Firefox is the second most popular browser on the Internet, and with good reason--it rocks. Want to try out some specialized versions of it? Here are six flavors of Firefox, ranging from Mac-centric all the way to bird-themed music jukeboxes.
Firefox Campus Edition
The Campus edition is the most recent of the branded/sponsored/partnered Firefoxes. There's nothing particularly special or amazing about this version of Firefox that's different from the regular one, besides a bundle of extensions and add-ons that give Firefox a notably "social" feel. Campus edition ships with a trifecta of extensions, including Zotero, StumbleUpon, and Foxytunes. Clearly the most useful one of the bunch for education is Zotero, a note-taking tool that lets you collect sources while doing Internet research. StumbleUpon and Foxytunes remain in the entertainment realm.
Firefox eBay edition
Firefox eBay edition actually came out before the Campus edition, but the idea is similar--it's just Firefox with a smattering of themed add-ons. In the case of eBay edition, you get an integrated eBay sidebar that lets you keep track of your profile and any auctions you're watching. Likewise, you get an Alert Box tool, which will let you know if you've been outbid. These are solid tools if you're a heavy eBay user, and if you're already a Firefox user you can download an extension bundle that gives you the same functionality. Also coming soon for eBay buffs: an eBay buying and selling application that runs sans browser on Adobe's AIR platform.
Netscape Navigator 9
Don't let the name fool you--Netscape 9 looks and plays just like Firefox. It even works with Firefox add-ons and extensions. So what's the big difference? For one, the browser shares tight integration with Netscape's social bookmarking and news site, along with some cool tweaks such as URL correction and built-in integration to Netscape mail. We took a look at the service when it launched in early June.
Flock
Flock is probably the most specialized of the customized browsers built off of Firefox. It calls itself the "social" browser, which is somewhat true, considering Web browsing is almost always a one-person affair. Flock ties into several social Web services, like Del.icio.us, Flickr, and Technorati. There's also a customized way to bookmark content you like, using a starring system similar to that of Gmail. If you find anything you like, give it a star, and you'll be able to come back to it quickly without having to bother saving it to your bookmarks folder. Similar to Netscape Navigator, Flock will still work with most Firefox extensions, although some are unsupported and can cause instability.
Songbird
Songbird is probably the most experimental browser of the bunch, in the sense it's not really a browser as much as a music player. The service is still built with Firefox technologies, and lets you browse the Web as you would on Firefox. The easiest way to explain it, is that Songbird is a marriage of your Web browser with a music jukebox of the likes of iTunes. If you run into any page that includes music files, Songbird will pull them out and let you listen to them in any order you want with its built-in player. The service is still growing and adding features on an almost daily basis. While stable it may not be at all times, it's a great way to mix browsing the Web with other activities.
Camino
Camino (formerly known as Chimera) is an open-source Web browser that uses Mozilla's Gecko rendering engine (the same used in Firefox) to create a Mac-optimized browsing experience. At first glance it doesn't seem too different from the Mac version of Firefox, but there are a handful of Mac-centric additions, such as using the operating system's built-in Cocoa programming environment, a dictionary application for spell check, and the use of OS X's key chain application instead of Firefox's proprietary system to save site passwords. If you really love your extensions, don't ditch Firefox for this, but if you'd like to use some of your native Mac services, Camino makes for a great secondary to Safari or Firefox.
Yesterday Netscape released a public beta of their new Navigator browser, and brought back the "Navigator" moniker. Firefox users will feel right at home, as the browser has been built off the same architecture and even works with Firefox extensions. Netscape has introduced several neat new features with version 9 that I think make it a fairly compelling browser choice.
The first thing users are likely to notice is the integration with some of Netscape's services. Users of Netscape.com, Netscape's redesigned start page that features user-submitted, and ranked stories by its users (similar to other social democracy sites like Digg and Reddit) get full integration with news stories and their site mail. When reading any story, anywhere, the browser will "phone home" to see if the link has been submitted to Netscape.com. If it has, users will get a graphical menu in the address bar that lets them vote on the story, or jump straight to the comments. If it hasn't, there's a "share" button that will take them straight to the submission page.
If you're visiting a page that's been submitted to Netscape.com, you can vote or discuss it. If it hasn't, you can submit it to the service.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Another feature, and one users aren't likely to notice until they make a typing mistake, is URL correction. This will automatically fix spelling or punctuation mistakes like typing "con" for "com," or forgetting a "." somewhere. This is a little detail that most people aren't likely to notice until it fixes their mistake automatically.
One new feature that's sure to quietly become valuable to power users is the option to resize forms. Say you're writing a long e-mail or filling out a blog entry. When it gets to the point where you need to scroll to look over your work, you can just grab the bottom edge of the form and drag it down to make it larger. This can be incredibly helpful in forms where you simply aren't given enough room to see what you've written.
Netscape has included a handful of other new features, like a mini browser within your browser (for viewing sites side by side), a sidebar for Netscape's News Tracker service, and a special drag-and-drop sidebar for saving and accessing bookmarked links. Navigator has also been given a face-lift from version 8, with smaller and cleaner buttons.
Ultimately, Netscape Navigator 9 is just a specialized version of Firefox, akin to other niche efforts such as Flock. I can't recommend making the switch from Firefox to Netscape Navigator 9, unless you're a fervent user of Netscape's services. That being said, those users are going to enjoy this browser quite a bit, as it's been tailor-made to enhance their browsing experience.
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