No idea why FF was being slower than IE for you, it’s very much the opposite on my end, although I’m on speedy cable. There’s a huge difference for me.

You can change how your imported bookmarks from IE display… go to Bookmarks, Manage Bookmarks, and from there you have a number of options at your disposal. Importing stored URLs across platforms is never a one-shot deal that preserves your original order.

Re: different font appearance… FF and IE both have means of increasing/decreasing font size. With either browser window open, hold down CTRL and use your scroll wheel up/down to increase/decrease the text size you see. Perhaps there’s a discrepancy between how your IE was displaying that versus the FF default.

I downloaded FF and tried it out a bit, but it’s moving slower than IE, so I went back to IE for the moment. It takes longer for a page, say my board’s page that has a photo on it, to load. Also, when it imported my Favorites it put everything in alphabetical order! Argh! The way I have it set up in IE is there are all my yellow folders of topics in alphabetical order and then all links to articles, pictures, or forums that will go to the recycle bin (unless they make it to “folder status.” There in order of the date I saved them, so now they’re all over the place, and it’s rocked my world. I need to clean that up in IE.

Too, FF made my font look different on my board. Hmm. Why is it slower than IE? I’ll have to try it out some more.

I spoke too soon–Phil changed his blog.

The download shouldn’t take you long, even on dial-up. Note that it’s only 5 Megs, compared to IE’s bloated 25 Mb+ core install (and that’s before the updates, lol).

For non-POP3 e-mail, I’ve been hooked on Gmail since it came out (mainly due to the simple interface and insane amount of storage they offer). Yahoo mail is fine too — and, just so you know, there’s a FF extension specifically for Yahoo mail, so your browser will notify you of new messages in real time. I have one for Gmail and it’s marvelously reliable and unobtrusive. I get an indicator showing me there’s mail, I click on it, and I’m loaded directly into my Gmail inbox in a new tab… with one mouse-click.

And, yes, I’m a chronic geek for software toys and PC stuff in general. Just the way I have my browser set up would probably scare most people.

If you spend any serious time using Firefox, you’ll see why I sing its praises so highly. The way it behaves makes so much more sense than IE… even just little things. For example, when you look at a file, picture, etc, IE saves it in a nebulous temporary cache folder somewhere unless you’re specifically aiming each given file to a familiar location. Firefox dispenses with that entirely — from the Tools menu, select Downloads… and there’s a list of everything you’ve DLed recently, no hunting through your OS’ cache. A lot of little conveniences like that add up, fast. Saved keystrokes add up too, in a big way. You’ll see… then I’ll officially welcome you to the dark side. Muahahha.

Oh, and about the OED subscription… I’d love to have one. While it’s not quite as nifty, there is a dandy free resource dedicated to etymology if that sort of thing spins your beanie: the Online Etymology Dictionary. Love it, personally.

The only thing with “disappearing” ads on BAUT is that affects their ad package, no? Isn’t it good to click on the ads there every so often? BAUT’s don’t bother me–in fact they’re often amusing such as “Religion Run Amok.” Too, if say, you’re in a telescope thread, ads that could be useful come up for telescopes.

I’ve never used Outlook express…I have that at work. I use Yahoo, which I like, and so many people I know use it, so it’s compatible. Wow, I didn’t realize you were this into computer stuff. 0-) FireFox should give you a commission fee! That’s about as geeky as me and my Unabridged Merriam-Webster dictionary…really freaks me out when people use dictionary.com. Ugh. Imagine if I could afford the OED….just taking the online-tour got me excited…until I saw that’s it a little over $300 per annum.

BTW, you can tell Firefox to block pop-ups and instruct it not to tell you when it’s done so. That’s really nice, it just does its thing without adding a bar across the screen or making a sound. There’s a ton more to cover than we’ve talked about here; if you poke through the options or read the documentation you might start to get a clearer picture of its capabilities.

I still have IE installed, simply because once in a while I run across an archaic (or draconian) page that doesn’t support Firefox. I also have an extension installed that allows me to right-click on a URL and open the target in Internet Explorer, for just such occasions.

There’s a list of FireFox extensions here, and a list of search box engines (and add-ons) here.

Their mail client, Thunderbird, is fantastic as well. It’s much preferable to Outlook / Outlook express.

If you’re curious about extensions, I could recommend a few great simple ones that make browsing much handier, or list which ones I use.

Added: I forgot to mention, there are tons of themes for FF as well, so you can make it look just about however you like.

Addition #2: Firefox with Adblock will allow you to can ads you see on message boards, including BAUT. It’ll literally “disappear” them; you’ll only see the forums’ content.

BTW, I understand the need for ads on BAUT et al, but I couldn’t help but chuckle over the one in the ID/Religion thread, so I saved it. It’s the one that says:

Religion Run Amok
7 Great Myths of Organized Religion

Though it’s about “genuine spirituality” vs. “empty religious dogma.”