Extensions and Security
Firefox extensions range from the indispensable (ad blocking) to the utterly silly (an extension that changes the Options menu's definition of "Cookies" from a technical explanation to "Cookies are delicious delicacies"). Here are a few of the more notable extensions.
Themes - Themes are technically a separate category from extensions, but they all do the same thing -- they change how Firefox looks. There are a few dozen themes to choose from on the official Firefox site. If you want your browser to look like it's made out of wood or have big, brightly colored icons or look sleek and futuristic, there's a theme for you. You can change it every day if you want to.
Dictionary Search - This extension lets you select any word in the text of a Web site, right click and select "Search Dictionary" from the menu. Then, a new tab opens with an Internet dictionary's definition of the selected word.
Gestures - Mouse gesturing is a feature taken from another alternative browser, Opera. When this extension is installed, users can execute various common Web surfing commands by holding down the right mouse button and "gesturing" in a certain direction with the mouse. A gesture to the left takes you back one page, while a gesture to the right takes you one page forward. You can customize the gestures and combine them (a down-then-left gesture minimizes the browser window, for example).
FoxyTunes - This extension places a small control panel on the Firefox toolbar, allowing users to control any media player software from within the browser.
FoxyTunes and ForecastFox
ForecastFox - This popular extension puts a short-range weather forecast in your toolbar. You can select your location (or several different ones), how many days you want in the forecast and whether you want only daytime forecasts or both days and nights.
RadialContext - Most browsers give you a drop-down menu of options when you right-click on a Web site. The RadialContext extension livens this up by giving you a small dial of graphical options (sort of like the controls on your car stereo) instead of that plain text menu.
RadialContext
Ad Block - There are several different ad-blocking extensions available in addition to the pop-up blocking Firefox has built-in. These extensions allow users to block some or all banner ads and other advertisements that appear on Web pages. Some use a list of known ad servers or block images from servers with the words "banner" or "adserver" in the domain name. Others display ads normally, but if a user finds a particular ad exceptionally annoying or obtrusive, he or she can right-click on it and choose to remove it in the resulting drop-down menu.
Before and after using the remove-ad feature
Firefox Security
Firefox simply handles security differently than Internet Explorer. Where Internet Explorer uses security zones, which can sometimes be confused by malicious software, Firefox does not rely on zones. Also, Firefox does not use digital signatures, which are verifications programmers can purchase. If you try to install software on your computer, Internet Explorer checks to see if the digital signature matches the actual vendor of the program. Peter Torr, a program manager at Microsoft, pointed this out as a serious flaw in Firefox's security. However, a digital signature is not a guarantee of safe software, either. It just means that someone paid for the signature, and there have been cases of fraudulent signatures being issued.
Another security issue involves ActiveX controls. ActiveX is built into Internet Explorer and allows certain Web sites to automatically download scripts or execute small applications. While the absence of ActiveX in Firefox does mean that some sites will not be viewable, it also closes many security holes; in this case, Firefox chooses security over functionality.
Another aspect of Firefox vs. Internet Explorer security is the fact that Firefox is an open source program. This means that anyone can access the code the program is written in. That might sound like a bad idea, because you're giving potential hackers access to the code; but in fact, the opposite is true. There are far more people who want to close security holes than there are hackers who want to exploit them. Having thousands of people looking over your code and helping to spot problems means that most security flaws will get fixed very quickly. In fact, the developers of Firefox even offered a "bounty" of $500 and a t-shirt to anyone who successfully spotted a bug in the program.
In the next section, we'll find out where Firefox came from and who developed it. We'll also see how this new browser has the potential to change the Internet as we know it.
Themes - Themes are technically a separate category from extensions, but they all do the same thing -- they change how Firefox looks. There are a few dozen themes to choose from on the official Firefox site. If you want your browser to look like it's made out of wood or have big, brightly colored icons or look sleek and futuristic, there's a theme for you. You can change it every day if you want to.
Dictionary Search - This extension lets you select any word in the text of a Web site, right click and select "Search Dictionary" from the menu. Then, a new tab opens with an Internet dictionary's definition of the selected word.
Gestures - Mouse gesturing is a feature taken from another alternative browser, Opera. When this extension is installed, users can execute various common Web surfing commands by holding down the right mouse button and "gesturing" in a certain direction with the mouse. A gesture to the left takes you back one page, while a gesture to the right takes you one page forward. You can customize the gestures and combine them (a down-then-left gesture minimizes the browser window, for example).
FoxyTunes - This extension places a small control panel on the Firefox toolbar, allowing users to control any media player software from within the browser.
FoxyTunes and ForecastFox
ForecastFox - This popular extension puts a short-range weather forecast in your toolbar. You can select your location (or several different ones), how many days you want in the forecast and whether you want only daytime forecasts or both days and nights.
RadialContext - Most browsers give you a drop-down menu of options when you right-click on a Web site. The RadialContext extension livens this up by giving you a small dial of graphical options (sort of like the controls on your car stereo) instead of that plain text menu.
RadialContext
Ad Block - There are several different ad-blocking extensions available in addition to the pop-up blocking Firefox has built-in. These extensions allow users to block some or all banner ads and other advertisements that appear on Web pages. Some use a list of known ad servers or block images from servers with the words "banner" or "adserver" in the domain name. Others display ads normally, but if a user finds a particular ad exceptionally annoying or obtrusive, he or she can right-click on it and choose to remove it in the resulting drop-down menu.
Before and after using the remove-ad feature
Firefox Security
Firefox simply handles security differently than Internet Explorer. Where Internet Explorer uses security zones, which can sometimes be confused by malicious software, Firefox does not rely on zones. Also, Firefox does not use digital signatures, which are verifications programmers can purchase. If you try to install software on your computer, Internet Explorer checks to see if the digital signature matches the actual vendor of the program. Peter Torr, a program manager at Microsoft, pointed this out as a serious flaw in Firefox's security. However, a digital signature is not a guarantee of safe software, either. It just means that someone paid for the signature, and there have been cases of fraudulent signatures being issued.
Another security issue involves ActiveX controls. ActiveX is built into Internet Explorer and allows certain Web sites to automatically download scripts or execute small applications. While the absence of ActiveX in Firefox does mean that some sites will not be viewable, it also closes many security holes; in this case, Firefox chooses security over functionality.
Another aspect of Firefox vs. Internet Explorer security is the fact that Firefox is an open source program. This means that anyone can access the code the program is written in. That might sound like a bad idea, because you're giving potential hackers access to the code; but in fact, the opposite is true. There are far more people who want to close security holes than there are hackers who want to exploit them. Having thousands of people looking over your code and helping to spot problems means that most security flaws will get fixed very quickly. In fact, the developers of Firefox even offered a "bounty" of $500 and a t-shirt to anyone who successfully spotted a bug in the program.
In the next section, we'll find out where Firefox came from and who developed it. We'll also see how this new browser has the potential to change the Internet as we know it.
posted by Learn Me Please at 12:16 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home