See also: Web browsers | Gecko | Mozilla Firefox
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Home Page: http://www.mozilla.org
A fast, free, and feature-rich web browser designed for standards-compliance, performance and portability, available for a wide variety of operating systems including Linux, Macintosh, UNIX and Windows. Mozilla is a platform that is easy to develop applications for. As a stand-alone browser for surfing, this program is developing faster than any other browser. Mozilla is open-source so anyone is free to look at or change its internal code.
Mozilla recently won best web browser by PC World. The browser of choice for most UNIX-like desktops as well as a growing number of Windows and Macintosh users, it features a suite of browser tools including:
- Web browser (“Firefox” is a browser-only version of Mozilla)
- E-mail Client
- HTML Editor
- IRC Client
Contents
- 1 Features
- 2 Who should use Mozilla?
- 3 Get Involved
- 4 What’s a “Mozilla?”
- 5 Related browsers
- 6 Links
- 7 Bug Reporting:
Features
- Pop-up blocking and other controls versus Web annoyances
- Tabbed browsing much like Opera
- Loads Web pages quickly, on par with Internet Explorer
- Some of the most complete privacy options available in any browser
- Extensive customizabilty
- Attractive user interface
- Extensive number of very useful Mozilla Extensions
- Available in a browser suite or the smaller, lighter Mozilla Firefox
- Robust Mail/News client
- Spam–filters included in Mozilla Mail/News – one of the few free anti-spam tools available, yet uses one of the better techniques: (Bayesian)
- Easy-to-use HTML e-mail client with compatible IMAP and POP3 connections with spellcheck.
- WYSIWYG HTML Editor (Won Builder.com‘s <code>#</code>3 Reader’s Choice Award and of only two surveyed open-source editors.)
- Strong, CERT–recommended security
- Easy and complete uninstall
Developer/technical features
- Cutting-edge Web technologies as well as Java, JavaScript, XML, CSS, XUL and many more.
- Open Source and available in GPL, MPL, and other licenses.
- Based on the fast and extensible Gecko rendering engine.
- HTML Editor has a tabbed layer for windows with pure HTML code, visual with code elements, and the near-exact look of the eventual Web page.
- Excellent Javascript Debugger – “Venkman” – considered to be one of the best either commercial or otherwise (Tutorial available)
- IRC Chat tool: ChatZilla
TD123 Recommended Extensions
Popular and useful Extensions(previously plugins <– improper term)
- AdBlock – for faster web surfing with dynamic advertisement blocking.
- Webdeveloper plugin – Great tools for HTML, Javascript, design, and other development.
- IE View – Allowing Windows users to dynamically switch between browsers.
More: Mozilla Extensions
Install:
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- Installation, System requirements, Uninstall
- Download
- Mirrors: Listing – Often-Updated Releases, Full-Directory Mirror
- via FTP at ftp.mozilla.org – avoiding the use of IE on Windows computers to get a copy via the web.
Netscape and Mozilla
- Although no longer being developed, Netscape Navigator version 6 and above are based on Mozilla and Netscape employees helped with Mozilla development. Netscape’s version adds a variety of its own AOL/Time Warner-owned features including Real Media Player, AIM/ICQ, and others (all of which can be downloaded separately).
- Netscape still benefits from a more seamless interface with some popular Internet plugins but Mozilla is more bug-free. Also, Mozilla’s Quicktime and Flash use is just as good as other browsers.
Who should use Mozilla?
- Windows users:
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- Should be used in addition to Internet Explorer. Although robust, feature-rich, and very stable, Mozilla is not yet a replacement since some websites are displayed differently as IE has the vast majority (90+%) of browsers. For the rare Web site that requires Internet Explorer, a plugin is available (IEView) Mozilla/Netscape 6+ have a growing user base that major Internet sites are updating for and there are many things Mozilla can do that IE cannot. Mozilla adheres to open standards created by the community, while Microsoft Internet Explorer is decided by people in a board room. While Microsoft is no longer doing anything with IE, Mozilla continues to grow and improve with new plugins and features coming out almost weekly.
- Macintosh users:
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- Switch to Mozilla as Internet Explorer is no longer being developed for Macintosh systems. Apple‘s own browser offering, Safari, is way behind on features and is not cross-platform; Safari is developed for only one system and has fewer interested developers.
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- Note: One review on ArsTechnica preferred Safari for its speed vs Mozilla and stability vs Camino.
- UNIX users:
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- Download for UNIX and other systems. Some less-common UNIX systems may need to scroll down to find their distribution.
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Get Involved
- Mozilla is not owned by anyone and is developed by the community for the community, similar to Linux. While some of its contributors are corporate, it is not a commercial project. If you would like to help, visit Mozilla’s “get involved” page — you do not have to be a developer to make Mozilla do things you want it to do.
- See also: Getting Involved in Open-Source
What’s a “Mozilla?”
- The term “Mozilla” may have come from a play on the first graphical Web browser: Mosaic. Mo and Godzilla added together were the original name before it was renamed to “Netscape Navigator.” Mozilla was still the code name for the browser for most technical purposes including browser self-identification. Godzilla is a registered trademark of TOHO Co. Ltd. but the term “zilla” suffix is probably not unique.
Related browsers
See: Gecko
Links
Mozilla news
- MozillaZine – The center of the Mozilla community: news, forums, weblogs and more.
Articles
- Newsforge Mozilla and the future of the Web (includes information on Mozilla 2.0.
- MozillaFoundation.org was announced – with a much smoother, user-oriented Web site. Unfortunately, it has followed with the layoff of 50 developers who worked on Mozilla at Netscape and, instead, giving $2 million over two years to the organization. (more)
- Quote: the new features in Mozilla 1.4, which was released on www.mozilla.org this week, to be remarkable improvements that enhance what was already the best browser option out there.
- Salon.com – Resistance really was futile – an optimistic article about AOL‘s recent deal with Microsoft that is purported to end the browser war.
Mozilla Sites
- MozDev – Free project hosting for the Mozilla community, similar to SourceForge.
- Mozilla Projects – Projects internal to Mozilla itself.
- Blogzilla – weblog about Mozilla
- remote control of unix mozilla – such as passing a url
- Customizing Mozilla – Check out custom key bindings
- Embedding Mozilla – from Art & Logic
- Warpzilla – Warpzilla still lives…Warpstock 2003 will be in San Francisco this year, see you there!
- Custom Keywords and Quick Searches – See also Google for some Google Quicksearch examples.
- Additional Documentation
- 101 things Mozilla can do that IE can’t
- Portal for Mozilla Themes Developers
- Mozilla Modern Theme in PNG format
Related Wikis
Bug Reporting:
- BugZilla – Mozilla’s bug tracker
- Votes – Show your bug-votes
- The Mozilla Wishlist
- Search for Bugs
- Browser
- MailNews – Email and Usenet/News functions
TakeDown.NET -> “Mozilla”