To Firefox or not to Firefox ...

Last week I ran into a problem at work. I have a copy of the Firefox web browser on a flash drive and it began crashing the computer I use at work every time I try to play a video off of YouTube. Working as a morning radio show producer when I use YouTube it is usually because I am trying to play some music as part of my show. I have crash my computer several time right as my show is coming back from break and because my computer is restarting I have dead air instead of the music that I intended. To solve this problem I have began a test.

First I checked to make sure that my copy of Firefox on the flash drive was still viable by accessing the program on other computers. The browser works fine and plays YouTube on all computers except the one that I need to produce my show. I decide that I need to use a different browser for my show to get around the malfunction. I refuse to use Internet Explorer because of the multitude of issues and generally slow functionality that I experience when I use the Microsoft product. I do a web search and find a site that has a portable version of Google Chrome for download. I have used Chrome off and on for a few years and like the stream lined look and feel. I start to use Chrome during my show and enjoy the ease of use and the change of pace from Firefox. I remember that Chrome like Firefox offers add-on programs that allow for different functionality. As I add programs I decide that I may need to make the change permanent across all the computers I use at home and at work.

Firefox has a Twitter add-on called Echofon that I really enjoy. It allows for easy access to tweets and notifies me of unread tweets. With Chrome I found a program named Chromebird that opens a rather large window to reveal the twitter feed. The downside is that window covers almost half the screen and the window close when you click anywhere outside of the Twitter feed. The Firefox program opens a small but rather readable window in the lower right hand corner that can stay open while I continue to browse. Other programs that create short URL’s and gives me access to Gmail, calendar, and other Google services.

The biggest difference between Firefox and Chrome that I can detect is that Firefox takes longer to load. I select the Firefox link and it will take almost 90 seconds for the program to open and allow for use. Chrome on the other hand opens fast and is functional in a matter of seconds. As for now I will use Chrome during my show and use Firefox on the other computers I use. I would make the switch completely to Chrome if the Mozilla Company doesn’t fix the Firefox start up issue in future updates.