Search Results for firefox
Reduce memory used by Firefox
Lots of folks are complaining about the so-called "Firefox memory leak", but it turns out there's actually
a decent explanation for what's going on. Still,
if you want to quickly reduce the amount of memory that Firefox is using, you could try this technique, first posted by
Ryan at This May Help Your
Firefox Memory Leak. Note this only works on Windows, and that if something goes screwy it's not my problem. Other
than that, it appears to really work.
Open Firefox and go to the Address Bar. Type in about:config and then press Enter.
Right Click in the page and select New -> Boolean.
In the box that pops up enter config.trim_on_minimize. Press Enter.
Now select True and then press Enter.
Restart Firefox.
If you want to be careful, go to Ryan's page above and read the comments. Try it out - if it doesn't help, just
reverse the process.
(And yes, I wrote a book about Firefox - Don't Click on the Blue E!:
Switching to Firefox - that you might find interesting.)
(Check out ...
Cool Firefox extension: Foxpose
Mac OS X has exposé, a cool tool that - with the press of a button - shows you all the open windows in
miniature. Here's a cool Firefox extension that does something similar in our favorite web browser: Viamatic foXpose. Press a button,
and bam! All your windows, in miniature, with cute lil' thumbnails for the choosin'. And yes, Opera has this, and yes,
it's very cool. Check it out.
(And yes, I wrote a book about Firefox - Don't Click on the Blue E!:
Switching to Firefox - that you might find interesting.)
(Check out all of our posts on Firefox.) ...
New features in the upcoming Firefox 2
The programmers of Firefox aren't standing still, nosiree. Firefox is already faaaaar better than that hunk of crap known as IE, and the work that's being done on version 2 will continue to keep it ahead of the upcoming IE 7. Want to know what's comin' up in Firefox 2? Then check out this list of cool new features (includes screenshots!). Anti-phishing done right tops the list, which is an excellent addition! Long live the Fox!
(Check out all of our posts on Firefox.) ...
The great Firefox cure-all
Earlier today, this guy on a mailing list complained about a problem with the new Firefox. Here's my reply. Feel free to
cut and paste it when others you know have Firefox problems. <begin email> The standard
advice re: something wrong with Firefox applies here: create a clean profile and use that. If you're still having
problems, then you need to uninstall the whole furshlugginer thing & start over. If problems stop, thenyou have extension/config issues. You'll need to reinstall extensions, copy over bookmarks, and so on. This is a good explanation of how to create a fresh profile: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Manager Also, my
book, Don't Click on the Blue E!: Switching to Firefox, covers this in depth. It's available online and
in the finer bookstores, and I'd sure appreciate it if you bought a copy. :) Try creating a new
profile. Betcha a million bucks that fixes things. </end email> (Check out all of our
posts on Firefox.) ...
What's coming in Firefox 2
Ben Goodger, the main man behind Firefox, has created a page that lists the new features coming in Firefox 2. You can
read it at "Firefox 2: Safer, Faster,
Better", and you should. There's some really nice things in the next rev of our fave browser. I just wish the
Linux version wasn't so tied to GNOME. Arrgh.
(Check out all of our posts on Firefox.) ...
Use vim to view source or edit textareas in Firefox
Mmmm - mmmmh! Two great things that taste better together: vim & Firefox! Here's a page titled How to use Vim with Firefox that walks you through installing, configuring, & using the ViewSourceWith extension. Once that puppy's in place, you can either view a web page's html source using vim (or gvim) or - and this is SO FREAKING COOL! - you can right-click in any textarea, choose View Source With, and then you're editing that textarea in an external instance of vim. Save it, close it, and that stuff goes into that textarea. Too cool!
(Check out all of our posts on Firefox & vim.) ...
Backup your Firefox extensions easily (Windows only)
At last count, I have 32 extensions installed on Firefox. Needless to say, re-installing every time I set up a new version of Firefox on a machine is major PITA. When I first heard about the Firefox Extension Backup Extension (FEBE), I was really excited. This puppy not only backs up all your extensions, but also "will actually rebuild your extensions individually into installable .xpi files". Slick. Then I found about the same dude's Compact Library Extension Organizer (CLEO), which "works with FEBE to package any number of extensions/themes into a single, installable .xpi file." Holy mackeral! Now THAT is uber-useful! Gimme some of that!
Unfortunately, the dang thing only works on Windows, which is nice for the Windows users, but just sucks completely for Linux & Mac OS users. C'mon ... we're beggin' you! Get this thing working on the other, cooler operating systems!
(Check out all of our posts on Firefox.) ...
Enable kprinter in Firefox 1.5
My buddy Matt in Germany sent me this question:
I just upgraded Firefox to 1.5 (I know, I know, what took so long). Anyway, I have run into a strange
problem. I cannot find the print dialog box into which I want to enter the kprinter command. I love the kprinter option
because it allows me to save web pages as a pdf. Any clue where the print dialog box has gone? It's not in the usual
File-Print-Properties box.
Here's my answer (& I left out my cursing about how Firefox is increasingly becoming GNOME-ified on Linux ...
stupid stupid stupid: "Hey, let's REMOVE features that people actually use!" Jeez. Linux was right.)
1. Open Firefox.
2. Enter the following in the address bar & press Enter:
about:config
3. In the filter, enter the following:
print_command
4. Find this:
print.postscript.print_command
Double-click on that line. Where you see this:
lpr ${MOZ_PRINTER_NAME: '-P'}${MOZ_PRINTER_NAME}
Change it to this:
kprinter
5. Close & restart Firefox. When you print in the ...
New Firefox release: 1.5.0.1
A new version of Firefox is out, mainly to fix bugs. Don't expect new features, just fixes. For more info &
downloads, see the official Release Notes. For more
detail about specific bugs that were fixed, take a looksee at "What's new in Firefox 1.5.0.1". If you're
using Windows, you'll get an update notice soon. Just clickee clickee on the buttons, & soon enough you'll have a
new version of Firefox. Linux & Mac OS users, you gotta manually download & install it. Ah well. (And yes, I wrote a book about Firefox - Don't Click on the Blue E!: Switching
to Firefox - that you might find interesting.) (Check out all of my posts on Firefox.) ...
Reviews of Firefox and Thunderbird books
There's a whole passel of books coming out now about Firefox & Thunderbird. Here are a few reviews (&
interviews & discussions with the authors) of some of them (& no,
mine isn't in there, because mine hasn't come out yet, but it's
really really really close!) ...
How Firefox Works
The web site for How Stuff Works has a nice set of pages up called
How Firefox Works. Nothing earth-shattering here, but it
might be good for the absolute Firefox noob in your life.
(Read all my postings about Firefox.) ...
Speaking of Firefox extensions: the Unread tabs Firefox extension
I just posted my list of installed Firefox extensions; now I'd like to focus on one of them that I've recently
discovered & started using. It's called "Unread tabs", and you can download it
here. It's really simple, & really useful: basically,
any tab that is open but unread displays its title in italics. Simple, sweet.
(Don't forget: with Firefox 1.0, you now have a whitelist of sites that you can install extensions & themes
from. When you first try to install Unread tabs, a small alert will appear at the top of the window. You'll need to
click the button on that alert & add the web site to the whitelist of allowed sites, and then click on the Install
link again.) ...
Screenshots of 60+ Firefox themes
The fine folks at O'Reilly's OSDir.com have posted
64 screenshots of Firefox with every
possible theme permutation available on the Mozilla Update site. Ever wondered what a particular theme looks like
in Firefox? Ever wondered what 64 flippin' themes look like in Firefox? Then head over and start to screenshot
viewin'!
Thanks, Chris, for the tip! ...
Some thoughts on Firefox and security
David Fenton is one of the more prolific posters on the WWWAC list, one of the my favorite online hangouts, and he
made some good points in regard to Firefox and browser security the other day. He's allowed me to post 'em here.
This fix highlights the HUGE difference between Firefox and IE in terms of safety. The vulnerabilities announced
just a few days have already been patched.
And Secunia shows quite clearly that Firefox's open vulnerabilities are much less serious than IE's. Compare these
two charts:
Firefox Criticality http://secunia.com/graph/?type=cri&period=all?=4227
IE Criticality http://secunia.com/graph/?type=cri&period=all?=11
Open those two graphs in separate tabs and then flip back and forth between them. You'll see that Firefox has a
much lower number of discovered vulnerabilities in the most serious 3 of the 5 classes of vulnerability.
Also, if you look at Firefox's unpatched vulnerabilties, all are in the bottom 2 of the 5 classes of
...
Forbes loves Firefox
Forbes, in its Best of the Web directory,
gives really high props to Firefox. It's a really
good sign when a mass-market publication, especially one focused on business readers, praises our favorite web browser
like that. (And don't forget to check out the other browsers mentioned as well - it's interesting, if brief,
reading)
(Read all my postings about Firefox.) ...
