Mozilla Firefox Vs Microsoft Internet Explorer
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`https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/mozilla-firefox-vs-microsoft-internet-explorer
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`Mozilla Firefox Vs Microsoft Internet Explorer
`Computer / Software
`Published October 2005
`PC Notes
`By Martin Walker
`Frustrated by Internet Explorer, fed up with its security scares, or looking for a more streamlined and safer
`browsing experience? Why not try the freeware Firefox browser from Mozilla. (Notice the multiple tabbed
`windows, and the dedicated SOS Search function built into the menu bar).
`More news of what's cooking in the world of Windows — but rst, why it
`might be time to ditch
` in favour of Mozilla's
`...
`Microsoft's
` application has generated more than its fair share of security
`scares over the years and is still endlessly targeted by hackers trying to access and corrupt our
`PCs. Given that it's now almost mandatory for PC musicians to have Internet access for
`application registration and downloading updates, this month I was nally tempted by all the
`good publicity (and the small 4.6MB download size) to try the alternative, freeware Mozilla
` Internet browser. If, like many musicians, you're still using
`, on the
`grounds that it's bundled with Windows and you don't see any point in downloading a
`replacement for what you already have, read on...
` (www.mozilla.org/products/
`refox) runs under Windows 98 through to Windows XP (as
`well as on Mac OS X and several versions of Linux), and compared with Microsoft's
` (
`) I nd it faster, safer, and easier to use. In fact, I wish I'd swapped over a long time ago,
`since it's revolutionised my web browsing experience in various ways.
`The most obvious is Firefox's tabbed browsing: as well as the usual 'Open Link In New Window'
`option, you can instead 'Open Link In New Tab', which lets you open as many tabbed pages as
`you like within one
` window. This is not only more convenient in many cases, but also
`uses less system resources than opening the same number of individual windows. It's great for
`

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`Mozilla Firefox Vs Microsoft Internet Explorer
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`https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/mozilla-firefox-vs-microsoft-internet-explorer
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`A glimpse of Microsoft's Vista operating system,
`complete with transparency eects and gel buttons.
`Vista should be released in about a year's time.
` forum browsing, because I can open new windows for the PC Music, Music Recording
`Technology and Studio Design & Acoustics conferences, and then open dozens of tabs in each
`window to keep each batch neatly together while I read through them. You can even specify a
`group of tabs as your home page.
`There's also a customisable Search bar built into the menu bar. Type a word or phrase into this
`and it links to your favourite search engine — quicker than launching the Google page rst, for
`instance. In addition, an intelligent Find function starts looking through the current web page
`as soon as you begin typing in the desired word, and so may well have found the rst instance
`before you even nish typing it.
`To make the transition from
` easier, you can import your existing bookmark collection during
` installation, while most of its default settings are sensible ones for the new user, so you
`won't have to spend ages conguring it. The Password Manager also lets you save login
`information for specic sites, to save ever having to type it in again.
`Microsoft News
`Beta testers have just got their hands on
`the latest version of Microsoft's next
`operating system, formerly known as
`Longhorn but recently renamed Vista.
`Given that the dictionary denition of
`this word is 'a distant view along an
`avenue', perhaps this is a veiled
`reference to the fact that Vista is still at
`least another year away from launch.
`Great stress has been placed on Vista
`being more secure and stable, and it's
`also hoped that it will herald the arrival
`of mainstream 64-bit computing.
`However, the most obvious changes are
`still the graphic ones, with glass-like
`display eects, illuminated 'gel' buttons and controls, and 3D windows, collectively
`termed 'Aero Glass'. Running these eects will require a desktop PC with a 3D graphics
`accelerator oering AGP 8x or PCI Express 8x support, but may also be possible on high-
`end laptops by 2006. Frankly, Longhorn may look good, but Microsoft have been talking
`about it for so long that I suspect many industry experts are beginning to stie a few
`yawns each time yet another announcement is made. Let's hope it's worth the wait.
`Intriguingly, Microsoft are also selling lots of copies of their new Windows XP Starter
`Edition software, a stripped-down version being oered in Thailand as an alternative to
`Linux at about a sixth of the price of Windows XP Home. Details aren't clear on just what
`has been removed, but if it's ever available worldwide it might be of interest to musicians
`who simply aren't interested in bells and whistles.
`Increased Security
`Convenience and elegance are certainly important in a browser, but for many people the
`biggest attraction of
` is its increased security over
`. I suspect that this is partly because
`hackers currently concentrate on exploiting weaknesses with
`, because it's the
`most popular browser, but many people also nd setting up the most suitable
` security and
`privacy settings very confusing.
`In the case of
`, most of the default settings are already the most sensible choices — pop-
`up ads are automatically blocked, unless you enable them for specic web sites; you can
`specify Cookie behaviour far more easily; and there's even an Image Manager so that you can
`decide which web sites can download images as part of their pages — handy for speeding
`things up if you have a slow connection.
`Even better for most people,
` doesn't support the Windows-only ActiveX controls, that
`are automatically downloaded and executed by
` when you open some web
`pages. ActiveX controls are similar to Java applets, but have full access to the Windows
`operating system, which makes them potentially far more dangerous. While a few web sites do
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`Mozilla Firefox Vs Microsoft Internet Explorer
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`IE
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`MIDI Fish
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`MIDI Fish
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`MIDI Fish
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`https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/mozilla-firefox-vs-microsoft-internet-explorer
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`use ActiveX to embed special functions such as drop-down text boxes, command buttons and
`audio and video players in their pages, malicious web sites can also use them to transfer
`trojans and viruses to your PC. It's even theoretically possible for such controls to power down
`your PC, or upload all your documents to the Internet, in the absence of a decent Firewall utility
`— and you may simply not know what's happening behind the scenes until it's too late.
`Personally, I've only so far come across one web page that absolutely required ActiveX, and that
`was Microsoft's own web page devoted to the subject, but if you ever come across any others,
` will still be ready and waiting as an alternative browser.
`Because
` is an Open Source application, there are also thousands of coders looking for
`security aws and xing them quickly. There's apparently even a $500 bounty oered to
`anyone who successfully spots a bug, which augurs well for any future security issues.
`MIDI Fish
`There's nothing shy about this handy utility apart from its name. MIDI Fish can perform advanced
`controller and key translations on your MIDI data, could be indispensable to anyone using multiple
`drum synths, and is entirely free.
`This month,
` reader Shawn Hargreaves passed on details of his freeware
`utility, which oers several very useful features that I've not seen before. Shawn wrote it
`primarily for his own use under Windows ME, but I've tested it under Windows XP and it
`works ne. You can use it to change any one MIDI controller type into another, perhaps
`to let your modulation wheel generate aftertouch or alter your lter cuto frequency,
`with the added ability to scale or invert the input and output values using sliders, so that
`you could, for example, turn an incoming velocity range of 0-100 into an output range of
`0-127, or play your keyboard 'upside down'. A really handy feature is the pair of
`bargraphs showing input and output values in real time, which is a great help for seeing
`exactly how your data is being changed during setup.
` also provides key-mapping functions that anyone with a drum synth will
`appreciate. Each individual note you play can be persuaded to output any other note
`value, so you could create a set of drum maps that allows you to always play the same
`type of sound (kick, snare, hi-hat and so on) from the same set of keys on your keyboard.
`Those with two keyboards connected to
` input ports one and two can set this up
`very easily: press a note on the rst keyboard, then press the desired output-translation
`note on the second keyboard.
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`Mozilla Firefox Vs Microsoft Internet Explorer
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`It's also possible to use the key-mapping functions to route specic notes to up to four
`dierent MIDI output ports, so you could connect up to four dierent drum synths and
`play dierent sounds from each of them, depending on which keys you hit, or on the
`velocity of your hit (with optional crossfading between the sounds), or on the current
`value of any controller. This is a versatile utility for the MIDI performer, with features that
`would be very dicult to duplicate elsewhere, and is very cleverly written. You can
`download
` from www.talula.demon.co.uk/midish/index.html.
`Customising
` provides the usual customisable toolbars, plus loads of downloadable Skins and Themes
`for changing its graphic appearance. In addition, anyone who misses certain features from
`can download lots of Extensions (tiny plug-ins, many of which are 100KB or smaller), each of
`which adds extra functions. I've already installed the 58KB
`, which provides yet more
`security by letting you specify which web sites are allowed to execute Javascript (a subscript of
`the Java programming language). While this generally results in far fewer problems than ActiveX
`controls and is more widely used (often to launch links to appear in pop-up windows, to cause
`text or graphics to change when you move the mouse over them, or to provide drop-down
`menus), I prefer to be cautious. With
` installed, a bar appears across the top when you
`load a non-authorised page, if it required Javascript, and lets you know just how many scripts
`were blocked. I've been amazed at how many some sites use (my record so far is 71 on one
`page!), but you can allow or temporarily allow any site to run them quite easily, if you need to,
`with a couple of mouse clicks. If you try
` yourself, though, you'll probably want to
`disable its rather annoying Audio Feedback feature.
`I've also added a very relevant option to the customisable search bar.
` Forum user
`Supermasita has created a
` search plug-in that performs a quick search for topics on the
` web site. You can install this from here.
` already includes a good Download Manager that oversees the downloading of multiple
`les, and it has a handy pause function, if you want to temporarily suspend downloading to
`speed up the loading of web pages. However, I also downloaded the 153KB
` extension
`that allows
` to use most of the external (third-party) download managers, so I could use
`the excellent
` (www.leechget.net), which is free for private use and lets you queue up
`to eight simultaneous downloads and accelerate them by splitting each le into several
`segments and downloading them simultaneously on dierent 'channels'.
`You can even download an extension that lets you 'View Page In
` ' instead, if
`you come across any
`-only pages. However, so far I've only ever had to do this once. If you do
`run into any compatibility problems, Mozilla's web site has an excellent knowledge base, but far
`more important to me is the fact that
` has provided a faster and more elegant browsing
`experience and hasn't yet crashed on me once, which is more than I can say for
`! At least 23
`million people have already downloaded
`, and I recommend it to any musician who
`wants more streamlined and safer Internet browsing.
`Ironically, on the very day I was due to send this column to
`, news also arrived that the rst
`beta version of Microsoft's new
` had been made available to developers. It
`will run on Windows XP SP2 and (surprise, surprise!), the most obvious features are better
`security, a search box on the menu bar and tabbed browsing. Does that sound familiar? I bet it
`won't be a 4.6MB download though!
`