Avant to Firebird switch

Heeter

Overclocked Like A Mother
Joined
8 Jul 2002
Messages
2,732
I read all the hoopla with the Firebird browser. It has even it's own thread. I have been using Avant for a long while. If I switch to Firebird, can I import my favorites list into Firebird? I heard that Avant is not as secure as Firebird, is this true?

What can Firebird offer that Avant can't, basically?

Heeter
 
To prevent any arguments over this somewhat "sensitive" matter, I'll keep my post free from my own opinions and only state the facts.

Avant is a front-end for IE. Firebird automatically imports IE's favorites folder into it's bookmarks, so I assume it should do that for Avant as well, unless Avant stores your Favorites in a different place. Even then, you should be able to use the Import option in Firebird's bookmark manager to load Avant's favorites file. I'm not sure about this, so you should probably wait for a confirmation from someone who has done this already.

As far as security is concerned, again, Avant is based on IE, and is thus affected by all the ActiveX and other exploits that IE is affected by. Firebird is based on the Gecko rendering engine, and does not support ActiveX out-of-the-box, making it more secure.

What can Firebird offer that Avant can't? Well, I haven't ever used Avant, but I just had a look at the feature list, and it includes some of Firebird's basic features such as tabbed browsing, popup blocking etc. However, one HUGE advantage Firebird has is it's extensibility due to it's open-source nature. There are so many extensions available to make the browser more functional, it's unbelievable. If you want to do something, chances are there will be an extension available for Firebird. If not, you could request it on the MozillaZine forums, and if it becomes popular enough, a developer will probably code it in no time. That's the power of open-source applications.
Firebird also uses the Gecko-rendering engine, unlike Avant, which uses IE. This means that Firebird renders standards-compliant code the way it's meant to be displayed, while IE will frequently distort certain parts of correctly coded sites; it especially has some severe rendering bugs when it comes to CSS (and of course, the infamous PNG transparency). That's not to say Firebird renders every site perfectly. In fact, it doesn't, but chances are if it's not rendering correctly in Firebird, it's been coded incorrectly using non-standard or proprietary HTML/CSS code.

There are many other points I could bring up, but it's past midnight, and I'm tired now. But the bottomline is, every person has a certain preference. I have started telling people that the best browser is the one you are most comfortable with, since you will be most productive when using that browser.
I suggest downloading Firebird and giving it a shot for a while. It may seem different at first, but don't be daunted by it. Stick with it for a few weeks, ask questions in the Firebird discussion thread if you have any queries or problems and we'll be happy to help. Some people love Firebird, while others hate it. After giving it a try, you'll be the best judge to decide whether you want to continue using it or whether you want to switch back to Avant.

That's all I have to say. :)
 
That's what I wanted to hear, Net.

I wasn't gonna listen to "My browser is the best", I just want to hear why. Now that I know why Avant is susceptible, I will try Firebird and see. The last time I tried Firebird (about a year ago) It could not import my bookmarks from Avant. Hopefully this version can do that. Thanks for your nonbiased response, Netryder.

Now, go to bed.

Heeter
 
Hmm...still not feeling like going to sleep, I suppose. ;)
Does Avant store it's favorites in the same location as IE does? That is to say, if you open IE, can you see your Avant favorites in there? If so, Firebird will automatically import them when you first run it.

If not, could you check to see what format the favorites file is stored in by Avant? Is there an option to export them to an HTML file? If there is, you should be able to incorporate them into Firebird by using the import option in the Bookmarks Manager.

Try it out and let me know. In fact, post any questions you have about it in the Firebird discussion thread here, just so that questions and answers are in one place for future reference.

Should get my 5 hours of sleep now. G'night :)
 
Thanks Nets,

Avant does use the IE location. In my case, since I reinstall/repair Windows once a week, changed it into another partition. I am using Firebird right now, as I write this. I need to get acquainted with it a bit more for the next week or so. One really neat feature you mentioned is the fact that I only use the features I want (Extensions), not a complete package software that I am forced to accept. Any further questions will be posted in that thread.

Heeter
 

Members online

No members online now.

Latest profile posts

Also Hi EP and people. I found this place again while looking through a oooollllllldddd backup. I have filled over 10TB and was looking at my collection of antiques. Any bids on the 500Mhz Win 95 fix?
Any of the SP crew still out there?
Xie wrote on Electronic Punk's profile.
Impressed you have kept this alive this long EP! So many sites have come and gone. :(

Just did some crude math and I apparently joined almost 18yrs ago, how is that possible???
hello peeps... is been some time since i last came here.
Electronic Punk wrote on Sazar's profile.
Rest in peace my friend, been trying to find you and finally did in the worst way imaginable.

Forum statistics

Threads
62,015
Messages
673,494
Members
5,621
Latest member
naeemsafi
Back