Bosw8er

!! warning !! no pics, just plain text !!

It’s faster, better, more tweakable and free.

Part 1 : Rant
MS Outlook 2000 and IE gave me lots of headaches. I spend loads of time installing patches, i got tired of “Do you want IE to sent an error message to …” ?, IMAP didn’t work properly, web publishing only worked after installing a patch for NT on a W2K-machine (there is no W2K patch btw), i gave up trying to share calendars because it wouldn’t work, networked schedules went lost after a crash because i installed MS Publisher on one of the PC’s and this caused the office installer file to go currupt, i had to switch profiles to send an email from each of the accounts i have, i had to install Spambayes to filter the loads of spam, I had to install the Google Toolbar to stop the popups, …

Part 2 : Here is Mozilla
The last 2 months i installed different versions of Firefox (Phoenix), Thunderbird and the entire Mozilla application suite on different PC’s. For each installation i only needed less than 15 minutes, this includes setting everything up just the way i like it : imap/pop accounts, store folders, pop-up killers, spam-control, signatures, import the addressbooks, bookmarks, … I didn’t have to wade through 21.536 articles to find an answer on a setting, the Mozilla installation is very intuitive, i still haven’t consulted the help file ! I now have the Mozilla-suit installed. Mainly because i only have to install one in stead of two programs. I also found out that the installation process of add-ons that i needed didn’t work properly in the lastest stand-alone versions of both browser and email-client.

Part 3 : The browser
First impressions are that the browser is definitely faster than IE, the native pop-up killer works flawlessly, tabbed-browsing is a great plus, the downloadmanager is a great extra tool and it starts (ftp-like) back at where you were when the connection got lost, plugins (flash, shockwave, windows media, winamp, …) work perfect, the password manager stores your passwords (duh), … And for you fancy fashion girlie type persons there are lots of Mozilla-styles to decorate your desktop and surfing experience.
Minor annoyments are : i found one Java-applications that didn’t work on Mozilla, but did the job perfectly on IE. When browsing vBulletin-fora you’ll notice the answer form is smaller, making a good overview of what you type more difficult. Another minor annoyment is the selection of text with the mouse, sometimes this goes perfectly, other times the selection-process seems to be leeding it’s own life and making you go back using SHIFT + arrows. Last minor annoyment is the absence of a copy-button for images. Sure you can copy images to your HD, but i find it easy just to use copy-paste for image-insertion in all kinda files.

Part 4 : email client
It does its job splendidly; quickly choose the account you want to send your message with, autofill fields to rapidly find the entry in your addressbook, rules and filters are easy to configure, all preferences are presented together for easy configuration, … But what i really love is the spam/junk-control; it does it’s job as good as Spambayes (99% correct detection). The lastest versions even have a nifty setting to mark the spam as read. If a message still gets through, you just have to click the “junk” button once … and it’s gone.

Part 5 : Other goodies included in tah suite
Composer : HTML – editor
Addressbook : hmm ?
IRC chat client : the only thing I didn’t try, noblesse oblige

Part 6 : Addons
Another great thing is the free RSS-reader. All feeds directly in a “feeds-directory” in your email-client … easy ! Here ya go : http://forumzilla.mozdev.org/index.html

Now the real big plus is the calendar addon.
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/
This calendar has everything i need. Recurring events, different colors for different users, easy to share, quickly change calendars, publish or email events within 2 seconds, …
Only weak point is that you loose the recurring events when migrating from another program, but that is inevitable because of the database-design of recurring events.
It gets even better when you have an Apache webserver at your disposal. Adding mod_dav to the configuration file makes your agenda available and adjustable on the web ! Small own made howto, available here

If you would like to explore some more extensions or themes, go here http://update.mozilla.org/

Part 7 : Conclusion
Install IE, Outlook (or Outlook express + calendar program), Feedreader, Spambayes, Google Toolbar, Chat client, Frontpage and a Download manager.
Or
Mozilla suite + 2 add on’s
I think got my point by now. It’s faster, better, more tweakable and free.

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"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."

Sidney

If (big IF) doesn't work out; easy switch back to IE?

I donwloaded the program awhile back, but chicken to use it.

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lazyman

Opteron 165 (2) @2.85 1.42 vcore AMD Stock HSF + Chill Vent II

Bosw8er

I carefully waited two months before i made an effort to type the comments above. I just had to be shure everything worked fine.
At this time the browser and calendar are used in the company's network.
Still no problems.
No reason to go back

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"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."

Da_BoKa

i'm using it for some several months now and i'm staisfied, i love the tabbed browsing, but 'm only using firefox, not the whole packet

no need to go back for me

kristos

Same here, and the pc has been running fine for a month now (almost a reccord here). No virusses, no spyware, no toolbars, no dialers, no browser parasites, ... and all I use is spysweaper and occasionally NAV or online scanners.

I'm sure it's not just due to the browser but it sure does help A LOT

There are a few (albeit very few, like 3 things so far) things that bother me a bit or that I liked better in IE but it doesn't compare to the joys and I could probably help myself with a few tweaks or instellingen but I'm to lazy to look for a sollution

silencer

how do you add your hotmail account with pop or imap in mozilla mail??

Sidney

plunge into the future and never feel old again......
Will do that next week.

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lazyman

Opteron 165 (2) @2.85 1.42 vcore AMD Stock HSF + Chill Vent II

Bosw8er

google/search?q=how+do+you+add+your+hotmail+account+with+ pop+or+imap+in+mozilla

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"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."

the maniak

Bosw8er how does mozilla compare to Opera?

jmke

well, one is a web-browser used on a PC, the other is a dramatic work set to music for singers and instrumentalists, they hardly can be compared I think?

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