Author:
Nigel McFarlane
A quick google of the authors name will turn up hundreds of links to
articles and interviews on the subject of Mozilla and related
technologies. Nigel is also the author of several other books
including, "Rapid Application Development with Mozilla", which is part
of the Bruce Perens' Open Source Series.
Overview
This is the latest book in the O'Reilly Hacks Series, and was
published in March of 2005. Browsing the Internet has changed
dramatically from its early days of simple HTML. The browser has
become an increasingly important and complex tool. Firefox Hacks is
an excellent resource to help understand how to take full advantage of
this increasingly popular browser.
Intended Audience
The first four chapters are focused on the use of Firefox, and are
good for any Firefox user from novice to more advanced. The last five
chapters include increasingly advanced topics focused on Firefox
programming, and make a good introduction for programmers who are new
to these technologies and think they might be interested in writing an
extension or application.
Highlights
Firefox has had a lot of good publicity for its security, and hacks 11-21
explain security issues and how to configure Firefox to provide the
safest browsing experience.
Ever since Mozilla was split in two, the ability to open URLs in email
messages read in Thunderbird using Firefox has required a relatively
unknown customization (See Hack 40).
There are numerous Internet sources of information about how to
synchronize Firefox profiles between two computers. Hack 31 explains
how to "Take Firefox with you", which includes several strategies to
accomplish the task.
Rough Spots
The novice Firefox user may only be interested in the first half of
the book, but it may still be worth the price for all valuable tips
provided.
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--
BillCrooke - 26 Apr 2005
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