Filed under: Internet, Macintosh
Camino, a Great Firefox Alternative
by David Chartier Jun 25th 2005 at 7:13PM
Yea, that's right I said it: a Firefox alternative. I've been on a browser kick lately and I can't keep this burning opinion of mine a secret anymore: I hate Firefox on OS X. I can't stand it. It's a fantastic browser and a necessity on Windows, but it is not what an OS X app could or should be. If you're a Firefox user on OS X, I urge you to at last take Camino out for a spin, as it is an OS X-native browser from Mozilla. In the meantime, before you stone me, Read on and I'll explain where these anti-Firefox sentiments come from.
There are two key reasons why I can't use Firefox with OS X:
1) Firefox doesn't play nice with the plethora of OS X Services that Apple and 3rd party companies have set up.
2) Firefox uses its own system for storing usernames and passwords. Once again: this is great for Windows users, but not for OS X users. Why? Because OS X already has a rockin' system for storing ALL your usernames and passwords across the entire system. FTP servers, internet passwords, application logins... you name it, and it can get automatically stored in OS X's Keychain application. (It's in your Applications/Utilities folder.) This means that I only have one database to back up, copy or sync via .Mac to make sure I have a backup and that my Macs all have the same user and password records.
Enter Camino from Mozilla. All that stuff I just griped about? Solved. It's still from Mozilla, (so it still rocks) but it plays right with OS X like all good little browsers and applications should.
Now one thing Camino doesn't do, which I know can be a big pull for some users, are all those extensions and themes and whatnot that Firefox does. If you're that nutty for that stuff, and you haven't gone batty enough over Tiger's Dashboard widgets, then I can't help you much there. But if you've bothered to read through my little anti-Firefox rant, are open to new browsers and have another minute or two, go snatch a free copy of Camino and start browsing with Mozilla and OS X on your side.
1) Firefox doesn't play nice with the plethora of OS X Services that Apple and 3rd party companies have set up.
2) Firefox uses its own system for storing usernames and passwords. Once again: this is great for Windows users, but not for OS X users. Why? Because OS X already has a rockin' system for storing ALL your usernames and passwords across the entire system. FTP servers, internet passwords, application logins... you name it, and it can get automatically stored in OS X's Keychain application. (It's in your Applications/Utilities folder.) This means that I only have one database to back up, copy or sync via .Mac to make sure I have a backup and that my Macs all have the same user and password records.
Enter Camino from Mozilla. All that stuff I just griped about? Solved. It's still from Mozilla, (so it still rocks) but it plays right with OS X like all good little browsers and applications should.
Now one thing Camino doesn't do, which I know can be a big pull for some users, are all those extensions and themes and whatnot that Firefox does. If you're that nutty for that stuff, and you haven't gone batty enough over Tiger's Dashboard widgets, then I can't help you much there. But if you've bothered to read through my little anti-Firefox rant, are open to new browsers and have another minute or two, go snatch a free copy of Camino and start browsing with Mozilla and OS X on your side.