I just installed the latest version of Mozilla, it's awesome and highly customizable. I changed the splash screen displayed during startup and added a custom theme. I have some questions for those that have been using it for a while. If not for the few problems below it would be perfect.

Hmm.. now whatever happened to Microsoft agreeing to provide an uninstall option for Internet Explorer from the Windows OS? :rolleyes:

1. I can't get my bookmarks to sort alphabetically automatically. Is this possible yet? I tried the sort A-Z option in the bookmark manager but it's not working.

2. I play chess and monopoly almost everyday at playsite.com and noticed Java isn't fully working there. Mozilla doesn't display the games to join and players to the left of the screen. Maybe I should look for a later version of Java?

I've been using Mozilla for a while now. I actually installed v1.2.1 the other day but I don't notice any changes.

It has incompatibility with a number of sites - about three that really bother me.

And yes there's a problem with Java - the scroll thing at the top of the BBC News site doesn't work fully. I haven't investigated changing my version of Java.

A number of other problems as well. Particularly the way it handles urls (ie it loses them) and partially loaded pictures over bad dial-up connections.

And I just wish these alternative browsers would handle CTRL-Enter in the address bar - ie you type google - CTRL- Enter and it goes to "http://www.google.com".

If you like this one try Opera as well. Version 7 is a lot better than v6 but it is still beta at the moment and is quite buggy. And it's "adware".

Originally posted by Toolz
And it's "adware". That's the one reason I've never bothered with Opera. When there are plenty of ad-free alternatives, why would anyone choose Opera over them?

Originally posted by Toolz
It has incompatibility with a number of sites - about three that really bother me.

Blasphemer!!! A browser that supports the w3 standards as well as Mozilla does, does not have incompatibility issues with sites, those sites are simply poorly coded. Valid html is peachy keen!
:)

Originally posted by MDJ2000

Blasphemer!!! A browser that supports the w3 standards as well as Mozilla does, does not have incompatibility issues with sites, those sites are simply poorly coded. Valid html is peachy keen!
:)

I stand corrected:

"A number of sites have incompatiblilty with Mozilla"... ;)

Originally posted by Phrozen
That's the one reason I've never bothered with Opera. When there are plenty of ad-free alternatives, why would anyone choose Opera over them?

There's one more thing that really bothers me about Opera enough to stop me using it:

You can't right click in the address bar and copy / paste.

Also you can't drag urls to the desktop or to explorer.

(that's two isn't it? time for bed methinks... ;) )

Hehe, I was just goof'n on ya. I'm just a huge advocate for valid html. With nifty tools like tidy, no one really has a good excuse for writing bad html.

The problem is that most businesses still maintain their sites for really old browsers, thereby removing the real incentive to upgrade to something that doesn't suck quite as horribly as NS 4.x (for example).

Originally posted by MDJ2000
Blasphemer!!! A browser that supports the w3 standards as well as Mozilla does, does not have incompatibility issues with sites, those sites are simply poorly coded. Valid html is peachy keen!
:)

This man speaks the truth!

That being said, I use Phoenix, Mozilla's lightweight little brother.

I just wanted to post an update:

1. I upgraded to the latest version of Java and now Java loads much faster and w/o any problems!

2. I checked out the Phoenix version of Mozilla and it's even better with much less bulk. The bookmarks can be sorted easily and the menus are customizable. Highly recommend!

I'll have to try out Phoenix. So far I absolutely love Mozilla tho, haven't loaded up I.E. in quite some time.

I've been using phoenix (http://www.mozilla.org/projects/phoenix/) for a good month or so now, I highly recommend it.

I switch between Mozilla and Phoenix. Both are excellent!

Originally posted by binasys
I've been using phoenix (http://www.mozilla.org/projects/phoenix/) for a good month or so now, I highly recommend it.

Thanks for the link. I'm going to try it out. I'm downloading the 0.5 as opposed to the nightly build is this the best option?

BTW for the standards diehards there's Amaya (http://www.w3.org/Amaya) - not terribly keen on it myself though.

Ooooh...

I now have a new browser. After being a long-time Mozilla user, Phoenix is now my browser of choice. Thanks to those of you who mentioned it.

Before I go installing this thing, does phoenix use mozilla profile, can it import it, or does it have its own ??

Toolz,

I've been using nightly builds, but I'm sure using a milestone -especially since 0.5 has only just been released- is a safe enough option.

I've been using nightly builds too without a problem.

Just tried it. It loads a bit faster then mozilla, take a bit les resources, and uses gtk theme.

Originally posted by sasha
Before I go installing this thing, does phoenix use mozilla profile, can it import it, or does it have its own ??

I think it's detailed here

http://www.mozilla.org/projects/phoenix/phoenix-release-notes.html#install

I've installed Pheonix and I've got to say I like it!

It seems to have everything that Mozilla has and more ...for me.

The first two things that put me off were the absence of the "New Tab" and "Go" buttons but I've now found those (they're on the menu View > Toolbars > Customize)

Main thing I prefer is defiitely the speed and responsiveness. Second is the blocking of Popups. I thought some of my favourite features like password manager might be missing but I was really pleasantly surprised when it popped up as I logged into WHT!
The only thing missing is the ability to save and open a whole bunch of bookmarks and less control over how caching works but those omissions seem minor.

On to a Mozilla deficiency:

(I didn't mention this above as I've been looking into it and I've contacted the developers about it)

I noticed after I upgraded to v1.2.1 that my connection really slowed down. I noticed only one tab would be requesting but it would take ages to load. Taking a look at my NIC monitor I would watch one or two MB pass through it but still the page I wanted to see wouldn't be there two minutes later. I was actually convinced I had a virus or was being hacked.

To make a long story short it's because the new feature "Link_Prefetching" doesn't work. This is a feature whereby the browser is supposed to be able to predict which page you're going to want next and download it during idle time so that when you click on it it appears instantly. I won't try to describe more - you can see here (http://www.mozilla.org/projects/netlib/Link_Prefetching_FAQ.html)

I searched for ages to disable link prefetching and finally found it at the above link:


Is there a preference to disable link prefetching?
Yes, there is a hidden preference that you can set to disable link prefetching. Add this line to your prefs.js file located in your Mozilla profile directory:

user_pref("network.prefetch-next", false);

We are considering adding UI for this preference (see bug 166648); however, our theory is that if link prefetching needs to be disabled then there must be something wrong with the implementation. We would rather improve the implementation if it does not work correctly, than simply expect users to locate some obscure preference in the preferences UI. Heck, the Mozilla preferences UI is already crowded enough ;-)


I'm not happy with this. It seems like Mozilla are getting us to be unknowing Guinea Pigs to assist them getting a new standard adopted and accepted. I'm all for that but they should be upfront about it ...and the trouble is it doesn't work and we're getting inconvenienced.

Darin from Mozilla has invited users to comment on this feature. I just have. His email address is on the above page or I'll put here (keeping in its obfuscated form however I don't think vB gets spidered) darin at netscape dot com

I'm so worried by this I think I'll start another thread on it...