An Independent Review of The Firefox Browser Version 5

Hello Bloggers and Readers

This week I am taking a look at the new Firefox Browser Version 5 which has just been released.
Let's see what it can do shall we.

What's on offer?

• Firefox starts up as usual with some useful features added into the toolbar.
• First off it uses tabbed browsing whereby you can open as many tabs as you want I know of some people who open 10 to 20 tabs at a time for quick reference.
• If you are security conscious you can add the AVG secure search which first checks a site and reports the status of the site in your search.  Nifty little trick.
• If you use gmail or other email you can integrate it into the toolbar so you can see immediately if you have new mail.  
• You can also integrate your facebook into the toolbar.
• Another little nifty feature is the weather right down to where you stay in the world.
• You will also find a most visited section in the toolbar.  Firefox keeps track of the latest websites you have visited for quick reference.
• When you type in a web address no need to type in the http://www.cnn.com you can just type in cnn.com and Firefox takes you there.  Be interesting to see what happens when all these new domain names start arriving.
• If you are new to Firefox a nifty button to try is Getting Started.   This takes you to Firefox and they basically give you a step by step tutorial on how to use the webbrowser and show you some wonderful add ons like Google Docs, Remember the Milk, LinkedIn and many more
• Some new addons I am seeing are Qype, Hype Machine, CoolIris and Topix
• If you are not sure of a websites name type the search or name into the awesome bar at the top and Firefox will auto-complete based on searches and show you possible matches for them.
• The awesome bar learns as you use it.
• The home button is now on the right hand side.
• It also features all the bells and whistles such as password manager, form complete, pop-up blocker, easy search, many search engine options, location aware options.  
• Session restore will also open up Firefox where you left off if firefox closes unexpectedly for some reason.  
• You can save favourite websites as bookmarks and when you have too many move them to useful folders
• It also has a download manager which will keep downloading the file if there is a pause or problem so you never have to keep downloading.
• Other features are search and find, tags, rss feeder, offline browsing for some email
• It also features private browsing so no details are left if you want to go searching for certain subjects if you know what I mean nudge, nudge, wink, wink ;) say no more, say no more ....

So as you can see many features.

Now I am a bit of a Twitter fan so lets see what Firefox can do for you if you love Twitter.

Here are some tools you can add to Firefox which will blow your mind:

• Echofon -  echofon.com  -  this is a wonderful program for Twitter which is integrated into the Firefox tool bar, it gives you a one panel view of what is happening in Twitter, gives you regular updates no matter if you have it off and you can even see images at a glance, posting to Twitter is easy and it really is a wonderful product.
• The f1 button  -  rated as one of the best inventions this integrates a f1 icon into your awesome bar.  So if you are signed into twitter you can type a status update on twitter right in your awesome bar and hit enter or f1 you can find it here https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/f1-by-mozilla-labs/
• Hootsuite and hootlet - you can share pages on twitter via a hootlet button which is also integrated into the awesome bar.  Find it here - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/hootsuite/ 
• You can star websites and they also become bookmarks a nifty trick.
• WiseStamp is also a nift device you can integrate into your Firefox which lets you sign emails with nifty signatures -  wisestamp.com

Other nifty stuff with Firefox

• Super Speed, Crash Protection and something new 3D on the Web for developers to have fun with
• Anti-Malware
• Automatic Updates - One of the things I love about Firefox is that it automatically updates and when you start it again you are using the latest version simple as that.
• You can also play around with the appearance of it with add-ons, personas, the sky is the limit for you
• You can also watch open HD-quality video
• Firefox has also introduced some of the latest tools for developers to play around with.
• Also take a look at the Web Console tool.

Quite a nifty browser one of the best if I may say so myself and how does it stand up to running alongside other browsers?  Well I am writing this blog online as I have two browsers open, Firefox and Chrome and it's working quite brilliantly.

Why not try and download it yourself.

                 Download Firefox

Would love to hear your comments on the new Firefox browser.  What do you think of it?

Fly high, Fly free

Fred Felton

Falcon's Cove Consulting

Speaker - Social Media Consultant - Biz Analyst

email: falconscove@gmail.com

email to book Fred for a talk on social media anywhere in the country.