If you’re like most people thinking of switching from IE to Firefox, you’ve got lots of questions. Here are the answers to the 10 most frequently asked questions. And if you’ve still got more, click here to visit the Firefox “frequently asked questions” web page.

1. How do I import my favorites?

Importing favorites is very simple with Firefox. The first time Firefox launches, it will ask where you want to import data from. Select "Microsoft Internet Explorer". Thats it! All your favorites are now included with your new Firefox bookmarks. You can manage them through the Bookmarks Manager located in the Bookmarks menu.

2. Can I allow particular sites to have Popups?

If you notice that clicking a link does nothing, look down to the bottom left of your browser. If you see the little icon (shown here at the right), it means Firefox blocked a popup. You can double click this button to allow the particular website to have popups.

Note: sometimes if a link won't open on first try (because of popups), click it again. Firefox will sometimes detect that you wish to open up the popup.

3. Do all websites work with Firefox?

Although most users will never find blocking issues when visiting websites with Firefox, there are some websites that still unfortunately don't work or forcibly block Firefox from accessing them. Our first recommendation would be to look at the site you're visiting, and see if its worth it. Many sites that block Firefox do so because they have technology that specifically exploit internet explorer with spyware and other such utilities. If its a specialized website that you need access to, you'll have to use Internet Explorer or another browser that is compatible with your computing platform. For easy of browsing, you can install an extension that adds 'Open with Internet Explorer' to the context menu within Firefox.

Note: Sometimes Firefox can mask itself as Internet Explorer with the "User Agent" Extension.

4. How do I send E-mail with Firefox?

Unlike Mozilla or Netscape, Firefox allows you to choose your default E-mail client to send mail. Whenever you click a link with the mailto: function, it will open up your default E-mail client.

Firefox does not include an E-mail client. If you're looking for a good E-mail client, we suggest Mozilla Thunderbird

5. How do I turn off the 'Alert' dialogs?

Some people find that the Security Alert warnings can be quite annoying. Firefox does have the ability to turn these off, however they are located in the configuration. Type about:config in the URL field. You'll see a list of preferences. Scroll down to security.warn and change the following:

• security.warn_entering_secure --> false
• security.warn_entering_secure.show_once --> false
• security.warn_entering_weak --> false
• security.warn_entering_weak.show_once --> false
• security.warn_entering_leaving_secure --> false
• security.warn_entering_leaving_secure.show_once --> false
• security.warn_entering_submit_insecure --> false
• security.warn_entering_submit_insecure.show_once --> false
• security.warn_entering_viewing_mixed --> false
• security.warn_entering_viewing_mixed.show_once --> false

Note: by disabling these warnings, you should be adviced that there is still a possibility that your information could be intercepted by a third party. Just remember that in the back of your head when submitting information online.

6. Where are all my bookmarks and settings stored?

The profile folder is where Firefox saves all your settings and refers to a location on your hard drive.

On Windows XP/2000, the path is usually %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\default.xxx\, where xxx is a random string of 3 characters. Just browse to C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ and the rest should be obvious.

On Windows 95/98/Me, the path is usually C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\default.xxx\

On Linux, the path is usually ~/.mozilla/firefox/default.xxx/.

On MacOS X, the path is usually ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/default.xxx/.

Note: Firefox is capable of handling more than one user and thus, more than one profile. The path examples above refers to the default profile that is automatically created when you start Firefox for the first time. You can manage any number of profiles by using the Profile Manager.

%AppData% is a shorthand for the Application Data path on Windows 2000/XP. To use it, click Start > Run..., enter %AppData% and press Enter. You will be taken to the "real" folder, which is normally C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Application Data.

7. What are the keyboard shortcuts?

David Tenser has compiled an excellent reference and comparison of keyboard shortcuts for Firefox, Internet Explorer and Opera. See the Keyboard Shortcuts table on his site for a list of the most common keyboard shortcuts.

8. Is Firefox available in my language?

Possibly. Since Firefox is an open-source project, contributors are constantly translating Firefox into other languages. You can check if Firefox is available in your language on the official release page. If you want to translate Firefox into your language, be sure to check out these instructions. Make sure you check the list of active contributors first so you don't end up doing duplicate work.

9. What platforms is Firefox available on?

Firefox is available for Windows, Macintosh OSX, and Linux.

General PC Requirements

• Pentium 233 MHz (Recommended: Pentium 500MHz or greater)
• 64 MB RAM (Recommended: 128 MB RAM or greater)
• 52 MB hard drive space

Windows Requirements: 98/98SE/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP (Recommended)

Linux Requirements:

• Linux kernel - 2.2.14 with the following libraries or packages minimums:
  • glibc 2.3.2
  • gtk+2
  • XFree86-3.3.6
• Firefox has been tested on Red Hat Linux 8.0 and later

Macintosh Requirements:

• PowerPC 604e 266 MHz (Recommended: PowerPC G4 667MHz or greater)
• G3, G4, 64 MB RAM (Recommended: 256 MB RAM or greater)
• 72 MB hard drive space
• OS X 10.1.x or 10.2.x and later

Other Unix Platforms:

• Sun Solaris for SPARC Systems(From source, take a look at the download page
• FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD

10. How do I install plugins?

Firefox has support for all of todays general plugins such as Macromedia Shockwave, Flash, Sun's Java JRE, and Adobe Acrobat Reader. For better details on how to install these plugins, visit the Mozilla Plugin Documentation Site at plugindoc.mozdev.org.