The new Dell hasn’t arrived yet, so I continue to configure the iMac.  The Web is an essential reference tool for me; I learn how to fix things or find someone to fix them, when to buy and sell investments, the best prices for electronics and appliances, definitions for words,  directions, and a host of other and other daily functions.

What will be my day-to-day browser - Safari, native to Mac, or Firefox, my current browser that has with a strong Mozilla heritage and heavy influence from Windows.  Firefox has worked pretty well for me on the Old Dell.  I particularly like the extensions that offer translations through FoxLingo, Spellchecker, firebug (which shows code and is essential in web design), and grease monkey (particularly its paging functions).

There are some pretty good resources on this topic such as http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/browser_shootout_firefox_vs_safari_on_the_mac/

I install Firefox.  The only problem is that it’s icon remains on the desktop, and I can’t remove it.  I Google the problem and find this: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=268440

As a newbie to OS X I learn that when installing an application from a download it is necessary to drag the “app” file into the applications folder and then it is possible to trash the icon on the desktop. 

However, when I tried to trash it wouldn't go. The reason is that, unlike the Windows, an applications does not close-out when you end them.  You have to click the application and “quit” or right click on the application in the dock and “force quit” (shortcut keys: option-shift-command-escape).  Once a program is not active, it's icon can be trashed.

Another issue that I find irritating is that, unlike the PC, there is no full screen option icon in the upper right for Firefox or any program.  In Firefox there is a solution, press shift-command-F.  This does not, however, work for other program.

I learn that the little green button in the upper left opens the window in the application only enough to remove any scroll bars.  In Mac Forums one user notes, persons switching from PCs to Macs "soon realize that Windows is stupid, and the OS X is giving you beautiful screen real estate…”

Moving the bookmarks from my old Dell’s Firefox to the Mac is no problem.  I just export bookmarks to a flash drive and then copy them to iMac -- it’s easy and effective.

At first I think that Firefox is better than Safari because of the add-ons, but I learn that Safari also has most of the same features under “Extensions”, including Firebug.  so far my experience is that Safari works equally well as Firefox.  The blogs say that not as many sites work with Safari as Firefox, but I have not found any. 

Then I notice that Firefox is a little slower on the iMac.  I google the problem and find that there are a lot of complaints that Firefox becomes slower on the Mac over time.  The most frequently mentioned solution is to create a new profile.

Because I do web development it is nice to have more than one browser, to I am content to let Firefox and Safari both run on the iMac.

The next thing on my list is configuring the iMac network, and that will the subject of the next topic.