IE6 is truly entrenched in corporate life and will most likely remain to uphold this position for quite some time to come. At least for now, many companies still use Windows XP with IE6 on most of their workstations, because they are convinced it is a proven technology. Additionally, it has been around for so long that every experienced IT-professional is comfortable with the management tools that come along with it.

Additionally, many in-house, custom-made software and web applications for corporations was built explicitly for IE6 and haven’t been brought up to date to be more web standards compliant and all-round more contemporary.

Thus, IE6′s usage continues to make up a significant chunk of the overall share. In most cases, the employees who still use IE6 in such companies are forced to do so because computers in such environments are extremely locked down. It is often the case that nothing additional can be installed to these systems. IT guys usually have their reasons [as stated above] to keep maintaining ancient software like IE6, but in this case it’s time for everyone to move on. Perhaps they will make the jump to Windows 7 when it reaches the SP1 milestone somewhere next year. Let’s hope so.

Install Firefox 3.5 without ‘installing’ it

Yes, you read that right and it’s actually very simple to accomplish. To achieve this, I grabbed the portable version of Firefox at portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable. Portable Apps is a suite of software retrofitted to run directly from a  USB thumbdrive. They don’t require installation at all: simply run the executable to extracts its contents to a folder of your choosing.

Naturally, portable apps don’t necessarily have to run from a USB key. They can just as well be run from an arbitrary directory on your Windows desktop. And I decided to go for that route, since many corporations are now also disabling the use of outside thumbdrives because they carry in computer viruses and worms.

While Portable Apps can be downloaded as a suite consisting of numerous applications, you can also pick and choose. And thank the heavens, Firefox is in the suite and is being kept current on par with Mozilla’s release schedule.

Note: Be sure to unpack the portable app to a location on the computer’s hard drive, avoid placing it on corporate network location because it will slow Firefox down. Moreover, extracting it locally has the benefit of IT-personnel not being able to peek inside its contents. You can easily permanently delete Portable Firefox’ folder without leaving traces on the corporate network – this way – too.

A quick how to

1. Grab the latest portable release of Firefox at http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable.
   
2. Run the .paf-file you just downloaded and specify the path for decompression.
3. Navigate into the folder you just specified and run the Firefox executable.

In a corporate environment it may interesting to delve into Firefox’ preference panes to make sure Firefox doesn’t keep track of your browsing history. You can easily set it to ‘Never’, so it will operate in ‘Private Browsing Mode’ permanently, evidently wiping your tracks as you go and as you quit your browsing session. Don’t forget to check this option if you want to prevent your boss from finding out you have been wasting precious office-time on Facebook or YouTube.

Note: Many corporations intercept your traffic on its way out. If this is the case in your company, private browsing will not obscure your traffic data.

Getting Firefox to work behind a corporate firewall

Corporations usually have airtight IT-infrastructure in place, enforced by exceptionally stringent firewall policies. Internet Explorer 6 will usually be pre-configured to play nicely with the aforementioned setup, but Firefox most likely won’t be. It is oftentimes easy to do, however, so don’t despair (just yet).

Frequently, corporate workstations are behind a proxy-server, which is set up in one of the settings screens in IE6. A proxy-server is a server within the company’s IT infrastructure that intercepts every workstation’s internet traffic on the way out (and in) and consequentially relays all traffic. Companies primarily do this so they can monitor and control their employees’ traffic, possibly even blocking certain sites or services, or prioritizing traffic in favor of internal sites and servers.

All you need to do, in most cases, is enter this proxy server’s address into Firefox’ connection settings and you’re off. In a nutshell:

1. Fire up good old IE6
2. Go to ‘Tools’ > ‘Internet Options’ > Tab: ‘Connections’
3. In the section ‘Local Area Network (LAN) Settings’ click the button ‘LAN Settings’
4. In the section ‘Proxy Server’, make note of or copy to the clipboard the information listed there.
   The address-field is usually filled out with something similar to ‘proxy.companyname.com’ and the port number is usually 80.
5. Next, open Firefox
6. Go to ‘Tools’ > ‘Options’ > Icon: ‘Advanced’ > Tab: ‘Network’
7. In the section ‘Connections’ click the button ‘Settings’
8. Select the radio button ‘Manual configuration’
9. Fill out the fields ‘HTTP Proxy’ and ‘Port’
10. Most of the time you need to check the box ‘Use this proxy for all protocols’ to use the same proxy for all web protocols outside of regular protocols like SSL-enabled (secure) sites.

To find out whether you should tick the box in step 10 you can click the ‘Advanced’-button in the IE6′s ‘LAN Settings’ window. This isn’t usually necessary, but in case you need those settings, they’re right there.

Note: You can make an extra attempt eavesdrop-proof your connections to the outside world by using SSL. Make sure you use secure connections (SSL) whenever you can. Sites that contain your sensitive/personal information usually offer this ability. Make sure you make use of it by prefixing your URLs with https:// instead of the usual http://. Some sites will automatically switch you over to https if you don’t explicitly ask them to. Others only go secure for the log-on process, after which everything else is transmitted in the clear. Beware.

For example:

• Go to https://mail.google.com instead of http://mail.google.com to make sure you’re always using a secure SSL-enabled (Secure Sockets Layer) connection.

These few steps should do the trick. The full Internet will once more be at your disposal .

• Update | Mozilla asks EU to reject Microsoft’s Windows 7 browser plan #
• Update | Microsoft warns of chaos if Word sales are halted #
• iPhone Outsold All Windows Mobile Phones in Q2: Analyst #
• Snow Leopard now available from Apple Store, ships Aug. 28 #
• Blurb | Looks like Zune HD supports apps too #

Mozilla asks EU to reject Microsoft’s Windows 7 browser plan

After much ado over Microsoft’s “browser ballot screen” Mozilla is now requesting the EU to reject the OS vendor’s browser plan. Mozilla is obviously dissatisfied with the fact that Internet Explorer would get a more prominent spot on the screen, because – obviously – IE still has the biggest browser usage-share. Mozilla claims this is “unfair” and continues to whine. Source at ComputerWorld.

Microsoft warns of chaos if Word sales are halted

Because of the utter boringness of this story, I’m sure you won’t mind me just quoting ComputerWorld: “Microsoft Corp.warned last week that an injunction preventing it from selling Word in the U.S. after Oct. 10 would cause “massive disruptions” to sales of its Office software, as well as to key partners like Best Buy Co., Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co.” Source at ComputerWorld.

iPhone Outsold All Windows Mobile Phones in Q2: Analyst

I always take analyst reports with a grain of salt, but the inevitable has happened in the smartphone world. The Apple iPhone has outsold Windows Mobile based phones for the first time in Q2 2009, with a lead of approx. 4.7%. Industry leaders Nokia and Blackberry retain suit with respectively first (~44%) and second (~21%) places. Palm isn’t currently on the list, despite its efforts with the Palm Pre. Blog post at TechnologyExpert.

Snow Leopard now available from Apple Store, ships Aug. 28

After the Apple Store’s brief down-time on Monday morning the site pulled up again with Mac OS X Snow Leopard’s page updated and release confirmation. Shipping date of the OS is officially scheduled for August 28, 2009. If you pre-order now you’ll get it on the 28th – guaranteed. Also, no shipping fees will be charged for the time being. Source at ArsTechnica.

Looks like Zune HD supports apps too

Microsoft’s much anticipated competitor to Apple’s iPod Touch will sport an application platform/store after all. This was the last essential selling point needed for Microsoft to make a fair chance against Apple Inc. As things stand now, the Zune HD will also be more affordable than than the current-gen iPod Touch. Blog post at Paul Thurrott’s Supersite Blog.

Disclaimer: The news summaries above contain opinions of editorial nature. Opinions expressed in this post do not reflect those of source materials and are entirely my own.

• Mozilla makes much ado about nothing over browser ballot #
• Xmarks extension alpha for Chrome arrives #
• Archos soft launches own Android app store #
• Irish ISP to block The Pirate Bay #
• IT IS HERE: A Fully Functional Copy of The Pirate Bay #
• Microsoft offers cloud database previews #
• Like Vista, Windows 7 will grant 120 grace period #
• Check out my FriendFeed – uh, feed - for more tech news.

Mozilla makes much ado about nothing over browser ballot

I only recently blasted Opera for pushing its childish whims into the lap of the EU and now Mozilla – Firefox’ creator of which I didn’t expect this – also chimes in and is urging for even more strictness and regulation of Microsoft’s browser ballot screen. If you haven’t read my prior rant, I’ll reiterate: it’s preposterous that Microsoft is even buckling under the EU’s weight, let alone it even have to bolt the specifications of the ballot screen down even more (!). Mozilla spokesperson Anderson brings up issues like “Microsoft is causing inadvertent changing of the default browser in Windows and that’s not right” (which isn’t true, BTW) and other nonsense. Don’t be such a crybaby, Mozilla. Source at ArsTechnica.

Xmarks extension alpha for Chrome arrives

In response to Google’s own bookmark syncing feature for Google Chrome, Xmarks – the maker of password and bookmark syncing add-ons for Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari – put out its alpha version of their add-on for Google Chrome. Source at CNET.

Archos launches own Android app store

Archos has launched its own Android application store, in response to Apple and RIM. The apps in this store, however, won’t only work with Android-enabled Archos devices, but will be available to any compatible device. Source at TechRadar.

Irish ISP to block The Pirate Bay

Eircom, an Irish ISP, agreed to cut off customers that illegally downloaded music or movies – after an out-of-court settlement with the entertainment industry. Now, Eircom will also be preventing its customers from viewing The Pirate Bay. Source at IrishTimes.

IT IS HERE: A Fully Functional Copy of The Pirate Bay

Speaking of TPB: after a torrent was put out containing the whole Pirate Bay repository, people were wondering what to do with it. Today, btarena.net has brought a nearly exact replica of the whole Pirate Bay site online, including downloads, tracking and searching. The site is also capable of hosting new torrents, although its creator insists that this must remain to be a mere backup, for now. Source at Mashable.

Microsoft offers cloud database previews

SQL Server 2008 R2 and – more importantly – SQL Azure came out for developers to preview and use with their web applications. SQL Azure is Microsoft’s hosted relational database which developers can rent for a monthly fee. Prices vary between $9.99 US for 1GB to $99.99 US for 10 GB. With SQL Azure, Microsoft provides pay-as-you-go storage and promises graceful scaling – if necessary. Source at ReadWriteWeb.

Like Vista, Windows 7 will grant 120 grace period

Windows 7′s predecessor, Vista,  allowed a user to prolong his 30-day trial to 120 days by using the ‘rearm’ run command at the end each trial period. This was possible up to three times, after which you were supposed to purchase a license key to continue using Windows. As it turns out, Windows 7 – now in final form – will also support this behavior. Moreover, it has been confirmed by Microsoft as not violating the license agreement.

So basically, one can do the 120-day thing, re-install Windows and go at it again – endlessly, without ever needing to pay for Windows 7…

Firefox has been all over the news today. This is probably mostly due to the latest Release Candidate Mozilla pushed a few days ago. The third iteration of Mozilla’s flagship web browser is due no later than next month, contrary to earlier reports. It doesn’t seem likely the Firefox team will be releasing another RC build, though. But never say never, of course.

Performance boost

I’ve been using Firefox 3 since beta three and I’m having mixed feelings about it. I love the way it doesn’t gobble down hundreds of megabytes of RAM anymore. And, it’s great to see they’ve finally made the rendering engine snappier. Now, in comparison to FF3 RC1, it becomes apparent that Firefox 2′s performance was taking a snail trail beneath its baggage of (amongst others) poorly supported Javascript processing and page rendering. In addition, the numerous leaking addons made using FF2 a rather crash-prone experience.

Mozilla, in my opinion, [still] under-delivers on its promise to give Firefox a native look on every platform. There were humongous plans for a Mac version (which made its debut a couple of betas ago), a Linux version and a Vista version. As most of us know, Mozilla threw out the latter to retain Firefox’ image and online presence. Instead, they slapped out a regurgitated iteration of Firefox’ former self, i.e. Firefox 2. A big mistake.

Enhancements

An other addition worth mentioning is the dramatically improved address-bar. Much like the Spotlight on the Mac, or Instant Search in Vista, Firefox searches for previously queried or bookmarked sites as you type. If you’re the type to frequently visit certain sites, but don’t want to go through the hassle that is bookmarking (yes it is), this is a great productivity booster.

The download manager finally allows for pausing downloads. And, closing the browser won’t flush them out either. They’ll just pop right back the next instance you open your trusty browser. This feature greatly obsoletes the need for addons like ‘DownThemAll’, though the aforementioned provides more that just download management.

Protecting the young’uns

Dumb and uninitiated web surfers are now protected against the dark side of the net. Clearer certificate pages and anti-phishing/scamming warnings are in place to wane off ignorant eyes.

One of the annoyances of running an ‘unfinished’ version of Firefox – like software is ever finished – is that support for addons is completely broken. Only a few are capable of keeping up with Mozilla’s beta/RC cycle. That, and the revised addons’ underpinnings usually render the addons-window empty. While there are methods at present to get incompatible addons running again, this is not advised, since many contain deprecated and insecure code. The solution is simple, just sit it out, or plainly revert back to Firefox 2 for the time being.

Firefox 3.1 in the running

Word goes round that Mozilla has already started planning the next major update to Firefox, i.e. version 3.1. It will reportedly incorporate features that were cut from the RC1 build because they weren’t yet on par with the rest of the feature set. Most of them were nearly finished, but just didn’t meet the quality bar for broad release.

The XMLHttpRequest (XHR) API is an example of this. The RC1 release notes note that the specifications for this technology aren’t stable, nor secure enough [yet].

With Firefox 3.1, it will be the first time Mozilla rolls out two major updates to the Firefox franchise in the same year. Interesting.

Get the RC

For those interested on living on the bleeding edge (cough), Firefox 3 RC1 is available from Mozilla’s website right here. In keeping with its good tradition, this download is available in all its multi-language/platform splendor.

Find it here.

With this installed you can add a new item to your toolbar which flops out a menu holding common commands. You can also right-click on any webpage to accomplish the same effect. The only thing that’s amiss right now is a keyboard shortcut.

Firefox 2.0 Website