Of course IE is only available directly for a Windows based computer but I won't hold that against them. Same with Safari for OSX but I rank Safari a little higher in that I don't think it causes many Mac based issues and as well IE6 since is included with Windows XP and earlier is a security disaster and in my opinion unfixable. MS has accepted this, you should to. Oh, one problem if you don't pass MS' little test for your computer you will not be able to get this particular gem if it proves to be a gem, only time will tell. We've heard promises before!
Firefox tips and annoyances:
These are more in tune with the latest 2.0 than previous versions which used extensions to do the same. I found many familiarities gone when upgrading to 2.0 so to get some sanity back a few customizations were necessary.
------- about:config is a secret address you type in that allows for many other customizations. -------
- browser.tabs.tabMinWidth allows you to change the default tab width to any # you choose. The default of 100 is way to large for my liking. Setting it to 20 means I can have many tabs open without a scroll bar.
- browser.tabs.closeButtons modifies the close button location on tabs. I prefer the old style so altering the value to 3 brought back the old style of having the button on the right side.
- browser.backspace_action This value allows me to map the backspace key to do the same as the back button. As I am used to having this it is a necessity.
Opera tips and annoyances:
So far I have found any annoyances other than sometimes it doesn't seem as fast as earlier versions and still does not render every webpage properly, but with that said version 9.0.x still has many improvements that make it a worth-while browsing experience.
IE7 tips and annoyances:
I had intended to write a section extolling virtues of MS latest browser but unfortunately the more research and reading I do, plus a few hacks I've tried. I found that MS latest still has many inherant security issues that I still cannot recommend its use in its default form. That's not to say it isn't better than IE6, which as stated is on every Windows based computer. In reading several security related sites such as Secuna, it appears there are many flaws still in IE7 that allow nasty stuff to occur if one should happen across a web-site with questionable code in it. This version of IE is not as seperate from the OS as MS would have us think. Vista is evidently going to resolve this once and for all, however at Vista's current pricing scheme I can't see this as a viable fix for any IE problem.
One good solution that appears to work OK, although I haven't tested it as fully as I would like is to use a program called SandboxIE, its not exactly free but is considered nag-ware without losing its functionality.
NVU - Makers of this fine FREE WYSIWYG Web page editor ... Now in search of a universal binary version of something to replace NVU ...
FreeBSD - Makers of the best FREE OS in my opinion today