Mac Firefox Download Guide
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Mac Firefox Download Guide
Are you ready for tabbed web surfing? What about a solid security system protecting every move you make online? How about a built in toolbar that allows you to search across every one of the major engines? What about a bevy of add-ons to make your Mac web-surfing experience even better? It’s all right at your fingertips with Firefox for Mac!
First of all, visit www.firefox.com to get your Mac web browsing software. The Firefox site should sense you’re on a Mac, but if it doesn’t, make sure you navigate to the Mac download. The download is about 17 MB and should take just a few minutes on a broadband connection. Here’s the icon you’re looking for to start the download:
Your next step is to accept the dreaded license agreement. If you’re a stickler for rules, there’s an option to print out the license agreement or save it to a file.
Next, you’ll need to drag the Firefox logo into your Applications folder. It’s pretty interactive; physically grab the big colorful Firefox icon on your screen, open your Applications folder, and drop it in. Here’s a screen shot of what you should be doing:
Next, open Firefix by clicking the icon in your Applications folder. You’ll be immediately faced with two options:
1. You can import settings such as bookmarks and preferences from another web browser (like Safari) or elect to start from scratch and not import anything.
2. Firefox will ask you if you want to set it as your default browser.
Alright, now you’re past the tough questions and ready to surf the internet! So what can you expect from your new web browser? What makes Firefox different? Well, here’s the rundown from Firefox that will appear on your screen. You can click the arrows next to each one to learn more:
Tabbed Browsing
Safari has this feature as well, but tabbed browsing is quick and easy in Firefox. You can click “Command-T” to open a new browser or hit “File” and “New Tab.” If you’ve never experienced the ease of tabbed browsing, it’s great because it eliminates clutter. You don’t need five web browser windows open on your screen; you can have one browser with five tabs. You’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.
Security Online
Firefox will actually tell you if you visit a site that it deems unsafe. In addition, you’ll be prompted before every download, even those you don’t know about. You can adjust these settings as well.
Built in Google Search Bar
This feature comes standard and it makes searching the web extremely easy. The default browser to search in is Google, but the search bar also has Yahoo, Amazon.com, Answers.com, Creative Commons, and eBay. Once you change to a different browser and search, that browser will remain as the default until the next time you open Firefox.
Personalize Your Experience
There are a multitude of add-ons you can install on your version of Firefox. They include adding the weather to your browser with Weatherbug or The Weather Channel, getting news, listening to music and even displaying the lyrics, live sports score updates (if you’re like me and can’t live without sports for more than five minutes at a time, this is a great feature), and changing the colors of your browser. Not too bad.