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February 09, 2006
Review: Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, Firefox, And Other Browsers In Four-Way Shootout Firefox 1.5: Instant Gratification
Instant Gratification
Firefox feels light and fast. Mozilla achieves that light feel in part by being discriminatory about the new features it adds. The product doesn't need every little feature idea and wish-list item suggested on the Internet. It does need the features that most people want, however. Mozilla hasn't implemented all those features yet, but it's working on them. One of the best aspects of Firefox is that while Mozilla is taking its time to get the browser just right, there's a direct avenue of instant gratification for people who want it to do a lot more. Mozilla's Firefox Extensions site currently lists more than a thousand add-ons for the browser, nearly all of which were developed by third-party sources or individual Mozilla programmers. Some might better be described as powerful mini-applications; others extend the user interface in some small, specific way. (See Firefox Essentials: 10 Must-Have Extensions for a list of add-ons that no Firefox user should be without.) With that many extensions already available and more on the way, chances are very good that if you find yourself wishing that Firefox could do this or that, at least one extension already offers a solution. For a lot of browser power users, that flexibility is the final piece of the puzzle that makes Firefox not just an alternative browser, but their preferred browser.
The current 1.5x version of Firefox added automatic program upgrades, with improved update notification and the ability to do incremental upgrades with much smaller download sizes. (Firefox users recently had their first experience of that feature with the release of the 1.5.0.1 version of Firefox, a security and stability update.) Firefox's Extensions Manager is now able to check extension updates for all installed extensions simultaneously. The Extensions Manager also handles unsupported extensions more gracefully. Other new features in version 1.5 include a new cache for the Back and Forward buttons that hastens the display of recently loaded pages. You can reorder the tabs using drag-and-drop when you have multiple open Web-page windows. The new Clear Private Data feature lets you quickly and easily delete all the personal data the browser keeps for you, such as user names, passwords, cookies, and browse history. Mozilla also completely redesigned the Options area (although without any major advantage to the end user) .
For a comprehensive list of all Firefox 1.5 updates, see the Unofficial Firefox 1.5 Changelog. Page 9: Firefox 1.5: Security Truths
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