Computer currency

Citation

Jameson, R. (2009), "Computer currency", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 26 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcm.2009.07726gag.001

Computer currency

Article Type: Computer currency From: Journal of Consumer Marketing, Volume 26, Issue 7

Edited by Dennis A. PittaUniversity of Baltimore

Firefox 3.5: a lot is behind the scenes

It seems like just a few months ago we reviewed the new upgrade to Firefox, release 3.0. The browser offered numerous new features and provided a lesser target for hackers than Internet Explorer. We embraced the new upgrade with gratitude since it offered enhancements that users asked for. Now, just as we are getting used to its features and add-ons, Mozilla has released a new version. Curiously, the release number is not what we would expect, 3.1. Instead, it sports a quantum step forward, 3.5.

The new version speeds up JavaScript performance and adds a private browsing mode. It also adds numerous extensions and themes as well as a useful address bar that speeds web browsing. Mozilla anoints 3.5 as the fastest Firefox yet. Clearly in the browser race, Mozilla has improved the engine that runs Firefox to make sure users can keep up with the competition. Firefox 3.5 is more than twice as fast as Firefox 3.0, and ten times as fast as Firefox 2.0. Mozilla boasts that as a result, “e-mail, photo sites and social networks will feel snappier and more responsive.”

New features

While much of the upgrade’s improvements are hidden below the surface, like speedy JavaScript performance, some are more obvious. One item deals with the uncertainty of how to add a tab to view another webpage. Many of us used the Ctrl-N command to add a page. Now, Firefox 3.5 features a short tab sporting a + sign. Clicking on the plus, automatically opens a new page. The old one does not disappear, it slides to the left, allowing users to refer to it if desired. One sees a blank page. One can then click on a bookmark or type in a URL and access the desired new webpage.

Mozilla.com states that the new release includes four major new features. They include the following:

1. 1.

   Private Browsing Mode. This allows users to browse the internet without Firefox retaining any of data about which sites and pages you have visited. While this is helpful while searching for a spouse’s birthday present on the family computer, it has other value. Employees may find this valuable, not for hiding unauthorized internet visits but to protect browsing history from unauthorized eyes. There was a time when stock brokers used roll top desks, the kind with a rolling cover which could be closed to hide the contents of the desktop and locked to keep them from prying eyes. Private browsing mode produces a blank browsing history that the night cleaning crew will not see. Notably, Firefox’s private browsing prevents a user from simultaneous browsing privately and normally. To invoke private browsing, one presses Ctrl+Shift+P simultaneously. However, invoking private browsing during a normal session will close all other open windows.

2. 2.

   Clear Recent History. This new feature allows users to clear all traces of data in the browser’s history from the previous hour, two hours, four hours, or everything from that day. Mozilla notes that Firefox remembers a user’s history. The history is the list that includes websites a user previously visited or the username and password for a favorite website. There are times when a user might wish to keep that information from other users of the computer. In some workplaces, employees have common access to a group of computers. In that case, one user might prefer that others not to be able to see what websites have been visited or what files have been downloaded. Accordingly, Firefox allows users to clear all or part of their history automatically or upon request.

3. 3.

   Forget About This Site. This one allows users to delete all traces of a specific website from the browser’s history. Forensically, this feature may or may not be reversed. However, cases of after hours unauthorized computer use are common. To use this feature, a user would access the History menu and Show All History. One can then type the name of the website that should be forgotten in a Search History field. A user will then see a list of websites previously visited and can “Forget About This Site.”

4. 4.

   Recall Recently Closed Windows. This feature allows users to re-open a window that may have been accidentally closed. We were impressed by this user-friendly aid. Many of us have inadvertently exited a webpage and found it difficult to retype a complicated URL to return. The upgrade saves us. One can use an Undo feature to retrieve a webpage that was just closed. During this review we were forced to use it, much to our relief. This feature builds on one Firefox already had. It allowed users to open recently closed tabs. The new release can also reopen recently closed windows. That may not mean much but if a user loses an entire browser window, its tabs can be retrieved.

5. 5.

   Location Awareness. This one is impressive. Firefox 3.5 now exploits GPS and locational data that is available on the web. Users can share their location with chosen websites. Firefox’s location service can inform websites about a user’s location and enables those websites to provide appropriate information. This is valuable for finding information about local sites and saves users the trouble of repeated inputting of their current address. A user can maintain a level of privacy by not allowing location sharing for each specific site. Thus, one can be “off the grid” for most sites but located for selected websites. Firefox will remember which sites have location sharing allowed and which do not.

Users have reported that Firefox 3.5’s speed, customizability, and support for new standards makes it the best web browser. That is saying something since the current group of browsers includes some excellent choices. Firefox 3.5 balances speed, convenience and customizability. Its new private mode, improved speed, and efficient memory use, make it number one.

Recommendation

Firefox 3.0 is a useful web browser that may make your life a bit easier. However, if you already use 3.0, do not even question the need to upgrade. Just download the upgrade now. For those of us who value speed, the change will be valuable.

Available from: www.mozilla.com

Acknowledgements

The author would like to give thanks to Haital Patel and Erin Weinreich for their invaluable help in testing the program.

Robert JamesonPractice Management LLC, Columbia, Maryland, USA