Firefox Tweak Guide


Author: Koroush Ghazi

Last Modified: June 2009

Printable Version: Printing Guides



Introduction


Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox for short, is just a free Internet browser. It's not a cure for cancer. It doesn't wash your car or make you a frothy coffee. So why all the fuss and hype over Firefox? In a nutshell, the reason is simple: Firefox is a true open source competitor to Microsoft's Internet Explorer; a dynamic and evolving browser which is constantly gaining new features that make browsing the Internet easier, safer and more enjoyable.



"What's wrong with Internet Explorer?" you say - well despite being a good browser, Microsoft was getting complacent. Internet Explorer's vulnerability to numerous security breaches was growing by the day, yet many simple things MS could do to patch these up were left undone. Internet Explorer lacked many convenience features often-requested but never delivered. And finally, Internet Explorer did not adhere completely to web standards; it pretty much set its own standards. In short Internet Explorer lacked competition. However all that has changed since Firefox became a legitimate challenger. In the past few years Firefox has forced Microsoft to incorporate many much-needed security, convenience and customization features first into Internet Explorer 7, and now in Internet Explorer 8. It is constantly evolving, and for that reason Firefox has fast become one of the web's most favored browsers, now estimated to account for over 20% of the global market share for browsers.


So what exactly makes Firefox great? It has all the useful and familiar features of Internet Explorer, yet provides a range of additional innovative features, tight security, and most important of all: far greater potential for user customization. In recently releasing Firefox 3.0, the Mozilla Foundation has further improved Firefox, increasing its speed, reducing its resource usage, adding desirable new functionality and further securing users by providing both greater access to information about the sites they browse, as well as preventing the browsing of potentially malicious or fraudulent sites. In short Firefox 3 is more of the same, only better.


Whether you're a first-time user or a veteran, this Firefox Tweak Guide brings together all the major tips, tricks and tweaks for Firefox - from the very basic to the very advanced. The guide provides all the information you need to know about Firefox 3's new features, and how you can use them to your advantage. Consider it a crash course in all things Firefox. You can also rest assured that the guide is not written by a raving Firefox fanboy - it's a true objective TweakGuides tweak guide.





Note: This guide refers to the latest official version of Mozilla Firefox Version 3.0.11. It is designed specifically for those running Firefox on Windows, however most of the descriptions and tweaks in this guide apply equally to Firefox on other platforms. Make sure to check back regularly for updates.