Why use Firefox?
The debate over which browser provides a better internet surfing experience has raged for many years and the answer for many is still unclear. The issue really comes down to what you want from the software, rather than which is "better" in an absolute sense and thus I have compiled this list of my reasons for choosing Firefox over Internet Explorer.
- Portability
- Extensibility
I can keep a copy of Firefox on my USB drive using the very handy Portable Apps solution
I like to customise things and couldn't survive without my Firefox add-ons. They make life easier while surfing and much easier while web developing.
Essential Add-ons
We Development
- Firebug - www.getfirebug.com
- Web Developer Toolbar - chrispederick.com/work/web-developer/
- Colorzilla - www.iosart.com/firefox/colorzilla/
- MeasureIt - www.kevinfreitas.net/extensions/measureit/
- IE Tab - ietab.mozdev.org/
This tool is excellent for working with CSS and Javascript. It allows you to select elements on the page to see which styles are applied, and even modify the styles to see what effect changes will have.
As the name suggests, this adds a useful toolbar for viewing and manipulating web pages including forms, css, cookies, images and adds a very useful resize feature for testing your pages in standard resolutions. Very hand if like me you now have a widescreen monitor.
Ever wondered what color that item on the page was? Rather than hacking through the HTML and CSS code, you can now just point and click. It also has a handy page zoomer and DOM inspector.
This very handy add-on lets you measure any page element so that you can get the size and alignment just right.
With one click you will be able to toggle the current Firefox window to display as Internet Explorer. Very useful to check your pages for compliance and compatibility, and to see where both standards compliant browsers differ.
