ChristiansUnite Forums

I've tried many different browsers that still use portions of Internet Explorer to work. Now I'm using Mozilla Firefox that is independent of Internet Explorer, and I'll never go back. There is no comparison on speed, and there are all kinds of other content available for Firefox (i.e. latest news, RSS feeds, etc.). I don't miss Internet Explorer based browsers at all. The extra speed is great for folks who still have slow dial-up connections, and that's what I have.

This week, I tried the email program designed to go with Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird. It's also free, much faster, and much safer than the Microsoft based products. It's a keeper and FREE!

Firefox and Thunderbird are open source software, and that means they will always be FREE! Some might think that means they would be of lesser quality, but the opposite is true. Both of these products are excellent, and many of the security holes of Microsoft products has been closed by using these. In fact, there is no comparison with speed, safety, and quality. Used together, this dynamic duo is fun, has many more features, and you can also say bye to the frequent crashing problems of Internet Explorer and Outlook.

Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird are MUST TRY programs. They are both FREE with no strings attached, and they are rated higher in speed, safety, and features than the commercial products.

Love In Christ,
Tom

2 Corinthians 5:20-21  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Just wanted to make a little correction for you on the Open Source thing.

Open source does not mean free of charge but free to modify and distribute without any specific copyright things like pictures or proprietary or closed source parts.

You can not redistrubute firefox as "firefox" in an OS or such unless you leave it completely untouched.

Lots of linux distro's will use firefox as the main browser but if they change the pictures or make it "fit in" with their distro they have to call it something else.


Ok, just so you know, because open source doesn't = free of charge but free like "speech".

God Bless,

and hi again.  :)

Saved_4ever,

Brother, I quickly yield to your experience in this area. I'm new to trying many open source programs. I probably misunderstand much of the lingo.

I know that I completely tossed Microsoft Office in favor of Open Office, and I am very happy that I did. Keep in mind that I bought Microsoft Office at least 3 times for big bucks, and I think it is garbage compared to Open Office. I only paid $5 for the CD and shipping for the complete Open Office Suite. It is much faster, not a memory hog, almost never any crashes, and it's free. It was too big to download on a slow dial-up connection or I would have gotten it completely free with no strings attached.

The same was true for Firefox and Thunderbird, but they were small enough for me to download absolutely free with no strings attached. I think that I know what is confusing me about the open source definition - I read that nobody could charge for it anything more than the media, the shipping, and handling. I saw the same type of language on Open Office.

My first thoughts were there had to be some sort of strings attached (i.e. advertising, tracking, or something else negative). When I finally started trying some of the open source software, I quickly came to the conclusion that most of it is excellent and has no problems at all associated with it. I'm still trying to understand how people can get outstanding programs like these either free for the download or with shipping and handling. I'm really thinking that a lot of it is GET EVEN WITH MICROSOFT.  Am I wrong? It seems there are top programmers working on these programs, and many of them used to work for companies that were either forced out of business by Microsoft, bankrupted by Microsoft, or mistreated by Microsoft.

The example of Open Office is 64 MEG of outstanding programs. I know that nobody can make any money selling me a CD for $5, including shipping and handling. I've read that they do make some money in large corporate environments, in training, and maybe some other ways, but they appear to be determined to give the general public outstanding programs for nothing or almost nothing.

I still have a lot to learn, but I'm not shy about trying open source programs any longer, especially the ones that are free or almost free. So far, I think the ones I have tried are head and shoulders better than the high dollar commercial programs. What I don't have figured out at all right now is how they make any money and who pays the bills.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 113:4  The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.

Open Office is from Sun Micro Systems and they have a pay for version as well called Star Office.  There are pay for Open Source apps like Cross over office (for running MS software like adobe photoshop, Office, IE 6 and some others).  Most linux distro's that do make money charge for their OS and in corporate envirnments get money by given support for said products.

Yes Sun has a bone to pick with MS.  As far as linux is concerned (a lot of linux apps have been made or ported to MS to) a good portion of the programs were developed by learning college students and those that wanted to learn to program for little or no cost.  Linus Torvalds (the creator of the linux kernel and "founder" of linux as in Linus Unix) was a college student when he decided to write his own OS kernel and copied the format of Unix.  This is why the commands for both are the same or similar.  FreeBSD is an OS developed by Berklee students and such.  This is a good reason why you find so many strange titles and words seeing as they were learning at the time.

Have you ever gotten a a message that the mail-daemon returned blah blah blah blah?  That's because 50% or more of the net is run by linux and unix servers.  The word daemon pronounced Day-mon or demon is a greek word for a harmless or "non-evil" demon.  Just some silly greek mythology but dealing with computers I can relate to the name.  Daemons control jobs and services in linux.

Mozilla developers get paid to write the code for those programs.  I forget who is bankrolling them but they get payed.  However, a lot of distro's (like PCLinuxOS which I like) get money from donations and such.  There are plenty of people who work for free in their spare time.

So this is probably way more than you wanted to know but there you go.

Saved_4ever,

Brother, I actually find this information to be fascinating. It's pretty hard for average people to understand everything going on in the hi-tech world. I even understood most of what you said.   :D

I'm almost sure that Christians Unite is on a Linux server. If I understand correctly, it is much more secure from attack than Windows servers.

I have made some donations for free software that I really like. I really felt guilty getting something of such high quality and not paying anything for it. Maybe that's how many of those young and excellent programmers pay some of their bills.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Matthew 5:14-16  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

I have Firefox but have had nothing but trouble with it, so I am still using Firebird 0.7 most of the time. That has some bugs as well, but nothing like Firefox, which wouldn't fill in forms and log-in boxes correctly. They looked O.K., but when you tried to submit them it wouldn't work. Sometimes you got a message back telling you that you didn't fill the form in.

One time I got a look at the results and all the information entered in all the boxes was crammed together in the last line.

It also didn't parse the html correctly, with bits of code showing up on the screen.

After the last update it has done better - no more code onscreen and I can log into Yahoo now with it, but still can't upload files to Geocities.

I wish they would get it running correctly as I like the browser and the RSS feeds.

Incidentally, I'm not the only person who has had this problem with Firefox.

Rhys,

I've heard about some folks having problems with Firefox, but I haven't had those problems. The only problem I've had is it not playing music when someone puts music with a post or the site has music. For filling forms and passwords, I use Roboform, so maybe that's why I don't have some of the problems you are having. Roboform did have to supply an additional program to make it work with Firefox, but I've had no problems with Roboform.

Who knows, maybe some of the other problems are associated with firewalls, spyware programs, or something security related. OR, there are bugs with Firefox. I do know that they released a couple of versions pretty quickly between Firefox 1.0 to Firefox 1.02. So, maybe quite a few were having problems. I use Avant when I want to listen to music.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Romans 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

For any fifefox users, the latest version has just been released, version 1.03. Pretty much the same but patches a few holes found in version 1.02. Downloaded it today any working like a dream.

Joey

Thanks Brother Joey! I'm still getting used to some of the features of Firefox, but I'm liking it more by the day. I'm also liking Thunderbird, the email program designed to go with it. It is extremely fast and has a great spam filter with it.

Love In Christ,
Tom

3 John 1:4  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Blackeyedpeas.......Firefox is great, GBU/Linux is great. Leave your Firefox browser installed, and download the Opera browser (Opera 8), and then compare the two for "speed" and features.  I thought Firefox was the ultimate until I tried Opera.....Opera is just flat AWESOME!! http://www.opera.com
[By the way, Firefox latest is version 1.04]

IE/Windows are generic systems used by most simply because they are "easy" to work with....but they are also the least secure/most attacked....I don't know anyone who uses IE/Windows that hasn't had problems with viruses (or massive amounts of spyware/adware).

Another decent browser is K-Meleon, very fast, and I'd rate it as being right up there with Firefox.  Try the Opera 8 and let me know what you think...everyone's opinion is different, but I think Opera 8 is likely the best in the business!

Oh yes, by the way, OpenOffice is just as good, if not better than MS's office suites, and look at the "size!"  At 150MB OpenOffice is less than HALF the size of the MS package. Also compare some of the better "free" antispyware packages to MS's new antispyware pkg.....MS's package is over 25MB!  Kind of makes ya wonder WHAT ELSE it's doing!!!

Antivirus, antispyware/adware, registry cleaners/repair, system cleaners, whatever, there are any number of excellent FREE programs that equal or exceed the performance of the "paid programs," I don't know why anyone even BUYS these kinds of programs anymore!!

I also have Opera and use it from time to time but i do not find it as good as firefox. Yes, you are probably right about the speed issue. My biggest beef with Opera is its cookie handling. I am very fussy about cookies and only let my browser accept what i need and trust. No matter how many variations i try in Opera's settings for cookies, i can never get them to work properly. My biggest problems are with the Yahoo and Hotmail email pages. But as you said in your post, we all have diffrent prefrences. But they are both good browsers.

It may be worth creating yourself a new profile for Firefox and see if that cures the problem. I have no idea what the problem may be that you are experencing but i know that creating a new profile sometimes helps. A while back i was having some issues with Firefox and in the end i deleted the browser, then reinstalled it but when i started it up, i found i had the exact same problem. I had to delete everything to do with my Firefox, including my profile and then when i reinstalled it and ran it, it worked fine. Just a thought.

Joey.......have you tried "gmail?"  Another good one is "xmail."
http://www.xmail.net   It has a built-in messenger service, VOIP, lots of web page storage, etc., etc...VERY GOOD service, but short on mail storage spage.  I use gmail for storage...2+GB storage.  Gmail is not yet "public" officially and it takes an invitation to get it, but if you want to try it, send me a PM with your e-mail addy and I'll send you an invtiation for gmail.  I used to use Yahoo and Hotmail....no more....now its gmail and xmail, and Firefox or Opera seems to handle them with no problem. (Yeah, Opera does have some cookie issues, but since you can run both Firefox and Opera, you shouldn't have any problem.)

SeekerAfterTruth,

Brother, I've tried everything you have mentioned except Linux and Opera. I've been using Open Office for over a year and find it excellent. I bought MS Office several times and will never do so again.

I'm planning to try Linux soon, and I might take a closer look at Opera. I haven't tried Opera because it appears to be either ad-ware or pay. Firefox has been too good for me to get serious about putting up with more ads or spending money I don't have. If I am considering the purchase of software, I like the try before you buy full version (Shareware). First, it's usually much less money because you eliminate all the middle-men and packaging costs. Second, if you don't like it enough to purchase it, you simply uninstall and have nothing invested but some time.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 116:13  I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.

Blackeyepeas..........Yes, the "free" version of Opera does come bundled with ads, but strangely enough they are very unobtrusive and most of the time I don't even notice them!!

The combination of Linux and Opera is about as "speedy" as one can get, but if you keep Firefox you won't lose much speed.  There are over 8700 pkgs you can get (Open Source) with Linux.....OpenOffice is just one of them, and you already have that (terrific, isn't it...I like it better than MS anyday!!).

Another good little browser is the K-Meleon, which is easy to make the transition to from IE (without pulling your hair out)!
http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/

Brother, I'm not a spring chicken any longer, and it's not as fun to get out of my comfort zone with familiar software as it used to be. However, I would say quickly that it was no pain at all with Open Office. I find it much easier to use and faster than MS Office. I am playing with the latest beta version of Open Office right now, and it is wonderful. I don't miss anything about Microsoft except the bloat and the expense.  :D  I'm hoping that my experience with Linux will be as pleasant and painless.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 135:6  Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.

Linux.....ummmm, I don't know about "painless!!!!"  However, once you get everything installed and connected, it is fantastic.  I have OpenOffice 1.4, may give the "beta" a whirl. What have they added?

SeekerAfterTruth,

Brother, the latest beta version of Open Office adds database and more compatibility with the latest Microsoft Office products. It is also downward compatible with more MS Office products than ever. I've only been playing with it several weeks, but I can tell you the database functions equal or exceed MS Office. Open Office 1.14 lacked the database and maybe a few other MS Office functions. I don't know what else is left to do with Open Office, but I understand that the latest and greatest may come out of beta soon. There are also new formats to save your work in, but the new Open Office is also downward compatible with older Open Office formats. The new and the old Open Office file formats are stored in much smaller file sizes than MS Office. Open Office might even set new industry standards for file formats. Many of the file formats are 40% and more smaller than the MS Office formats. At this point, I think you can do more with Open Office than you can with MS Office, but you can exchange work with people still using MS Office. There is no longer any reason to spend $500 or more for an Office Suite. Database used to be a reason, but that is now gone.

UM??? - Maybe some folks will feel sorry for Bill Gates loss of income and keep buying MS Office.  :D   I would rather send some reasonable donations to the outstanding writers of Open Office and make sure that Bill Gates can never hold all of us hostage again with MS Office.

Love In Christ,
Tom

I Peter 3:15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1758849,00.asp (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1758849,00.asp)

Blackeyedpeas.....Hey, great, got a database now, huh.  Wonder if it will now read mdb files? (1.1.4 will not read mdb files from MS).  I think I will wait until it comes out of "beta" before upgrading, though.

JudgeNot......Some have mentioned that Firefox is not consistent in what it will or will not do...sometimes it does, soemetimes it doesn't, sometimes something will work and sometimes it won't....I never had any trouble with mine, but I'm wondering if maybe they would just uninstall it and then reinstall it, might cure the problem.....if the original download was corrupted in any way it won't work right (but that goes for any download, not just Firefox).  Adobe Acrobat/Reader did me that way, and it took FOUR installation tries to get it right, but I haven't had any trouble with it since.

Seeker,

I wish that I could tell you more about the new database functions of Open Office. I only do several databases, and none of them are currently Microsoft. I did look at the list of database formats supported, and Microsoft Access is one of them. There's actually a fairly impressive list of formats supported, including MySQL and other popular types. I've been wanting to do a new database for links on my web site, so I might play with it some and let you know.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Romans 8:26-28  The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.

Blackeyedpeas.....ok, if it will read what Access produces it should read mdb files. [mdb = microsoft data base]. When the new version comes out of beta I'll upgrade.

That is when I get back to my own computer!!  Be about three or four months before that happens. [Lord I miss my computer...these at the VA use Windows 2000 and IE, and it's like going back to the stone age!]

Stone age? Ah ha, I use, and like windows ME, which is older then 2000. Yes I use Mozilla, with no problems. Open Office works, with out a problem. I have found, I like it 100 times better the MS office. I had to send off for the CD, to load it on my computer. Guess what, I sent them another 15 dollars, in thanks for a friendly user program.

Resting with the Lord.
Bob

Proverbs 22:11 He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.

DreamWeaver........Windows ME......good grief!!!   :'(

Uh, if you are just bound determined to stick with "Windows," I would recommend that you at least upgrade to the latest edition of XP-Pro, with Service Pack 2, and install a good "freeware" antivirus program (AVG Free), antispyware program (Spybot S & D, plus Lavasoft Ad-Aware), RegScrub XP, PowerDefragXP, .indexdat.suite, and either CCleaner or CacheCleaner, and get the "free trial" Ashampoo WinOptimizer (use it to delete all your duplicated dll's....you probably have a half a gig of duplicate dll's on there!).  Keep your Firefox browser, but you might want to install either Opera 8 or the K-Meleon as a second browser. [You do realize you can have two Operating Systems on your hard drive don't you?  Providing, of course, you don't have one of those mini-drives, like a 3GB - 10GB drive.....PLEASE DON'T TELL ME you have only 3 - 10GB!!!!!!]  You might want to install Linux and compare it to your ME, or XP-Pro......once you get used to it, my guess is you'd scrap the Windows application entirely and just run Linux.  http://www.debian.org/

How many gigs is your hard drive? How much RAM do you have?  Processor speed?  If you can afford it, it doesn't hurt to have 512MB RAM, and around 600MHz processor speed, and at least a 20GB hard drive, though I'd prefer at least 40 myself (but I have a LOT of music files).  If you're a "gamer," you might even want a Gig of RAM, and 1GHz processor speed.

Why did you have to send for the OpenOffice disk? There is a free download at http://www.openoffice.org/

I am on dial-up, and couldn't download the file, from Openoffice. My computer is an 233MHz with 48 MB  Sdram. 8.9 Gig hard drive. The only reason I have this computer, is it was saved in the fire. No, I don't download music, nor am I a gamer. I am on SSDI, so I am very tight on money. I started to build a new computer, which was lost in the fire.

I use the computer for, writing, and on the forum, here. I read the news, online. That saves me money, and getting rid of the papers.

Sorry but, this is all I can afford right now. I am still trying to get my life, back in order. From the fire, I had here back a few months ago.

Dreamweaver,

Brother, I'm still using slow dial-up for money reasons also. I had an old computer almost tied together with bailing wire for 3 years before I was finally able to get a new computer. BUT, I don't have your talent to build my own. If I did, I would have built one when the old computer became almost nothing but trouble.

If you stay away from the latest and greatest, motherboards and other components are almost dirt cheap right now. I think it would be fun to build one. But if I built one, it would look like the work of the 3 Stooges.  :D

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 115:11  Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.

Dreamweaver.........dial up?  DIAL UP?   :'(

Ok, well, I see why you don't do much downloading!!! In your computer building, Blackeyedpeas is right, don't worry about getting the "latest/greatest."  Concentrate on getting as much RAM as you can, at least a 20GB hard drive (preferably 40GB), and a processor that runs 600MHz or better....in other words get the "heart" of the system.....Memory is fairly cheap, a used hard drive can be purchased, and processors aren't all that expensive......WalMart is OK for new stuff, but you can get things cheaper at a computer repair shop.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product_listing.gsp?cat=4465&path=0%3A3944%3A3964%3A132959%3A4465
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product_listing.gsp?cat=117885&path=0%3A3944%3A3964%3A132959%3A3955%3A117885

I understand you are on a "fixed income" (SSDI)....have you asked your ISP how much the cost would be to add DSL or a cable modem to your monthly phone or cable bill?  I use cable, and it only adds $16 a month to my regular cable bill.
[If I remember correctly adding DSL would have been about $12 extra on the phone bill monthly, but I went with the cable modem as that is a weee bit better than DSL.]  You may find that it doesn't add very much to "bundle" your service with your current phone or cable company.

Brother, for me to add, DSL would cost another 29.00 dollars. Where I live, there is no cable. DSL, on my Direct tv would cost, over 50.00 dollars and I can't afford that. And then I also have to buy the equiment.

It took me 4 months, to buy almost everything I needed to build the other computer. With that destroyed, I have to start all over again. From the fire, the insurance paided almost for everything. I still came up short, though on some of my other needs.

My faith in the Lord, has not wavered. I know in my heart, that I am being taken care of. For my Lord, Jesus Christ, is a Lord that can not be defeated. He is the King, of Kings, The Lord of Lords, and he loves me.

Resting in the Lords arms.
Bob

Ephesians 3:13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Well, so much for that idea!  The bad news is no DSL or Cable...the good news is you are astill up & running.  :)

I can remember when I had dial-up, and thought it was great, and then I switched to cable, and then I thought, WOW, how did I ever put up with that slooooooooow dial-up!  Guess it is a matter of perspective.......in the world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king!  Dial-up is certainly better than ZIPPO ! !  :)

 :D  Is anyone here old enough to have used a 300 baud dial-up modem?  I am.  I ran a law enforcement bulletin board for many years, and some of those years were with a 300 baud modem. I thought I was in tall cotton when I got my first 1200 baud modem.  :D

Blackeyedpeas........300 baud dial-up???  So there really is someone older than Methuselah????? :P

Yes, good point...it is a matter of perception/perspective. Compared to good old "pen & paper," even a 300 baud/300bps dialup would be "superfast!"  Hey, after all, we used to think those "digital led" watches were state-of-the-art, too.....now my WATCH probably has more "computing power" than UNIVAC! [And I know there are pocket calculators with more computing power than UNIVAC!]

Seeker,

AND, my real computer is an abacus.  ;D

Well, considering that the old and feeble have a tendency to "forget things," here's a little reminder of what things were like in your youth..... just in case you've forgotten many of the amazing uses of the abacus ...... http://www.ee.ryerson.ca:8080/~elf/abacus/

And what is really amazing is that the technology they are working on now will make today's computers and T1/Cable speeds look like slow motion.....imagine computers that operate at just below "light speed!"  :-\  Can we even comprehend a computer that could operate at, oh, say, 1 Pentabyte/sec.?  [Duhhhh, hey Ethel, I just got mah new 'puter, and it has a 2SquigglyByte hard drive, a 4premieherz processor, and 5FlippybytesRAM...]  :-\

Seeker,

That was a fascinating link for use of an abacus. I really had no idea.

I was reading your description of future computers and started laughing when I reflected on my first computers. My first hard drive was 10 meg and cost $2,000. A 16K block of ram was about 4" wide, 6" tall, and 3/4" in depth.  If someone had a personal computer with 48K of ram, they had a Cadillac.  I think that first hard drive weighed in at about 40 pounds.  ;D

Check out the price...
http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xPC-BRBN_PC_ASUS_VINTAGE
http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xPF-BRBN_PC_ASUS_VINTAGE
[Convert "pounds" to dollars at the current exchange rate,
1.00 GBP United Kingdom Pounds  = 1.82728 USD
United States Dollars.]

More "abacus" as there are different systems.........
http://www.cut-the-knot.org/blue/Abacus.shtml

And the first digital computer...
http://www.cs.iastate.edu/jva/jva-archive.shtml

UNIVAC, by the way, was only good for about 1,000 calculations per second [1kbs].....ok, so maybe dial-up ain't so bad....... http://wwwcsif.cs.ucdavis.edu/~csclub/museum/items/univac.html

My biggest beef with Firefox: The posting tools on this forum don't work right, and pasting in from Word changes " to ?.

That's OK - I keep CU open in IE and use Firefox for everything else. :)

JudgeNot,

Brother, try an excellent little extension program called BBCODE. It's free and on the official extension list for Firefox. It solves that problem and more, and it works like a charm.

Love in Christ,
Tom

Philippians 3:7-14  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Wow - thanks Mr. BEP.  You know - among the things at work that fall under my direct charge is the I.T. department.  You want a job. :)

Brother, you are most welcome. Reference the job, I think that I have just enough health left to do what the LORD leads me to do. I think that I will stay happy as long as he uses me for HIM in some way.

Speaking of extensions for Firefox, there are quite a few that are really handy and work great. With them, Firefox will do a lot more than I.E. Sage is a great little extension that grabs news from thousands of sources. The results are in news feed format, and you can click the source to read the entire story. Spellbound is a great little spell checker that works on forums. ForecastFox is an easy way to keep up with weather. Scrapbook is a great little tool to capture, store, and organize things you find of interest in surfing, from email, and just about anything you can click and highlight with a mouse. Holler if there is something else you want to do with Firefox.

Reference the I.T. position, hire a Linux guru and send Bill Gates a sympathy card after you get everything switched over.  :D

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 17:15  As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

JudgeNot, i'm not sure what you mean by posting tools etc but if you mean changing fonts and colours etc, then their is an excellent firefox extension called BBCode. I use it a lot of the time on forums.

https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/showlist.php?application=firefox&numpg=10&pageid=5

Of course if this isn't what you meant, then please accept my apoliges

I've noticed some posts from people having serious problems with Firefox. My advice is to completally uninstall any Mozilla related software ex. Firefox, Firebird, Thunderbird, and Mozilla itself if installed. Once you have everything uninstalled try installing just Firefox itself fresh. Try it out and then work in reinstalling the rest. I do not advise using Firebird with Firefox on the same system. They all use the same code and can sometimes conflict from older versions to newer versions. This will probably not work with character conversion not transfering correctly but should fix any other serious issues.

For those of you wanting to try linux you should look into Ubuntu http://www.ubuntulinux.org/ . It is fairly easy for new people to install and you can just use add/remove programs to install more software if you so desire. It preinstalls both Thunderbird and Firefox. It also updates automatically (like windows autoupdates) and updates fairly frequently.

The people that make Ubuntu will also send you a free cd if you cannot download and burn your own.

Phylter,

I see this is your first post, so WELCOME TO CHRISTIANS UNITE! I really hope that you enjoy the fellowship here.

I can only speak for myself, but I've had less problems with Firefox than any other browser. The only problem I'm aware of is that Firefox doesn't do some of the things that are specifically for IE, like certain embedded items in web pages. There are many other things that Firefox does that IE doesn't, so I guess that things balance out. For me, Firefox is faster and safer, and I won't be going back to IE.

Thanks for the Linux link.

Love In Christ,
Tom

2 Corinthians 5:20-21  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

 ???

I have been reading this thread and I do know about these 'open source' things and yes, I would like tohave more security and less crashes by getting rid of ms.  The thing that always puzzled me about them is, if you download all the open sourceware to use but you still have msie, outook and the others; what's the point???  You just further fill up your hard drive and when you try to go to a webpage your machine uses the default ie anyway.

Is it safe to delete the ms stuff without having a backup disk???  An organization gave me a recycled cpu with win2000, msoffice 2000 and no backup disks.  I am afraid this one will crash and I will lose everything that's not backed up but I'm stuck with no money and a cd burner that quit working a few months back.

I strayed from my questions but why have duplicates of everything, and how can you/can you safely ??? get rid of some of the default ms stuff???

Hi livingforthelord,

I see this is your first post so first I would like to welcome you to the forum.

I have a big disk drive so storage is not a problem for me. I personally would not delete the MS programs. There is a way though to change which ones are default and which ones are not.

I am not positive as to how to do that on Win2000. On the Win XP it is located in the Add/Remove Programs folder under the "Set Programs and Defaults" tab. When programs such as FireFox and Thunderbird etc are set as the default program they will be accessed much quicker and you wont have that problem you are talking about either.

Hello LivingForTheLord,

First, WELCOME!!!


I sincerely hope that you enjoy Christians Unite.

I am a Firefox user, but I still have Microsoft XP as a system. I could be wrong, but I don't think you can uninstall Microsoft Internet Explorer without breaking all kinds of things on the system. If there is a way, I don't know about it. I do know that Firefox can run independent of Microsoft Internet Explorer, but Windows XP still needs Microsoft Internet Explorer. I think that you would actually turn the computer into a door-stop if you tried to take Internet Explorer off of it and still use XP.

If I understand this correctly, Microsoft Internet Explorer supports some sound, graphics, and other functions that other programs use on an XP system.

I hope there is someone else who knows much more that will either verify or deny what I just said. I'm not sure of anything negative happening with the other Microsoft Programs you have in taking them off the system, but I would keep them since you already have them for no money involved. Open Office will definitely work on a system that still has Microsoft Office installed on it. I think that the big thing would be: why would you spend $500 for Microsoft Office when you can get Open Office free - AND, Open Office will make and use Microsoft Compatible documents, spreadsheets, etc. Further, Open Office is much faster on my system, and the output files from Open Office are much smaller.

So - PLEASE - don't start deleting Microsoft programs until you get some advice from someone who really knows what they are doing.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Galatians 6:9-10 NASB  Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

You are right Brother Tom. Portions of I.E. support many other functions in Windows programs. One of these is Desk Top functions. To delete it would make the desk top inoperative and therefore no computer.

 ;D

Thanks for the warm welcomes Pastor Roger and blackeyedpeas!!!

And thanks for the information.  Pastor Roger, I did'nt know you could change the default for everything; I saw that under add/remove programs but I never mess with my computers guts unless I know what I'm doing.  And blackeyedpeas, I won't delete anythng.  And I too have heard that removing IE causes HUGE problems!!!  And when they took my old cpu, they put the hard drive into this one so I have two, even if they are only 15gig a piece.

Things are just warming up but it's 12:22pm here and I've been going since 7am.  It's past my bedtime but I'll be back ;).

I use both Opera and Firefox...i've gotten the latest Release Candidate for Firefox and it seems to be working fine. You all are correct about removing IE will cause major problems. That's microsoft's way of making things harder for PC's to be independent. I won't even use IE unless i'm getting windows updates from Patch Tuesday and occasionally when I want to do a virus scan from http://housecall.trendmicro.com which is a free virus scan. I dunno what the rules are about virus scanning websites, but it's worked for me so far. I use a cocktail of different services such as adaware, sygate firewall, peer guardian, microsoft antispyware beta 1 and avast antivirus...all right after the other so my machine stays pretty clean. I have mixed emotions about Spybot Search and Destroy, but i may break down and give it a try. Just a few thoughts.

Coram Deo,
Joshua

Spybot S&D is a pretty good program but with the other programs that you already have you will have to be careful what you remove with it. For example, Spybot recognises certain Adware cache files as adware bots and will remove them. Adware will still run but it won't be able to detect those adware bots if you have them in your system.

 

LivingForTheLord,

You are most welcome. One of these days, I'd like to get brave enough to maybe get a second hard-drive and run Linux on it with nothing but FREE, or Public Domain Free, or Open Source Free on it. I've tried enough of those programs now to know that they are excellent, and I think that Bill Gates is plenty rich enough already. I would want the safety-net of that extra drive to be able to run Windows if I needed to, but many people are switching to Linux and talking about greatly increased speed, tons of completely free programs to go on it that are first class, and a system that is not full of holes for hackers and virus writers to exploit. Linux is supposed to be much faster and safer, yet it is completely free unless you want some fancy packaging and manuals.

It's just nice to know that we don't have to be held hostage by Bill Gates and pay outrageous prices for what we can get free now.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Romans 10:8-10 NASB  But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART"--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Hello Jemidon2004,

It's great to hear from you and see you on the forum. If I remember correctly, you are working extremely hard in college and preparing to enter the ministry. Please tell me if I'm right. I still pray for you almost every day and will continue to.

I'm also using Firefox Release Candidate 2 and Thunderbird's latest release for a mail program. I am extremely happy with both of them. They are very fast and getting more user friendly by the day. The Thunderbird mail program is now rated at the top for safety and speed. Outlook and Outlook Express can't hold a candle to it. Thunderbird also has outstanding spam filters that work great.

Brother, I'm also using Spybot with no problems at all, but I'm not using Adaware. I use Spyware Blaster with it, and I also use Microsoft AntiSpyware. They are all free and great. I also use the top-rated Avast Anti-Virus program which is also free.

Another thing I try to do is keep a current host list with hosts that are known to install hijackers, virus, trojan, and all kinds of other headaches. You use the host file (plain text) to make your computer loop back to itself when one of the bad hosts makes a connection and tries to install the headaches. Again, the host file is fast, extremely efficient, and free. There are numerous places on the net to get current blacklists of hosts that attack, but Spybot comes with a pretty good one that is kept updated, and installation of the host file is pushing one button and rebooting your computer.

Brother, I've talked your arm off, so I'll stop and simply say that you are on my heart and mind every day. If there is ever anything I can do for you, you know how to reach me several ways. In the meantime - KEEP LOOKING UP!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Colossians 2:13-17 NASB  When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day -- things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

Hey buddy,

I got firefox release candidate 2 as well. I like the RC 2, but i'll be glad once they get all the kinks worked out and all of my extensions work correctly.I use Avast as well. i also use PeerGuardian 2 for my backdoor ports and it seems to work like a charm in concert with Sygate firewall...i'm actually considering paying money to upgrade it and get the full program. I'm working hard in college and i got a job part time at the computer services department at the college so I can sharpen my computer skills. I've heard bad things about the earlier version of Spybot, but i'm debating on trying it out... right now i'm using opera and i don't have any problem with it, and it actually loads pages very quickly. And i'm about to get rid of this stupid cleartype. Oh yea, RegScrub XP is a great tool for getting rid of useless registry entries. Eh i've been a bit busy at work today so don't worry about it. And if you would like, send me an IM or an e-mail and i'll be glad to talk to ya by phone, i have free nights and weekends so if you or any of the other moderators like Dreamweaver, Pastor Roger, or Bronzesnake want to talk, just give me an IM or e-mail and i'll be glad to talk to ya'll. Have a good one.

Coram Deo,
Joshua

Hello Brother Joshua,

I'll have to check into Peer Guardian. I've not heard of that one.

Check into the Mr. Tech Local Install extension to get rid of most of the compatibility errors while trying to install other extensions. Most of the problems have to do with version or build numbers in the code for installation, and there really isn't a compatibility problem. On the other side of the coin, some of the extensions have not been updated in a long time and won't work at all.

You used to send me copies of sermons you were working on from time to time, so I should be in your address book. It sounds like you are swamped with your current school schedule and working at the same time. I've been there and done that, but it was 40 years ago. Back then, the learning materials were on stone tablets.  ;D

Brother, just hang tough and - KEEP LOOKING UP!

Love in Christ,
Tom

Ephesians 2:19-22 NASB  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.