I'm blogging from Mozilla Firebird .6, an extensive revision of Mozilla Navigator which is a stand alone version of the browser. As a matter of fact, Firebird will be replacing Mozilla Navigator as the new development direction once Mozilla 1.4 is released.
I've read quite a few good recommendations about Firebird over the last month or so. But the comments attached to this post about Mitch Kapor's experience installing Mozilla convinced me that I ought to give it a try.
The installation in Windows XP was easy. I unzipped the folder into my ProgramFiles/mozilla.org directory and made a shortcut from the MozillaFirebird.exe file on my desktop. Simple as that.
I won't go into all the features. Know that it is, as claimed, significantly faster than Mozilla. For more of the features, you can read the Mozilla Firebird help site feature list.
However, the real attraction to Firebird for me is the tabbed browsing features, especially those available with Tabbed Brower extensions. For instance, Firebird now reopens all of the tabs which were open when I last closed the browser. When I type an url in the address bar, or click on a bookmark, a new tab is automatically opened. These are only a few of the many options available. Tabbed browsing users will defintely love it!
However, it is only verision .6 and the plugin support doesn't seem to be here yet; I haven't been able to get Flash to install. Still, I like it much more than Navigator and will probably use it as the default browser on my machine.
And yes, there seems to be a Mac version as well :)
Re: Have you tried Mozilla Firebird?
I'm on it right now, as a matter of fact.
I've been using Mozilla for the last year or so, but began to get frustrated when recent releases (anything after 1.3.1) failed to execute on my system. Still no idea what that was about. I dreaded moving my passwords, form data, etc. over from Moz, but I went ahead a week or so ago and got Firebird. It's still Mozilla, but I like how the sidebar on Moz 1.x worked better than on FB.
The other add-on that Moz had that I thought was nice was the calendar. Not sure that's available for FB. I've had no trouble whatsoever installing and viewing Flash. In fact, I like FB for Flash because you can suppress automatic playing (Click here to play!). I've hated using IE for anything for a long time. It just invites scripted registry exploits and the like. FB also has an agent switcher, which sends to the website whatever browser ID you like (IE, NS, Opera, default). So there's really no need to use IE for anything. Don't forget mouse gestures.
I do like the sleeker package. Now if they'd make OpenOffice with a footprint significantly smaller than MS-Office's...
Re: flash & mouse gestures
that's good to hear. maybe i just need to uninstall flash completely then reinstall it again.
as for mouse gestures, haven't had a chance to try that out yet.
lack of plug-in's
I just installed this browser, and let me tell you, having it w/out Flash is a treat. I hate flash ads and their forced animation, especially when I'm trying to read the text they're usually imbedded in.
Macromedia sucks. Until they make a Flash plugin that let's me turn flash on and off w/ ease, then I just as soon as keep this browser flash free. I'll use IE if I go to a site and need to see the flash.
Re: lack of plug-in's
"I just installed this browser, and let me tell you, having it w/out Flash is a treat."
(lol)) I was just thinking the same thing earlier today when I visited a site with flash using Firebird. Most of the time, it's definitely not an inconvience at all :)
But the flash on and off switch is a great idea :) Definitely sounds like something someone ought to build into Firebird. Wonder if they have?
Re: lack of plug-in's
Actually, someone already wrote a plugin to selectively disable flash. It's called flash click to view, and it replaces all flash ads with a button that you need to click before it downloads and displays the flash ad. Works perfectly.
You can find it here:
http://texturizer.net/firebird/extensions.html#Flash%20Click%20to%20View