Ok, so when I started this blog I said something along the lines of "I will talk about FOOOOOOD!" despite this all I have been talking about is tech news and browsers (gosh, that sounds boring.) But, NOT TODAY!!! No, today you get a fantastic hot cocoa recipe from the fantastic (and World of War Craft themed) Nourish blog. Everything about this hot cocoa is perfect; from the subtle white chocolate flavor, to the slightly spicy cayenne pepper.  I put some chocolate shavings in mine, which gave a nice little ending to the mug. oh, and you must try the Tirisfal Glade Pumpkin Cookies, AMAZING...AMAZING, allow me to say it again...AMAZING!

Firefox Review

 

Firefox started the race, now let us see if they can keep up.  The first open source browser, the first with add-ons, and the one time fastest browser has reached a new level. with Firefox 4 the Mozilla project tries to compete with the new rising star, Google Chrome.

Design

B-e-a-utiful is the best way to describe the new Firefox look and feel. By using a minimalist design Mozilla leaves Y2k and gets into 2010.  The new software mimics Chrome in the user interface, meaning it looks good…really good.  The only problem I had with the design is the us of space in the address bar, by consolidating buttons and tabs Firefox would look a lot sleeker.

features

It’s a features bonanza! If you thought Chrome had a lot of features, then wait until you try out Firefox. Firefox practically invented the browser we know today; tabs, extensions, a useful address bar…yeah, they invented that. So let us see how they are doing with inventing new features today.

The latest addition to Firefox is the tab organizer; instead of sorting your tabs into windows, this tool allows you to sort them into “groups”.  Firefox also created an early iteration of the “smart address bar” that I detailed in the Google chrome review, except it is called the “awesome bar” (I still don’t see why it is so awesome).  As with Google chrome, Firefox is customizable in a nearly infinite amount of ways through the best and most developed add-on system for any browser.

usability

One of the biggest complaints I had with Chrome was the poor tab management; Firefox has solved this problem through several methods. First and foremost is the aforementioned tab organizer. Second is possibly the most simple thing that could be done; when you have too many tabs to view, an arrow button appears.  this simple fix is one that Chrome has yet to install, even in the just released Chrome 8 (yes, it was Chrome 6 just last month). something I noticed (and appreciate beyond belief) is the tight integration with Windows 7; when you hover over the icon on the task bar it previews all your open tabs, and when you right click, you get a “jump list”, THE WAY YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO!. The new Firefox has the same interface problem I found in Chrome, the new unified options pane is very confusing, but unlike Chrome, Firefox allows you to revert to the standard “file, edit, view, tools” setup seen in previous iterations. In fact, Firefox lets you put everything back the way it was in Firefox 3. I give Firefox an 8 for usability!

conclusion

So what have we learned today? we learned that Mozilla Firefox has come a long way as far as design.  they have even maintained ease of use, by letting users revert to what they were used to using before. overall I think that this new Firefox is the best yet, and a great option for anyone looking to get out of explorer.

Editors note

this is a review of beta software; by the time the final version comes out, this review could be completely irrelevant