Mozilla Firefox is a good free alternative browser to Internet Explorer. Mozilla Firefox is faster than Internet Explorer (IE)[1]. Additionally, many corporate IT departments find that Mozilla Firefox is less vulnerable to viruses and malicious code. IE has been fraught with security holes for years, and even with the release of IE7, Firefox remains the browser of choice. This added protection is not merely the result of being a smaller target for potential attackers; Secunia, a company known for finding and reporting vulnerabilities, reported far fewer problems for Firefox than for IE.
Steps
- Check you meet the minimum system requirements.
- Visit the Mozilla website to download the latest version of the Firefox browser.
- Click the "free download" link and follow the simple installation instructions.
- Run the Firefox browser. When you run Firefox for the first time, you will be given the choice of making Firefox your default browser. Click "yes", if you want Firefox as your default browser.
- Firefox should automatically give you the option to import your Favorites, History, or other data from Internet Explorer. If you aren't prompted automatically, you can find the option under File > Import.
- Surf!
Tips
- Report phishing by clicking on Help then Report Web Forgery.
- Use tabs on Mozilla Firefox. To open a new tab, press Ctrl and T and for a new window Ctrl and N.
- Consider adding extensions for additional functionality.
- Also consider downloading Thunderbird, a great mail program.
- Firefox has great themes, check them out on the Mozilla webpage
- The Google Toolbar for Firefox is available from here.
- Consider including your bookmarks on the Firefox bookmark bar. It can be very helpful and can save your time when you want to access sites that you frequently enter (your webmail, for instance). For doing that, just click at "Bookmarks", move the mouse pointer to the bookmark to be added, click on it and drag it to the bookmark tab, which is just below the address bar or click on the star icon on the address bar. You're ready! The next time you want to access that site, you just have to click in its button.
- Firefox also imports your IE favorites upon the first run.
[via wikiHow]
