Mozilla Firefox : Why businesses and users should adopt it for better ...

31 May, 2010 | | 7 comments |

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I’m a proven big-time fan of Mozilla Firefox and in this post I’d like to enlighten you about the same. So starting this post with a couple of things which I’d like to accomplish and what’s already accomplished in your minds :


Mozilla Firefox


Firstly, something about me :

I’m an IT enthusiast with more than 15 years of desktop experience at home. I do not convince people or prove things to them with statistics, pie-diagrams, charts, POC (proof-of-concept), etc which can literally be made understood with a simple blog post !


What I would like to prove with Firefox :

  • It’s ready and meant for businesses. Can be deployed on a Corporate Network without any concerns.
  • With speed and ease comes productivity and hence acceptance.
  • Browser is not just about surfing across web-pages in this generation but beyond everybody!
  • The per-user settings can be replicated onto another location or platform (i.e. OS).
  • Requires the same amount of RAM as all of the prominent browsers today (I won't take names) varying across threaded and non-threaded applications.

The fallacies about Firefox :

  • It’s not business ready. Cannot be deployed on a Corporate Network.
  • It’s moreover a fancy browser and not meant for productive business.
  • Requires a lot of RAM.
  • We’ve seen it running only on Windows.

What do you gain personally if you use Firefox :

  • The best possible web experience with the best possible speed.
  • With the above, follows productivity and hence profit.
  • Experience the innovation, flexibility and ease brought about by AddOns/Personas/Plugins developed on the most widely accepted platform.
  • Searching your required data was never difficult with integrated Search Box with auto-suggestion.

So start your voyage my readers …


Starting with Corporate Networks, it’s moreover Internet Explorer because of the ease of deployment/availability (inherent with the OS), file/registry/profile virtualization across the organization and ease in update/hotfixes being pushed through your LAN by your IT Administrator. Add to it, a majority of service driven companies are supporting legacy applications of their clients on Internet Explorer 6 and they obviously cannot let these projects go. Now this makes them handicapped to look for other options. My take on this ..

  • Regarding deployment, Firefox’s binary size is 8 MB (50% less than any prominent browsers existing now) and IT Administrators can pre-bundle it in their system-images/ghost-images.
  • Regarding updates, it’s a one-way solution. Firefox doesn’t support push-updates across the network but supports direct updates via Internet from Firefox dedicated servers.
  • If you feel you still cannot do without Internet Explorer browser on Windows platform then relax, I’ve got a solution for this in the form of AddOn. How about emulating IE’s page rendering in Firefox. (Read below regarding the same)

Features of Mozilla Firefox :

  •  Fastest rendering of pages with a high-performance and optimized JavaScript engine. Smart tabs, design and options.

    >>> The only way you can convince yourself is by tasting it !


  •  Inherent support for Add-Ons, plug-ins, download manager, bookmark organization, etc.

    >>> There are myriad of AddOns for all types of users. Check out the complete library Here. I'll put light on some must-have AddOns :

Mozilla Firefox AddOns

For developers/designers Here

For Yahoo/Gmail/MSN/POP3 E-Mail users Here

For Facebook users Here

For Twitter users Here

To run macros or automate your work Here

And the most-awaited one :


For die-hard IE users, running IE on Firefox Here

Running Internet Explorer in Firefox


  •  Inherent support for Google/Yahoo/Wikipedia search with auto suggestion and query caching.  

    >>> Press Ctrl+E, type your search query and hit ENTER. For a subjective search on Wikipedia/Answers/Amazon/eBay, select the search provider right from the search box and hit ENTER.


  •  Best possible rendering of HTML and xHTML. All standards compliant (including HTML5 and CSS3).

    >>> I do a bit of Web development & designing and you can take my word on this.


  •  Available and runs flawlessly on all platforms (including Windows, Macintosh, Linux) since it's written in Python and Ruby.

    >>> Deploy per-user Bookmarks (also portable) on any PC in the organization with the advent of file/registry virtualization.


  •  Smallest size of the Binary – 8MB.  

    >>> 50% less than any prominent browsers existing now.


  •  Themes, known as Personas in Firefox hits your eyes well and thus making a lavish surfing experience.  

    >>> Myriad of Personas are available (Firefox 3.6 onwards). Check the entire library Here.


  •  Shortcut keys on Firefox make life easier to the maximum possible extent.

    >>> Move over Ctrl+T (Open new Tab) and Ctrl+W (Close the current tab), there are many more. Ctrl + Shift + T – Open a recently closed Tab. Ctrl + U – To view the source code of the current page. And so on ...


  •  All major parameters in Firefox are ' tweakable ' via its Advanced Settings (by default hidden).  

>>> Type ' about:config ' in the address bar and hit ENTER. Check out all the parameters.

Toggle browser.search.openintabTo open your search results in a new tab.


Toggle browser.tabs.closeWindowsWithLastTabTo keep Firefox running even when the last tab is closed.


Toggle browser.tabs.warnoncloseTo make Firefox avoid asking for a confirmation when it is closed with many tabs running.


Toggle plugins.hide_infobar_for_missing_pluginsTo avoid getting the irritating drop-down pop-up asking for a new plugin installation.


Type chrome://browser/content/hiddenWindow.xul in the address bar and hit ENTER  – To get an entire Firefox browser running under a tab.



Now having said about the ease-of-use and features which Firefox has, it obviously makes sense for all users and businesses to use Mozilla Firefox and leverage its power.






Try Mozilla Firefox now :




Download Mozilla Firefox



7 comments:

Anonymous said...

don't you think firefox seems a bit bulky and sluggish compared to opera or chrome? These have got super sleek design!!

Hardik Shah [Guru] said...

@thetox

Agreed, but what those browsers have now to offer .. ?

No productive AddOns, multi-platform operation, live updates, etc. Also if you look at the Task Manager, the RAM usage rises sharply(same as for Firefox) for threaded applications like Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Just starting up fast is no excuse to be used for business afterall !

Anonymous said...

absolutely!
for all those going for that chic interface firefox 4 has got it!!

Utsav said...

I am using Firefox since long time and like its huge collection of Plugins & Add-ons.

Unknown said...

yeah..mozilla has several facilities -the speed, ease browsing, recovery, ease maintenance, etc.
One more thing, we can't install any certificate for particular site, if any needed, from mozilla very easily as compared to IE.
And hardik, you have mentioned same pts. at tow place - prove with Firefox & fallacies about Firefox - that deployed on a Corporate Network...which i am not getting...
any way...good study about mozilla

Joel Mathias said...

Corporate networks won't use Firefox maybe ever. There is virtually no room for Firefox as a replacement to IE in the corporate network. We, as IT enthusiasts, can wax eloquent about Firefox and all its features forever. But, the corporate network web browsing scene won't change for a long, long time.

Hardik Shah [Guru] said...

@ thetox, utsav, mahesh

Thanks all.

@ Joel

The very fact that IE can now be run in FF (see the AddOn link above) makes IE dispensable in Corporate N/W's. As for non-IT companies (since they don't support legacy Apps) FF & Chrome have already proliferated there (check the TechCrunch stats).

Thanks.