Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on April 27, 2007 by CyberNet.

There is finally a decent BitTorrent client for the Firefox browser and it goes by the name of FoxTorrent. When I originally saw this Firefox extension make its way out in March I got pretty excited. I thought to myself that there was finally an easy way to download Torrents without having to download an extra program…but as Max pointed out I was a little bit wrong.

After you install the extension it silently installs a Red Swoosh application that is used to power the Torrent downloads. Unfortunately they install this application without ever notifying the user that it is going to happen. This also makes it a little more difficult to full restore your Firefox profile from a backup since the application is installed in the Program Files folder in Windows.

The next thing I’m sure you’re wondering about is the uninstall process. I’m pleased to say that they do successfully remove their software from the computer with no traces remaining when uninstalling the extension within Firefox.

Since the last time I wrote about FoxTorrent there have been numerous improvements. Now it has received a nice UI (user interface) overhaul that makes it seem more usable, and it can also support Torrents that contain multiple files! The thing that most people will love will probably be the streaming media functionality which gives you the opportunity to listen and watch your music and video downloads before they complete.

I clocked the download speeds of both uTorrent (a BitTorrent downloader) and FoxTorrent (the Firefox extension) to make a comparison, and uTorrent came out on top every time. I did it with the Ubuntu ISO images and FoxTorrent had a hard time stretching above 50% of what my Internet connection can handle while uTorrent made full use of the available bandwidth. So if you’re looking to download something as fast as possible you might want to stick with a dedicated BitTorrent client.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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This article was written on December 26, 2007 by CyberNet.

Mozilla has been investigating ways to make it easy for users to carry information (bookmarks, history, etc…) from one browser to another. What they came up with is an extension called Weave, and it can be used across several computers to synchronize data.

After signing up you will receive a confirmation email (I got mine in a matter of seconds). The link provided will give you the information to get started, which primarily consists of the link to download the extension. You’ll then restart Firefox and setup the extension using a Wizard. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to change the settings at anytime:

(Click to Enlarge)
 

The initial transfer of data may take a little while to complete depending on how much has to be synchronized, and after that Firefox will scan for changes every 30 minutes. In the future they hope to take a new approach much like what the Foxmarks extension has done, where it synchronizes changes immediately when they occur.

This is by no means extravagant, which is expected from such an early release. It will surely be compared to Opera Link (review), and right now I would say Opera is ahead since they have an online interface for browsing bookmarks. I’m sure Mozilla will capitalize on “add-ons” for Weave, which would allow users to synchronize data/settings saved in the browser and even extensions. All of this could result in the ultimate backup for your browser.

You must be using a pre-release version of Firefox 3 in order to test this out, and I would say that Weave still needs some polish before hitting the mainstream market. I tried out the extension, but for the time being I don’t really feel like I need it.

Tip: If you’re looking to install the add-on without signing up again, just go to https://services.mozilla.com/ and click on the Need the add-on? link.

Get Mozilla Weave for Firefox 3
Thanks to “S” for the tip!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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This article was written on June 04, 2008 by CyberNet.

Web Browser Wednesday

With the Firefox 3 release right around the corner I thought this would be a good time to look over the extensions available, and see which ones haven’t been updated. There’s actually a descent amount that still need to be updated before they will work with the final release, but if you look around many have pre-release versions that they are getting ready to roll out.

So what we’ve got for you today are instructions on downloading/installing extensions that aren’t officially compatible, a list of extensions that currently have Beta versions that work with Firefox 3, and finally a few extensions that already appear to be extinct. The lists are by no means comprehensive, but I also figured that everyone can chime in below with your own findings.

–Forcing Compatibility–

Using the trick we’re about to show you it’s possible to bypass any compatibility checking, which means you’ll be able to install (not necessarily run) any extension. This is obviously not recommended for everyone, and you should only use this as a last-ditch effort.

1. In the Address Bar type about:config followed by the Enter key. Continue through the warning message if it’s shown.
2. Right-click in the main area, and select New -> Boolean
   
3. Enter extensions.checkCompatibility into the box that appears, and click the OK button.
   
4. Then choose false in the next window.
5. Now you can install any extension, but remember that they are not guaranteed to work. I’ve seemed to have pretty good results with this though.

One problem that you might notice is that when you go to install an extension that’s not compatible with your version of Firefox the “Add to Firefox” button will be grayed out. This is quickly remedied by going to the “All Versions” page, and you’ll find a link to that following the description of the add-on:

Once on that page you can download the most recent version of the add-on without the site checking what version of Firefox you’re running, but you’ll need to follow the steps outlined above before being able to actually install it.

–Currently in Development–

I know that some of you are waiting for certain extensions to get upgraded before you’ll make the jump to Firefox 3, and so I’ve assembled a list of eight rather popular ones that will definitely have new versions coming out. Each of these already have a pre-release version publicly available, which may persuade you to make the switch a little early.

• Sage [Homepage]
  This is the much beloved RSS feed reader, but it hasn’t been updated since January 2007. Someone else has begun reworking it to make it play nice with Firefox 3, and the new version can be downloaded here.
• FEBE [Homepage]
  You can use this to backup your extensions, and for some people it’s a rather critical extension to have. They are currently working on the next milestone release, and the Beta version is available which works with Firefox 3.
• FireFTP [Homepage]
  Ever want to have an FTP client in your browser? With FireFTP you can, but you’ll need to download the preview release if you want Firefox 3 compatibility.
• FoxyTunes [Homepage]
  Controlling your media player has never been so easy, but Firefox 3 users were starting to get worried that this add-on wasn’t going to be updated. Despite not having released a new version in almost a year they do have FoxyTunes 3 Beta publicly available, which includes Firefox 3 support.
• Firebug [Homepage]
  Most web developers absolutely love this extension, and the good news is that a version for Firefox 3 is right around the corner. If you’re a bit anxious you can hop on over and download Firebug 1.2 Beta.
• ColorfulTabs [Homepage]
  Make your tabs more identifiable with this extension, and Firefox 3 users will find a Beta version here.
• Tab Mix Plus [Homepage]
  It’s safe to say that this is the all-in-one solution for anything you want to do with tabs. And work for a Firefox 3 version is always going on.
• Smart Bookmarks Bar [Homepage]
  Save some room on the Bookmarks toolbar by only showing icons. The latest release, available from here, is compatible with Firefox 3.

–All Good Things Must Come to an End–

There are a handful of extensions that I have come across which you shouldn’t hold out too much hope for. These three look like they will become extinct:

• VideoDownloader [Homepage]
  With this extension you can download videos from 60+ movie sites, but it has been kicked back into the “experimental” stage (meaning you’ll need a Mozilla account to download it) even though it has an astounding 13 million downloads. It would likely be one of the most downloaded extensions right now, but it hasn’t seen an update in nearly 2 years. So don’t get your hopes up for this one.
• MinimizeToTray [Homepage]
  A lot of people are going to be disappointed to hear that the MinimizeToTray extension doesn’t work with Firefox 3, and it doesn’t look like there are any plans to fix it. The last update was in October 2006 just in time for Firefox 2, and there’s been no mention of a new version being worked on. Yikes!
• Tab Groups [Homepage]
  This project didn’t last very long, and that’s disappointing because it’s an extension that I really enjoyed. It’s only had one release, and there’s no sign that the developer is still working on it.

–Overview–

And now we turn the keyboard over to you, our trusty readers. Let us know in the comments below which extensions you’re holding out for, and which ones have pre-release versions that you’ve been tinkering with.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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This article was written on August 05, 2006 by CyberNet.

There are quite a few people who were “not pleased” (to put it nicely) with the new Firefox 2 theme. It was obvious that someone would put together a classic version of the original Firefox 1.x theme but I didn’t think it would take longer than one day.

This theme is only for Firefox 2.0b1 and beyond for obvious reasons. I didn’t really feel that screenshots were necessary because those people who want to use the theme should already know what it looks like .

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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This article was written on January 10, 2008 by CyberNet.

The December 2007 market share stats for operating systems and web browsers are in. I wouldn’t say any of the numbers are that shocking because patterns have emerged for many of them, but looking back one year ago shows some pretty impressive results.

For the stats that we’ve posted below we’re using the data provided by Net Applications. Generally this has been looked at as a fairly accurate representation of the market share for browsers, but when it comes to operating systems it’s not quite what you would expect. That’s because it is only able to analyze the computers that are browsing the Internet, which eliminates nearly all of the servers out there that are never used for that purpose.

–Browsers–

The general trend with browsers is exactly what you would expect it to be. The standards compliant browsers are reaping the benefits of their hard work. Browsers like Firefox, Safari, and Opera have all increased their market share over the past year, while Internet Explorer is looking at a nearly 4% drop.

–Operating Systems–

There is a new operating system that wasn’t available last year, and it has already been able to make its way onto the charts. What is it? The iPhone! It only has a small market share right now, but for only being around 7 months I would say that it’s doing pretty darn good. Aside from that the Windows market share has dropped over 2%, with Mac and Linux coming in to scoop it up. Linux’s market share is still a little weak, but it did almost double which is pretty significant.

Note: As I mentioned above this would not include stats from servers and such which are not used for browsing the Internet.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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