Chris Pirillo » internet-explorer

How to Improve Internet Explorer

Chris — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:22:24 +0000

How to Improve Internet Explorer is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Back in the day, I used to love Internet Explorer. It was awesome… up until version 4 and above. A lot of people out there still use IE, and will continue to do so. You can install a new plugin that Google has released – and have your install of Internet Explorer kick serious browser butt once again.

Installing the new Google Chrome Frame plugin will allow you to still run Internet Explorer. But, instead of using the IE rendering engine (the way that HTML and objects are rendered) this plugin will supplant it with Google’s engine. This is so much faster, and will make web pages look even better.

You don’t need Google Chrome’s web browser installed. You can simply load this plugin, and everything will run faster and better from within Internet Explorer – including javascript! You can also start using open web technologies – like the HTML5 canvas tag – right away, even technologies that aren’t yet supported in Internet Explorer 6, 7, or 8!!

So if you have friends and family who insist on using Internet Explorer, go ahead and install this plugin for them. They’ll never know you did it, and they’ll be raving about how much faster and better their IE is running!

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How Do You Enlarge Web Site Fonts for Printing?

Chris — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:19:41 +0000

How Do You Enlarge Web Site Fonts for Printing? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Yes, I’m addicted to fonts. I’ve admitted it for years. I like looking at cool fonts, and enjoy finding new ones. Someone from the PCPitStop community recently asked how he can enlarge fonts on a web page, to make it easier for him to read. You don’t need a new printer, don’t worry! The answer lies within your browser itself!

My recommendation for a browser is Firefox, Safari or even Chrome. No matter what browser you’re using, you should be able to change the font sizes on the page before you read it or even print it. You can check the associated help file in order to learn how to change these settings.

In Firefox, you can change your font sizes by simply holding down your CTRL button, and clicking the + button/sign as many times as needed to increase your font size on the page.
In Internet Explorer, click on View, and then hover your mouse over Text Size. Choose large or larger in order to increase the font to something you can easily read.
If you use Opera, you can click on View and then hover the mouse over Zoom at the bottom of the View menu. From there, you can increase the percentage to make the text manageable for your needs.
With Safari, you will again go to the View menu. Once there, click on “Make Text Larger”, and adjust the percentages accordingly.

Hopefully this answers the question properly. Thankfully, all browsers have ways that you can easily change your settings on everything from font size to the colors that display… in order to maximize the browsing experience for everyone. Don’t let bad eyesight keep you from enjoying everything the web has to offer!

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What’s New in Windows 7: Window Management

Chris — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 11:33:30 +0000

What’s New in Windows 7: Window Management is a post from Chris Pirillo

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I’ve been playing with Windows 7 on my HP TouchSmart for a few days now. I have to admit – I really like it. One of the most interesting upgrades Microsoft has incorporated is the way windows are managed inside of the operating system.

I opened a Windows Explorer window, along with an IE8 window. Let’s say you want to have them running side-by-side. It’s kind of tricky to get them optimized to take up only part of the screen. Well, Microsoft has made it simple inside of Windows 7.

Simply grab one of the windows and drag it over to the left until a window skeleton appears, and drop it. Grab the other window and drag it to the right until the window skeleton appears again, and drop it. Now I can browse both. Windows 7 will automatically resize it. When I’m finished, I just drag-and-drop them away.

When I want to maximize, I could double-click the title bar, but that’s so old school. I just click and drag the window to the top of the screen and let go… or drag it away. If you want to go full-screen with an app, drag it to the top. If you want to minimize it to the task bar, just drag it there, as well.

No matter what kind of computer or screen you’re running, I think you’ll have an easier time managing your windows inside of Windows 7… especially if you’re using a smaller screen and trying to maximize your screen real estate.

If you know of any other cool shortcuts or upgrades inside of Windows 7, be sure to send me an email so I can check them out – and share them with the rest of the world!

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Who uses Internet Explorer, Anyway?

Chris — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 05:55:07 +0000

Who uses Internet Explorer, Anyway? is a post from Chris Pirillo

Apple’s MobileMe service doesn’t work with IE7. Here’s a screen shot of the error… and I asked, who uses IE, anyway? Let’s see what my friends over at Friendfeed had to say about this.

I know right lol. Sign of the time! – ChaCha Fance

Lots of people who work in companies all around the world. Oh, and 90% of the people who come to my websites? – Pete Gilbert

People who shouldn’t be. – Adam Turetzky

Dumb people… which make up 30% of the people who visit my site. – James Mowery via twhirl

:’( still using IE6 at work *nearly vomits* – klecu

That’s a sweeping statement.. Lots of people still use IE, including IE6, and it’s these people who make the job of us Web Developers very, very difficult.. – Winston Teo

I don’t use it by choice but have to have it on hand due to the nature of my work and how *nothing* ever ever ever looks or works right in IE and it seems everyone in the world excepting myself uses IE. If IE disappeared suddenly, I wouldn’t shed a tear. – Susanne "Renee" Bullo

@Winston I hear ya mate. It does make the job hair-pullingly difficult sometimes. But its hard to force users to jump the evil IE ship. Especially basic users that aren’t familiar with tech, and use whatever comes with their machine which is usually IE. – mokargas

Your grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, for many of you – Michael W. May via twhirl

Me, when FF slows down to a crawl? (not often, btw) Most other physical people I know? – Yuvi

Just imagine – what would the reaction be, if this message popped out on a Microsoft owned online place? – Yuvi

This banner is a thing of beauty. It has single handedly restored my faith in humanity. – Zach Landes

I’m glad they offered Firefox as an option too. – Gary Bacon II

I use Internet Explorer. Never had a problem with it. Never saw a need to switch. – Brandon LeBlanc via twhirl

excellent… – Leonard Libitz

I dont use explorer anymore i love Ff & Tbird – Muge Cerman

Just Firefox & Midori ( http://software.twotoasts.de/i… ) – Kemal Yaylali

I do Firefox is slow at im constantly having to change more and more pages to RENDER AS IE with the IETAB because they wont render right using FIREFOX as the rendering agent. =( and firefox lags if you have like a streaming music open in another tab and your trying to type in another. I am switching back I think. – Christopher

@Chris: Rendering slower than IE?? No way… – Kemal Yaylali

@Christopher: I always have a last.fm stream playing in one tab and have never run it to that problem. Been doing that for well over a year now. You positive the issue is firefox? – Scott Jarkoff

I hope people in this comment thread realize they are in a FireFox bubble. Ask anyone running a major website that reaches the masses (tech sites need not respond) and you see that IE is alive and well in a leading position. – Jim McCusker

Safari FTW!! – Connor P Jackson via twhirl

hehe. just kidding – Connor P Jackson via twhirl

Comes from the company who cannot get their act together with Safari. – Manoj Nagpal

When at school I have to use Internet Explorer 6. A lot of techie sites do not work right in Internet Explorer I find… it’s quite annoying to use IE6 in general though. Not even tabs. – Jake (aka Jawee)

It made me feel warm inside – Jamie

@Jim We all know, which is why everyone is still making sure their sites render properly in IE.. If only we could all take the cue from 37signals: http://37signals.blogs.com/pro… – Winston Teo

People who stick with the software bundled with their computers. Read≠FriendFeed – Drew via twhirl

Wow, how do you build a product and not fully support IE? That’s bold. – Ryan

Is this real? I find it hard to believe. – Mack D. Male

I still use IE7 on my work computer because I like using the browser that most people are using to get their view of the web – Rajiv Doshi

What’s your thoughts regarding this?

What Browser do you Use?

Chris — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 02:30:48 +0000

What Browser do you Use? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – With the newest version of both Firefox and IE due out soon, what browser are you using… and will you be changing? Are you happy with your browser, or do you feel it’s lacking? I asked a panel of friends for their thoughts on the latest and maybe not always greatest.

Four of my friends joined me for this discussion: Kat, SC_Thor, Wirelesspacket, and last but certainly not least… Datalore.

IE 7 is already being touted by some as the “best” browser ever created. Internet Explorer 7 provides improved navigation through tabbed browsing, web search right from the toolbar, advanced printing, easy discovery, reading and subscription to RSS feeds, and much more. Many say that the features and enhancements far outweigh any security problems that still exist. Research does show that the largest percentage of Internet users DO use IE for all their browsing needs. However, Firefox is catching up.

Firefox is now faster, more secure, and fully customizable to your online life. Firefox is definitely the most customizable browser, with over 1000 features you can easily add on, depending on your needs.

So which browser is right for you? Is it IE or Firefox? Or could it be the new Safari browser from Apple? Let’s also not forget about Opera, which is also gaining popularity quickly.

Each browser will take you around the Internet. Each does basically the same thing. But… each has its own unique style, functionality, and methods of helping you maximize your online time. The best advice we can give you is to try them all. Choose which best fits your needs and style.

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Open Source Web Browser

Chris — Mon, 21 May 2007 10:10:45 +0000

Open Source Web Browser is a post from Chris Pirillo

Scott Gilbertson kindly interviewed me for his article: More Firefox Bloat- Say It Ain’t So, Mozilla. I offered so much more than a single sentence to his original query, so I thought I’d pass along the discourse (and my own self-correction) here:

I’ve got Mozilla’s perspective as well as some outside open source people, but I was wondering if you wanted to offer a user perspective. Do you have any great Firefox anecdotes about RAM usage freezing the system or memory leaks or anything like that — end user oriented issues.

Heh. Firefox has always been plagued by memory leaks (at least, as far back as I can remember). Mind you, I’m nothing more than a casual Firefox user – having been a Maxthon advocate since it was called MyIE2.

Firefox didn’t take off because of its core stability – it took off because it was a decent enough alternative to a Web browser that had been abandoned (Internet Explorer). Didn’t hurt that it had “open source” karma, either. Some people love the simplistic nature of Firefox, but I’m one who believes that minimalism is a gigantic weakness.

The issue isn’t really about cluttering Firefox with more features that could slow it down and make it more unstable – the issue is in not fixing outstanding, documented, replicable bugs before adding more features to the core.

I was using Mozilla for years, and it never grabbed much attention. The Firefox project was timed perfectly – the world was pissed off at Microsoft, and looking for a valid alternative that they weren’t finding in Opera (at that time, shareware or ad-supported).

Personally? I don’t think Firefox is all that fast – nor has it ever been. ;) If Opera could get their UI act together, I’d take them as serious competition on the desktop. Then again, IE and Firefox are hardly shining examples of amazing interfaces…

“Heh. Firefox has always been plagued by memory leaks (at least, as far back as I can remember).”
Are there any specific issues you can think of?

Actually, let me kindly retract that assertion?

http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/ben/archives/009749.html

Which isn’t to say that Firefox is not without its share of issues. I haven’t really seen it lock up on me any more than I’ve had Internet Explorer lock up on me.

I can tell you one thing: Firefox’s browser security implementation is far and away better than Internet Explorer’s. FAR and away. Whereas IE requires you to refresh the entire page just to download a file that you may have clicked on, Firefox pops up a dialog with a countdown timer.

Moreover, the Firefox model for plugins / addons is astoundingly cleaner than Internet Explorer’s.

So, why not use Firefox? Eh, I really like the way Maxthon has been for me all these years. Maybe one day I’ll switch. But not now. I don’t feel the need. Granted, I’d just as soon use Lynx than Internet Explorer 7 or below!!!

What are your views on the open source model? Does the fact that Firefox is buggy/leaks memory have anything to do with it being open source?

Personally, I love open source seven ways from Sunday. I use Miranda IM, which is an Open Source instant messaging client. I really only like using open source software for my Web operations.

The issue I generally have with open source software is the lack of a cohesive UI. Firefox plugins are all over the map. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I believe that Apple’s design ethic has made the world understand that you could have elegance alongside functionality.

Or why do you think the developers haven’t fixed the memory leaks and other issues you mentioned?

How many millions of people use Firefox? Can you imagine if each one of them wanted to see something different in their core browser? :) I think optimizations are continually happening, although I’d argue that the general UI in Firefox 2.0 was a step backwards (and I noticed that several Firefox enthusiasts agreed with me).

Are they just not listening or are there other reasons?

You can only pound so many nails at one time. To compete further, I do believe that Firefox must contain more “awesome” functionality out of the box. Otherwise, you’re having to run a browser with a zillion plugins – and none of them aware that other plugins might be running. You have a more stable program if said items are actually integrated into the base.

IE6 had a lot of problems with standards and other rendering issues, but there weren’t many complaints about memory leaks or fairly basic problems for day to day use (excepting security issues), why do you think Firefox was able to gain so much market share even when the browser really wasn’t even stable?

IE6 really sucked THAT much. People were ready for a change – and that was enough of a tipping point to steal mindshare. Microsoft screwed the pooch, but they’re not going to give up the ghost again.

It’s not just about standards compliance – it’s about raw speed and core functionality coupled with compatibility.

NOTE: I may need to clarify my earlier points on the speed of Firefox. I think, as far as page rendering is concerned, Firefox beats IE – hands down. Launch time for Firefox, however, has always been horrible. Moreover, I like Firefox on OS X more than I like it on Windows.

Firefox vs Internet Explorer vs Opera

Chris — Wed, 16 May 2007 23:45:36 +0000

Firefox vs Internet Explorer vs Opera is a post from Chris Pirillo

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Opera — which one does Chris use? None of the above! instead of one of the three major browsers, Chris uses Maxthon, which he finds to be superior, even though it uses Internet Explorer’s rendering engine.

Firefox is the flagship browser of the open source community:

The award-winning Mozilla Firefox Web browser is enjoyed by tens of millions of people worldwide, and has re-ignited innovation and competition on the Web.

Internet Explorer is no slouch:

Internet Explorer 7 provides improved navigation through tabbed browsing, web search right from the toolbar, advanced printing, easy discovery, reading and subscription to RSS feeds, and much more.

Opera may not have market share, but it provides strong competition:

Opera gives you the tools to experience the web your way. From fraud protection and tight security to quick website access and numerous customizations, Opera provides you with the Web the way it was meant to be viewed.

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How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Using GoToAssist is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party.

Network Tools for Windows

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

You need these network tools, no matter which operating systems and networks you have to support. SolarWinds ipMonitor: Affordable Network Monitoring for SMBs. Get turnkey network, server and application availability monitoring with SolarWinds ipMonitor v9.0. This easy-to-use, reliable solution for SMBs delivers out-of-the-box availability monitoring so you always know exactly what's up with Active Directory, DNS, Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, and SMTP. Download your free trial today. Or, try their totally free tools! And, through 2/29, save 20% when you purchase ipMonitor 9.0.

Get Your Own Web Site

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

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VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

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