latest browser includes this feature.


AutoFill
Tired of typing in your address every time you shop online? AutoFill makes shopping a breeze by enabling you to fill out web forms with a single click. Just enter your info once in the Toolbar's Options dialog box and you're ready for an online shopping spree.

WordTranslator
Ever need to translate words on English web pages into another language? Don't bother looking up words one by one - just hover your mouse cursor over an English word and Toolbar's WordTranslator will tell you what it means in your own language. WordTranslator currently supports translation from English into Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Japanese, Korean, French, Italian, German and Spanish.



New! Custom buttons
You can add buttons to your Toolbar that will let you visit and search your favorite websites and keep up with interesting feeds. Our Button Gallery offers a selection of ready-made buttons for popular sites, and you can make your own buttons in seconds by right-clicking in the search box on any site and selecting "Generate Custom Search..." Start making your own buttons.

New! Send To
You can use your Google Toolbar to share web pages via email, text message (SMS), or blog. To share an entire page, select from the Toolbar's "Send To" menu; to share an excerpt, simply select the section of the page you want to share before clicking "Send To."

Note: sending text messages via the Google Toolbar is free. Your cell phone carrier, however, may charge a fee to receive messages, on either a monthly or per-message basis. SMS is only available from within the United States.


New! Google Docs & Spreadsheets
With the Google Docs & Spreadsheets feature enabled in the Google Toolbar, you can open most popular file types right in your browser. Google Docs & Spreadsheets will display these files in a new browser window when you either drag the file icon into your browser, click a link to a file on a web page, or double-click on a file icon. Enable this feature from the "Options" menu of your Toolbar.


New! Bookmarks
Want to create and label bookmarks that you can access from any computer? Simply click the Toolbar's star icon, or right-click the star to add and label a bookmark. You'll be able to access your Bookmarks menu on any computer with the new Google Toolbar installed.

Note: this feature stores your bookmarks online, so you'll need to have a Google Account and be signed in to create and access your bookmarks. You can also view your bookmarks using your Google Account's Search History feature. Just click the "Search History" link that appears in the upper right-hand corner of the Google homepage when you're logged into your Google Account and you'll see your Bookmarks.


New! Google Account Sign-in
Your Google Account is your access point for Google services like Personalized Homepage, Google Groups and Gmail - and now you can sign in and out right from your Toolbar. Simply click on the Settings button on the right end of the Toolbar and select "Sign In" (you'll know you're signed in when the Toolbar displays a green light).


Subscribe to Feed
You can now subscribe to your favorite web pages with just one click. Many different websites publish feeds with the latest updates to their sites so that, instead of visiting a website over and over for the latest news, you can use a feed reader to keep track of updates for you. The Toolbar will automatically detect if content of the page you are browsing is available for subscription and enable the "Subscribe" button to notify you. When enabled, simply click "Subscribe" and you'll be taken to your chosen feed reader to confirm the subscription.

Note: This feature does not appear in the Google Toolbar if you're using Firefox 2.0+, as the latest browser includes this feature.


Send with Gmail
Have you been frustrated because you can't set Gmail as your default mail client? We've solved that problem by adding a feature into Toolbar that automatically opens whenever you click on an email link.


Custom Layouts
The Firefox version of Toolbar has always made it easy to put your favorite Toolbar features right where you want them - we've taken it one step further and provided three pre-set layouts so that you can arrange the buttons, search boxes, and other browser controls for you to make the best use of space in Firefox.


AutoLink
The online review of a great new restaurant has the place's address but no map. You could type the restaurant's street, city, and ZIP code into the search box, but why bother, when clicking the Toolbar's AutoLink button will automatically create a link to an online map (US addresses only)? AutoLink can also link package tracking numbers to delivery status, VIN numbers (US) to vehicle history, and publication ISBN numbers to Amazon.com listings.

SpellCheck
ARe yu a raelly bad tyipsst? Google Toolbar's new SpellCheck button finds any spelling mistakes whenever you type into a web form, including web-based email, discussion forums, and even intranet web applications. The AutoFix option even corrects all of your text with a single click.

PageRank Display
Wondering whether a new website is worth your time? Use the Toolbar's PageRank™ display to tell you how Google assesses the importance of the page you're viewing.

Highlight Search Terms
Once you've used the Google Toolbar to find a web page, there's no need to scroll around looking for your search terms. The Highlight button instantly lights them up on the page, making it easier to find relevant information.

Word Find Buttons
Finding a particular word on a web page can be frustrating. With the Google Toolbar however you easily jump to the first instance of a word by typing it into the Toolbar search box, then clicking on the Toolbar's Word Find button to find each additional occurrence of the word.



Auto Update
There's no need to check for new versions of Google Toolbar; updates are installed automatically, so you'll always have the latest and greatest version.


Source:Google.com