The Mozilla Project

Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was an idea: "Let's connect computers together so they can share data." Shortly thereafter the first network was born.

By 1992, the number of hosts on the Internet had grown, topping one million. Just a year before this, the first web server was created. In 1993 Mosaic was created, and a year later Mosaic Communications, which would later become Netscape Communications, was born.

As the Internet became more popular, the Web (and email) became the mainstay of Internet usage. By 1995, Microsoft entered the scene with Internet Explorer, given away free with the Windows 95 Plus! pack add-on. By 1998, Netscape was losing market share, and AOL (who now owned Netscape) made what was considered by many to be a radical move: It decided to release the source code for Netscape as open source.

By 2000, Mozilla was hard at work creating and enhancing the Mozilla Suite, whose browser would eventually become Firefox. Mozilla Suite's email client was also split off to become Thunderbird.

Today, the Mozilla Organization and mozilla.org are a major force in the Internet browser and email fields. Until recently, though, Microsoft (as large companies tend to do) had ignored Mozilla, feeling that its lion's share of the browser market was safe. Today, well over 50,000,000 Internet users have taken up Firefox, making it the most viable threat to Microsoft's domination to date.

The Mozilla Suite

The Mozilla project started with Mozilla Suite, a group of programs that includes a web browser, an email and newsgroup client, an IRC chat client, and an HTML editor. The most recent release of Mozilla Suite was version 1.7.8, which was released in May 2005.

Along the way, Mozilla Suite has spawned both Firefox (the browser) and Thunderbird (the email client). Many users have found that they don't need the full suite and only want one part, or the other.

Why Firefox Now?

Why now? Why is Firefox becoming a serious contender to Microsoft's Internet Explorer?

When I first was introduced to Firefox, my thought was, "Great, another warmed-over copy of Netscape." I was happy with my browser and thought it was great. Then, slowly, things happened. Friends started to ask me, "Have you tried Firefox yet?" This was usually followed up with a comment that, once I tried it, I'd never be happy with that other browser again. I'll admit it took a lot of pushing. But when two people who never liked Netscape either suggested I try it, I knew something special was happening.

I have to be fair to everyone. Firefox is not 100% perfect. (Neither is Internet Explorer, for that matter.) It has bugs, quirks, and strange behaviors that take a bit of getting used to. But once you are started with Firefox, there is no turning back.

Will Firefox ever dominate the browser market? Truthfully, Firefox probably will not end up with 100% of the market. Internet Explorer's too entrenched, too established, and too well backed financially to fall to the wayside. But, Firefox's market share is growing at a rate that is impressive.

Today, it is estimated that there have been about 100 million downloads of Firefox. That means Firefox has more than 10% of the worldwide browser market share. As more and more people try (and accept) Firefox, the growth potential is enormous. I would not be surprised to see Firefox's share double within the next year or two. Only time will tell....

Thunderbird

Thunderbird, a very user-friendly email client program, is also gaining market share. Even a simple look shows that Thunderbird is potentially better than Outlook Express, and while there seems to be little innovation with Outlook Express, Thunderbird continues to get better everyday.

Thunderbird has not achieved the market penetration that Firefox has, which is only reasonable because it has not had the publicity Firefox has—yet. But usage of Thunderbird will grow as users of Firefox search for other great Mozilla products.

The Mozilla Open Source Community

Open Source is an idea where the source code for computer programs should be made freely available to users. Being freely available (the operative word being free) means products that are open source are not sold; instead they are given away.

We do, however, have to pay a price. Perhaps if we are technically competent, we might contribute to the various projects such as Firefox and Thunderbird. Or we might make a monetary contribution or help with fundraising, evangelizing, marketing, or designing icons. The Mozilla Organization does have employees who must be paid, and that funding has to come from somewhere. Think of this as a public broadcasting pledge drive: Please contribute whatever you can. It is important.

The Mozilla community is worldwide. Developers from virtually every country work on these projects. The common language is English, although some countries have organized groups with their own languages. If you are bilingual, consider working on a translation of one of the Mozilla products. Many locale-specific versions already exist, but there is always room for more.

Who Should Read This Book?

Who should read this book? Why, you should! This book is intended to help both the beginner and the more experienced Firefox and Thunderbird user. As such, you can start at the beginning of the book and work to the end, or if you are more experienced, you can jump directly into one of the later sections.

What Is in This Book?

I have arranged this book into parts and chapters. Both parts and chapters run from basic techniques to advanced topics, such as creating extensions and building Firefox or Thunderbird.

Part I, "Making Firefox Yours," is your introduction to Firefox. This part covers user- oriented topics, ranging from basic techniques, to advanced changes in Firefox's look and feel.

Chapter 1, "Hitting the Ground Running with Firefox," is an introduction to Firefox, mostly for those of us who have never used Mozilla, Firefox, or Thunderbird. This chapter takes you through downloading and installing Firefox, migrating Internet Explorer settings, and basic Firefox configuration.

Chapter 2, "The Power of Tabs and Bookmarks," tells all about tabbed browsing and bookmarks. It covers how to open tabs; close tabs; and have multiple home pages, one in each tab.

Chapter 3, "Finding Information with Firefox," details Firefox's extensive and powerful search capabilities. The Firefox Location bar and the built-in Firefox search bar are described, showing how to search for sites by name or by text contained on the site. This chapter also discusses how to store a search for later reuse and how to use bookmarks.

Chapter 4, "Managing Profiles," gives you the story on setting up and modifying a user profile. Each user can have her own profile, allowing users to have different extensions, themes, and other features (such as bookmarks).

Chapter 5, "Taking Control of Your Browser," covers the important things websites can do that affect users without their control. Firefox takes control and contains built-in tools to block pop-up ads. In addition, several important extensions are available that enhance this capability.

Part II, "Extending and Modifying Firefox," brings on more advanced Firefox techniques. It covers extensions, themes, customization, and plug-ins, as well as a number of other useful topics.

Chapter 6, "Power Firefox Tricks and Techniques," shows you how to customize Firefox to suit your own desires. You can control how Firefox looks using skins, which are called themes in Firefox. This ch...