My thoughts on Phoenix the browser

[Big Booger]

Well, I tried out Phoenix for the first time today. All I can say is wow..
I have been tempted to try it for a while, and now I can say it is better than IE. I download the file, installed it (took less than 1 minute), and have been impressed so far.

There are tons of themes for Phoenix available here (http://texturizer.net/phoenix/themes.html)

http://quadrone.org/phoenix/djst/QutePE.png

I am using QUTE PHAT theme with Phoenix. Looks great!

Couple of other things that I like about it:
1. the icons in the address bar work flawlessly.
2. the popup stopper is effective and works great.
3. It is fast, just as fast, if not faster than IE.
4. It works perfectly with every site I have ever connected to.
5. The bookmarks (favorites) seems much more organizable, more than IE. When you go to add a page to the bookmark, it lets you organize the bookmarks in specific folders.

Couple of things I don't like:
1. I cannot move the address bar, below the toolbar.
2. Also, I don't like the Icon they chose, the mozilla icon. As it is called phoenix, why can't they use a unique icon, like a phoenix?
3. I cannot scalably resize the icons in the toolbars.. It only allows two sizes, large or small, not medium size.

Overall, I say this browser is worthy of usage and I recommend most of you who haven't given it a shot, to take the plunge. If I find after time other things that I like and dislike, I will definitely post it up in here.
For now, I will be using Phoenix as my default browser.
BB

[FastGame]

Originally posted by Big Booger

Couple of things I don't like:
3. I cannot scalably resize the icons in the toolbars.. It only allows two sizes, large or small, not medium size.


You hear that Lynch ? get to work and help BB out...:D lynch is a great TZ-er , I asked him for some big juicy candy coated icons & he made Marvilla Brights. :)

WoW 1 day and you like it that much :) wait till you use it for awhile , you'll go back to IE........for windows updates only..lol

I had a hard time getting use to mouse gestures....oh well

[lynchknot]

That's just the tip of the iceberg
Check out the extensions and themes here:

http://texturizer.net/phoenix/

http://www.deskmod.com/core.mod?show=showcat&cat_name=phoenix


http://home.attbi.com/~lynchknot/phoenix.html

Customize Phoenix - http://flii.blomp.com


Forum - http://www.mozillazine.org/forums/index.php

I recommend at least Tab extensions If you have questions - just ask!

You can move the address bar anywhere (within reason) you want






:D

[Big Booger]

How do you move the address bar below the Icons in the toolbar? I want it on another line, not right next to the icons.
Thanks gents for the links.
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[lynchknot]

Originally posted by Big Booger
How do you move the address bar below the Icons in the toolbar? I want it on another line, not right next to the icons.
Thanks gents for the links.
BB

Go to View > toolbar > check navigation or bookmark > then Customize > you'll get a big drop down menu - from there you can drag and drop icons, url bar, google bar.

Drag your addressbar to another toolbar

[lynchknot]

fastgame, if you hold ctrl down while you right click you can by-pass mouse gestures.

[lynchknot]

Oh, yea. Do not get the nightly builds. The installer is broken. If you cannot install any extensions or themes you have a broken version. Best to download Phoenix 0.5 or .5 dec.28th build.

[Big Booger]

thanks Lynch, its now how I like it.
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[Tinker]

Now this just ROCKS!

I am using the safrai theme that lynchknot made, way to go lynch. It is a very well put together theme and the tab bar is way cool!

Phoenix seems to be a bit faster than IE but time will tell....

Thanks fellow TZ'ers. By the way I downloaded .50.........

How about a spell checker? Is there one for Phoenix like the one for IE?

[Big Booger]

A few plugins that you will need:

http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/windows.html

They say for mozilla, but they work fine in phoenix.
Below is a link to the spell checker for mozilla, though it is still in development:
http://spellchecker.mozdev.org/

But that is mainly used for composer and email..

Below is a link to the Spell Checker for Netscape, which works with Mozilla, so it might work with Phoenix too.
ftp://ftp.netscape.com/pub/netscape6/english/6.2.3/windows/win32/xpi
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[Tinker]

Well I have loaded all the spell checkers that I can find and no luck. It says that they were lnstalled but I can not figure out how to use them.

Any ideas?

[Big Booger]

I have no idea Tink...
Sorry, this is all new to me as well.
What I do is I use this site:
http://personalweb.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.spellonline.com/

then I put it in my bookmarks and anytime I have an issue with spelling I just copy and paste it in.
Also, if I want to spell check the whole web page it lets me do it by entering the URL in their form and it will spell check the entire web page.

Hope that helps.
BB

[Tinker]

Thanks BB..... I will do the same until a proper spell checker is available for Phoenix......

I have to have it! :D

[lynchknot]

From what I've been hearing at http://www.mozillazine.org/forums/index.php - there is a spell checker being developed. What I do, meanwhile is; I have msword on my quick launch - I just CCP when in doubt.

Be carefull what you install - if it does not say Phoenix, don't install it. If you manage to break Phoenix though, it's easy to fix.

[xsivforce]

Think I'll give it a go. :cool:

[Big Booger]

I've installed quite a few things that weren't phoenix only. The main thing I installed was the macromedia flash plugin and activeX. They were designed for netscape compatible web browsers. They seem to be working fine.
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[lynchknot]

I did not say "Phoenix only" there are some things that will work in both browsers. Some things could break Phoenix. At least that has been my experience. I tried to install google bar and it broke my browser.

[Big Booger]

lynch,
could you perhaps get a list together, of some of the things you have tried to install, like the google bar, so that we can watch out for them in the future.
Thanks
BB

[lynchknot]

They may have fixed googlebar because I see it on this page still. I was a while ago. The extensions here should be ok.

http://texturizer.net/phoenix/extensions.html

In case anyone is interested I made updates to some of my themes

Here: http://home.attbi.com/~lynchknot/phoenix.html

[efc]

I do not believe that there is a version of spellcheck that works with Phoenix. I have seen comments in the Mozdev site telling people not to use the Mozilla plug-in in Phoenix. I've found nothing to state what could be used.

Interesting to read everyones comments on Phoenix. It is certainly a product with lots of potential. It is not mature enough for my taste. I use it from time to time and keep it current. I am a die-hard Mozilla user.

It was hard to stay out of the discussions about IE, However Big Booger asked that only IE users respond. I read several complaints about Mozilla not being able to accomplish a given task. With everything mentioned, except tabs, Mozilla is able to accomplish. There is a tab function in 1.3a however it is not as mature as the one in Phoenix.

Remember that both Mozilla and Phoenix are updated regularly. There is a new release of Mozilla expected any day. If they stick to the timeline the new release will be Monday. I will let you know when it happens.

[Big Booger]

I think it is great to try new stuff. I like Phoenix much better than IE. Over time it will only get better. I mean why eat government cheese, when you have kraft and other brands to try?
hehehe
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[lynchknot]

Phoenix is a redesign of the Mozilla browser component, similar to Galeon, K-Meleon and Chimera, but written using the XUL user interface language and designed to be cross-platform. The goal of Phoenix is to create a lightweight and extremely fast version of Mozilla, which has become the web browser of choice for many in recent months. If performance was ever an issue for you with Mozilla, Phoenix is definitely worth checking out. Like Mozilla, it includes the very popular tabbed window controls, skin support, and adds great features such as full menu customization. Phoenix is a truly well rounded browser for those not looking for all the extras included in the full-blown Mozilla browser.

[Big Booger]

I think users will more than likely be pleased with Phoenix. I like it, it's simple, easy to use, easy to install, and works flawlessly on almost all web pages.
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[lynchknot]

Hey! here's another extension - it's by CDN - you can disable your text menu and have a drop down menu for the text items - I used a Safari icon for the marker

Here's the ext - http://themes.mozdev.org/compact-20030118.xpi

this is what it can look like (you can change icon of your choice)-

http://lynch2.netfirms.com/cdncompact.jpg

[Big Booger]

Found a page where I was screwed with Phoenix. If you have to log into a website with SSL logging, example:
https://www.whereverintheworld.com

then you are screwed... it won't work in Phoenix...
but I seldom have to go to those sites so no worries.
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[lynchknot]

Originally posted by Big Booger
Found a page where I was screwed with Phoenix. If you have to log into a website with SSL logging, example:
https://www.whereverintheworld.com

then you are screwed... it won't work in Phoenix...
but I seldom have to go to those sites so no worries.
BB

"The page cannot be displayed" using IE

"cannot find server" using Opera

"cannot be found" using Phoenix

[Big Booger]

nevermind. I just figured out it was my proxy server at work and phoenix.. It works fine at home:
here is the actual link:
https://ranger.s3graphics.com/

the one I used before was an example, not a real link.
BB