Browsers

chris snell

Administrator
Callsign: NW5W
Staff member
I don't know how many of you keep up with tech news but this was an interesting and exciting bit of news from today:


https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2017/09/26/firefox-quantum-beta-developer-edition/


Bottom line is that if you haven't run Firefox in a few years, you should give it another shot, but be sure you're using the beta version that contains the new Project Quantum rendering engine. You can download it here:


https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/channel/desktop/#beta


It's pretty awesome. Feels very, very fast on my laptop compared to Chrome.
 

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
On Firefox always. I use Chrome for work since everything is connected to student accounts and such. I'll try the new version.
 

chris snell

Administrator
Callsign: NW5W
Staff member
Also, you won't need it for NAS-ROW but for other sites, you'll want a good ad blocker. I use uBlock Origin because it's one of the few good blockers run in a completely non-commercial fashion by a principled author who doesn't take money from the advertising companies. He won't even accept donations from users.


You can download it here: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock



The real reason I switched to Firefox from Chrome is that uBlock Origin on FF is able to block a new breed of really, really evil ads from a company called Instart Logic. Instart Logic has figured out how to subvert most of the blockers (including uBlock on Chrome) but the new tech in Firefox has allowed the uBlock author to block this new garbage.
 

FlyersFan76

Well-known member
I never got used to Chrome. The layout just seemed odd to me. Probably didn't give it a long enough shot but I have been using FF since what feels like the beginning, if not single digit versions.

Chrome, IE, Edge I use when necessary. Stupid Bank, Flash and Oracle demands require me to jump around.


Will definitely give the beta a try. Hopefully it will speed up my computer. Man is this thing slow.
 

rovercolorado

Well-known member
I use Firefox everyday for work and it's not as slow as it used to be. I'm using the latest released version (55.0.3 today) and really only have a few issues with Java every once and a while. I have used AdBlock Plus for years along with Ghostery and it keeps most of the ads and tracking to a minimum. I'll check out uBlock Origin for sure.
 

Red90

Well-known member
The nice thing about Chrome is it syncs all settings, add ons and bookmarks with your Google account, so every device you use has everything already there and up to date.
 

chris snell

Administrator
Callsign: NW5W
Staff member
I use Firefox everyday for work and it's not as slow as it used to be. I'm using the latest released version (55.0.3 today) and really only have a few issues with Java every once and a while. I have used AdBlock Plus for years along with Ghostery and it keeps most of the ads and tracking to a minimum. I'll check out uBlock Origin for sure.

Give the new beta a shot. The rendering engine has been entirely rebuilt. They built it in Rust and supposedly Rust is a much safer language that C/C++ so I'm hoping that we see fewer vulnerabilities now.

Adblock Plus is considered shady now: https://www.yahoo.com/news/adblock-plus-scourge-websites-seeks-industry-deal-054819346.html
 

FlyersFan76

Well-known member
The nice thing about Chrome is it syncs all settings, add ons and bookmarks with your Google account, so every device you use has everything already there and up to date.

FF can do that also I believe. Addon maybe.

Use FF on my Android Phone now.
 
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