firefox

The bottom line: Firefox 13 is a worthy expression of Mozilla's ideals. The browser is competitively fast, sports a new minimalist look, and includes some excellently executed features. Unfortunately, that describes most of Firefox's competition, too.

Please note that the First Look video below is still applicable to Firefox 13, as is this Firefox How To collection, even though it features Firefox 4.

Review: For those of you who spent last year away from the Internet, it's the year that Firefox went from annual major-point updates to a Chrome-style quick-release cycle. How quick? A new major version … Read more

A number of improvements that Mozilla has built into today's new Firefox release find the browser playing catch-up, treading water, and forging ahead all at the same time.

If it sounds like a near-impossible juggling act to you, you're not alone.

Firefox 13 (download for Windows | Mac | Linux) comes with feature changes and tweaks under the hood. The new features include a redesigned New Tab page that shows you thumbnails of your frequently-visited sites, often dubbed Speed Dial in honor of Opera's take on the feature. Firefox is the last of the major browsers to get some … Read more

We don't like Internet Explorer, but we keep it around, because every now and then we encounter some dinosaur of a Web site that can't be viewed without it. If you find yourself doing the same thing even though Firefox is your browser of choice, try IE Tab for Firefox. This clever extension lets you open IE-only Web sites within Firefox. It's a brilliant solution to the problem of switching back and forth between two different browsers.

IE Tab for Firefox installed easily and was ready for action after we restarted the browser. In order to find … Read more

Anyone who's used Google Chrome is probably familiar with the browser's ability to display thumbnails of frequently visited sites every time a new tab is opened, making it easy to quickly get to your favorite sites. FVD Speed Dial for Firefox brings a similar functionality to Firefox, but with plenty of options for customization. We think it's a great way to organize and quickly access your favorites without dealing with cumbersome bookmark menus.

FVD Speed Dial installed easily and, after we restarted Firefox, it got right to work; we opened a new tab and were greeted with … Read more

Mozilla may not have a dedicated in-house search engine division the way that Google and Microsoft do, but it does have a new partnership with alterna-search Blekko.

The Blekko add-on (download), developed by Mozilla Labs' Prospector team, aims to cut down on the repetitive search behaviors of many Firefox users. Mozilla says that its research indicates that people often search for the same term, not because they're looking to find it again but because they're attempting to navigate elsewhere. This add-on, like Google's Instant search feature, cuts down on the extra steps by pre-caching sites, showing preview … Read more

Android smartphone and tablet browsers sometimes load mobile versions of Web sites. On native Android browsers, you can try the about:debug trick to change the user agent to force desktop sites to load. You can also use an alternative browser, like Dolphin Browser HD, which lets you easily change the user agent in its settings.

If you're a Firefox for Android user, you can change the user agent with a simple Firefox add-on called Phony. It works with the new Firefox beta for Android as well, which was released a couple of days ago.

To set up Phony, … Read more

Mozilla wants to cut down on the number of people who complain about Firefox not working properly, and they're giving you a one-click way to do it.

A new feature called Reset Firefox gives you the ability to "reset" the browser while keeping your personal data. Currently available in Firefox 13 beta for Windows, Mac, and Linux, the feature works by migrating your bookmarks, passwords, cookies, and form data to a new default profile. Then it kills off the old one, and you've got a clean Firefox installation without having to troubleshoot anything.

It does not … Read more

European authorities who earlier cracked down on Microsoft's browser behavior are now are keeping an eye on its upcoming Windows RT operating system -- but they aren't saying yet whether they have any objections.

Mozilla last week criticized Microsoft's choice to deny browsers other than Internet Explorer privileges necessary to make what it sees as a competitive browser on Windows RT, the new version of the operating system for ARM processors. Specifically, IE gets access to deeper Win32 interfaces, but Firefox, other browsers, and any other third-party software only get access to the new and more limited WinRT interface. … Read more

Mozilla updated Firefox for Android beta (download) today with an interface and underlying code that have been in development since the end of 2011.

The new beta features are nearly the same as those in the current stable build of Firefox for Android, except that the browser now supports Adobe Flash. That's a notable difference from Chrome for Android beta and the default Android browser, although Firefox isn't the only Android browser to play Flash content on Web sites.

However, the changes in this beta go beyond a new interface and Flash support. The browser loads pages significantly … Read more