The share of users still using these two out of date Windows versions is really small, the largest number I saw was maybe .4%? So, if this means that the Mozilla team is able to put out a bigger and better browser, then so be it.  Dotzler says, “Next Tuesday or Wednesday, after Firefox 12 moves to Aurora, the Mozilla Release Engineering team will begin upgrading our Windows build systems to Visual Studio 2010.”

In fact, Mozilla has supported Windows XP SP1 and Windows 2000 longer than Microsoft has. Internet Explorer 8 requires XP with SP2 or higher, and has no support for Windows 2000 at all.  So if you are still using Windows XP, make sure you are running the latest and greatest version if you want to still use Firefox.

How can you change your cookie settings in Firefox? To change your cookie settings:

1. At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Firefox button (Tools menu in Windows XP) and then click Options.
2. Select the Privacy panel.

If you click the check mark box under the “Tracking” section, you can tell websites that you do not want to be tracked. I have covered that in a previous article: How to Stop Website Tracking in Firefox

Under “History” you have the option to remember past websites you’ve visited, not to remember websites you’ve visited or a custom history setting.  When Firefox remembers your browsing history, it keeps track of form and search history, websites you’ve visited, downloads and cookies.

Last but not least, if you scroll down a little lower you will see the option to “Accept cookies from sites”. This allows you to control if specific websites can track you or not.  You can also accept cookies until:

• Keep until: they expire: Each cookie will be removed when it reaches its expiration date, which is set by the site that sent the cookie.
• Keep until: I close Firefox: The cookies that are stored on your computer will be removed when Firefox is closed.
• Keep until: ask me every time: Displays an alert every time a website tries to send a cookie, and asks you whether or not you want to store it.

When you are done with your cookie changing, always be sure to hit the “OK” button at the bottom of the options window to save your changes.  What type of cookie tracking changes do you like to make?

What is so Bad About Switch to Tab?

Now, to set things up.  When you try to open the same webpage twice, rather than letting you do just that (in one or multiple running browsers) Firefox will suggest that you switch to the tab where you already have that webpage open. While some might find this useful, I find it to be a pain.  Sometimes I like to have multiple versions of the same webpage up and running.

So here is the fix. Lets say I want to open my review of Tab Scope up again in a separate tab. I type "tab scope" into the address bar and select the review from Firefox Facts.  No Firefox, I don’t want to switch to that tab, I want to open it again.

Now, to disable the "Switch to tab" feature, simply hold down the Shift button and you get this instead:

Click on the link in the address bar or hit the Enter key to open this webpage in another tab, rather than switching to the tab where the webpage is already open.

Hope this comes in handy, and hopefully when Firefox 4 goes public – they will have an easier way to disable this annoying feature.

Did you know that you could add another toolbar to Firefox without needing to install an add-on? This customization feature is often overlooked and can come in handy if you need some extra space to store your buttons or any other toolbar elements you have added to Firefox.

The first thing you will want to do is right-click on your navigation toolbar and select "Customize…". Next, click on the button that reads "Add New Toolbar".  You will then want to give your new toolbar a name.  Once you have done that – you will see a new toolbar space added to your Firefox toolbar layout.  Simply drag the icons over that you want to add to this new toolbar and hit the button labeled, "Done".

Here is the new toolbar I created with the Cut, Copy and Paste buttons added to it:

To hide your custom toolbar from within Firefox, just right-click on the navigation toolbar, and uncheck the custom toolbar you created. If you no longer want your toolbar then go in to customize your Firefox navigation layout again and drag all of the buttons you have added to that toolbar off.  This toolbar should then disappear.

Hope that helps you get a little more out of this feature of Firefox that you do not hear that much about!

We all have questions about how Firefox works and how we can tweak it to make it better.  That is the single greatest aspect of this fantastic browser. So, with the end of the year coming up quick I thought it was about time we took a look back at the 25 most popular browser tweaking tips, customizations and tutorials I have posted on Firefox Facts over the years.  These 25 posts you see are the most visited topics from all of the support related articles I have written.

You voted for these with your mouse clicks over the past year, so let us check out the most popular Firefox support posts of 2010.

Change Default Search in Firefox

Tired of having Google as the default search engine in Firefox? Maybe it is another search engine’s turn to be on top?! If you feel the urge to dethrone Google as the default search engine for your Firefox search box – this is how you can get it done.

How to Backup Firefox Bookmarks

Backing up your bookmarks is one of those chores you have on your to-do list but never get around to it.  Then when they are lost, you say – I wish I would have.  Here are a few Firefox bookmark backup techniques to help you out.

Firefox Private Browsing Mode Help and FAQ

Want to increase your privacy on your PC?  With the release of Firefox 3.5, our favorite browser now has a Private Browsing mode.  Usually your browser remembers the web sites you have visited, your user names and passwords, your browsing history and more.  However, with this newest addition to the Firefox 3.5 feature list, you can now go incognito on the Internet.

about:robots – Firefox 3 Secret!

For those of you playing with Firefox 3 – Beta 5, try typing about:robots into your address bar and hit enter.

Firefox 3.6 Fix – Open New Tabs in Far Right

New to Firefox 3.6, when you are on a page, and you want to open a link in a new tab – rather than opening the link in the far right of the tab bar, Firefox will now open the link right next to the tab you are in.  Now, while this might be convenient for some, it is a feature I don’t really need.  So here is how you can disable the new “Insert Related Tab After Current” tweak in Firefox 3.6.

Adblock Plus is a terrific add-on for Firefox that does an excellent job at blocking advertisements on websites.  In the past, I’ve even interviewed the developer of the script, and I would say this is a must-have extension for Firefox too. While protecting yourself from malware ads is a good thing that Adblock Plus does very well, what should you do about websites you wish to support?  Today, I’ll share with you the steps to take if you want to whitelist advertisements on one website, while still blocking ads on other websites.

Turning off Adblock Plus for a few good websites you want to support is easy. Here is how it is done:

Disable Adblock Plus in the Status Bar for a Domain

If Adblock Plus is inside your status bar, all you need to do is right-click on the AdBlock Plus icon, and select "disable on thisdomain.com" where thisdomain.com is the website you are currently browsing.

Once you have done that, then you will be able to see ads on that specific website again. 

Disable Adblock Plus in the Menu Toolbar for a Domain

If you have AdBlock Plus installed in the Firefox navigation toolbar, just left-click on the down arrow next to the Adblock Plus logo, then select "Disable on thisdomain.com".  Taking these steps will disable ad blocking on the website you are looking at.

Why Should You Whitelist Ads on Specific Websites?

Now, I know I might be opening myself up to the argument of pro-ads versus anti-ads, and some might even claim I am trying to control the way you browse.  I am not.  I am just letting you know a way to customize your Adblock Plus usage to meet your own needs. For many independent authors though, a few website ads is how they support their projects – so by seeing or clicking on the occasional ad, you can give something back.  At least, that is how it is suppose to work.

My question for you is, do you block all ads, don’t mess with ad blocking, or do you filter in ads from websites you want to show support for?

After checking over some of my statistics in Google Analytics, I figured it might be interesting to share with you some of the support articles that people come to check out here on Firefox Facts most often.  Here are the 6 most popular support related tweaks and tips for Firefox.

How to Backup Firefox Bookmarks

Backing up your bookmarks is one of those chores you have on your to-do list but never get around to it.  Then when they are lost, you say – I wish I would have.  Here are a few Firefox bookmark backup techniques to help you out.

Where is my Firefox Profile Folder?

This is a question we get time and time again, so I thought I would post the full listing for where your profile folder is for Mozilla Firefox based on your operating system of choice.

Search from the Address Bar in Firefox

The other day, when we were talking about bringing Chrome features into Firefox, the topic “searching from the address bar” was mentioned.  By default, when you type a word into the address bar by itself, it gives you Google’s “I’m Feeling Lucky” number one result.

Launch Tabs from Run Box

In need of a quicker way to launch Firefox with a series of tabs? You can quickly do so in Windows by clicking on the start button, then go to run (or just hit Win+R) and type in.

More Command Line Firefox Tips

After yesterday’s post about launching tabs from the run box I thought I would share with you some other command line Firefox tips worth getting familiar with.

Firefox Private Browsing Mode Help and FAQ

Want to increase your privacy on your PC?  With the release of Firefox 3.5, our favorite browser now has a Private Browsing mode.  Usually your browser remembers the web sites you have visited, your user names and passwords, your browsing history and more.  However, with this newest addition to the Firefox 3.5 feature list, you can now go incognito on the Internet.

Along with all of your productive and useful websites out there, gaming websites or online games often get tossed to the wayside.  You know what though? Supporting games and independent developers is just as important as supporting the guys making the awesome website applications we all know and love.  With that said, I am happy to see Mozilla has launched the new Mozilla Labs Gaming.

From the sound of it, it looks like they are really reaching out to online game makers to provide them with the community, platform and tools they need to create new and innovative games for the browser.

From the Mozilla Labs Gaming blog, here is what Pascal Finette said about why Mozilla is traveling down this new fork in the road:

Modern Open Web technologies introduced a complete stack of technologies such as Open Video, audio, WebGL, touch events, device orientation, geo location, and fast JavaScript engines which make it possible to build complex (and not so complex) games on the Web.  With these technologies being delivered through modern browsers today, the time is ripe for pushing the platform.  And what better way than through games?  Traditionally games and game developers have been at the forefront of technology, often pushing the boundaries of what was thought possible.

To to kick things off, and start them off right, Mozilla Labs Gaming is going to launch an international gaming competition called Game On 2010.  Not much news has been released about it yet – but keep your eye on gaming.mozillalabs.com for more information.

Now, most of the time, when I see Firefox asking if I want to save my tabs for the next time Firefox starts, I quickly click through whatever I have to do to turn this extra warning off. However, I was thinking the other day, I wonder how I could toggle this interesting Firefox feature on or off again?

In the Firefox menu toolbar, click Tools and the select Options. Next, under the Startup section you want to check the drop down menu next to where it says, “When Firefox starts:”.

Click the drop down menu, and then select, “Show my Windows and Tabs from Last Time”.  Once you do that, click the OK button at the bottom of the screen and you should be set.  To turn it off, you can just go from the previously mentioned setting to one of the other two.  The other two options are to show your home page or show a blank page.

Want Firefox to ask you if you want this option each time?  If so, go back into the menu toolbar, go to Options and then the Tabs section. You can go in here and check the box for “Warn me when closing multiple tabs”.

There you have it.  Now, for this to work – you will need to make sure your saving your browser history between sessions too.  Hope that helps you either turn back on this feature, or maybe even turn it off as well.

Want to export your bookmarks to a .html file?  You can in Firefox with just a few clicks of the mouse.  This can come in handy when it comes to syncing your bookmarks with another browser, backing up or moving from PC to PC.  Mozilla has made the import and backup options in Firefox brain dead simple.

First, you will want to go to Bookmarks and then Organize Bookmarks from within the Firefox Menu toolbar.  That will open up the Bookmark Library.  From within there, click on Import and Backup and then Export HTML…

When you do, you will get a kind of “save this file as…” screen pop-up where the default name of the exported file will be bookmarks.html.  Select the location you wish to save the file to, and then hit the Save button.

There you have it.  You now have a picture perfect backup of your Firefox bookmarks.  Hope this basic tutorial comes in handy – and if you have any other bookmark exporting tips you would like to share – be sure to do so in the comments.