Yahoo! Releases Firefox version of Toolbar 302
kidlinux writes "Yahoo started offering a beta version of its toolbar for the open source browser Firefox on Microsoft Windows on Wednesday, with versions for Linux and MacOS X following 'shortly.' I think it's safe to say most people use Google in their Firefox toolbar search field. Yahoo probably wants to get their foot in the door before it's too late. It would be interesting if this was a result of user demand. And apparently this follows Amazon's Firefox toolbar, which actually is a result of user demand."
SBC Yahoo. (Score:3, Interesting)
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This is a great idea for Firefox (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This is a great idea for Firefox (Score:5, Insightful)
"Trojans, spyware... you don't HAVE to install it..."
Already there.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This is a great idea for Firefox (Score:2)
Maybe I wasn't clear enough (Score:2, Insightful)
1. Firefox begins marketing efforts to showcase how easy it is to create toolbars for their browser.
2. Company that offers online shopping learns that it's a cinch to make a toolbar for their own company for Firefox. They figure, what the hell, and do it, and put a little link on their webpage saying that Fir
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Maybe I wasn't clear enough (Score:2)
Not needed. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Not needed. (Score:3, Informative)
I would imagine that if you're already a My Yahoo! user, features like this would be awesome. Imagine a Yahoo mail notifier, Yahoo stock ticket, etc... There's a ton Yahoo could do with a Firefox plugin.
Re:RSS (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:RSS (Score:2)
From the BookmarksHome page:
BookmarksHome makes a pretty startup page out of your bookmarks. The layout of this page is highly customizable. Items high in the bookmarks tree (as you see it when you open the Bookmarks menu) will appear at the top of the page. Changes in your bookmarks
Re:RSS (Score:2)
Sadly, I haven't run across such a utility that also preserves the extra info stored in the bookmarks file for LiveBookmarks.
Re:RSS (Score:2)
Bookmarks Synchronizer is a Mozilla Firefox extension that let you connect to an FTP server and synchronize your bookmarks that are stored in an XML file. Setup is easy; just write in your FTP server address, username, password and a name for the XML file (by default called xbel.xml). To start, press Upload to create the file on the se
Re:Not needed. (Score:5, Informative)
The Yahoo! toolbar does more than search. I, for example, will probably use it for the mail notification (I've got yahoo and gmail acounts, and there's no "Yahoo! notifier." Moreover, I feel good about using it just to "reward" them for supporting Firefox.
[goes to download toolbar...]
...except that they only have a Windows version so far. Bah! : (
Re:Not needed. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Not needed. (Score:2)
It isn't open source however, it's distributed under a proprietary license [yahoo.com]..
Re:Not needed. (Score:2)
Yahoo [latitudezero.org] and gmail [mozilla.org] notification plugins for Firefox. So what functionality does the Yahoo toolbar add again?
Re:Not needed. (Score:2)
Re:Not needed. (Score:2)
Why not just add it as an Engine? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Why not just add it as an Engine? (Score:2)
"It provides bookmarks and custom buttons, a means to search only within a particular site, stored search history, Yahoo! Mail alerts, and one-click page translation based on Babelfish."
Re:Why not just add it as an Engine? (Score:2)
I have google as my homepage anyway so I don't need that button.... search is just home/click/type.
How hard is it to KEEP from getting? (Score:5, Interesting)
It seems to me that the google toolbar is there to help the user find information whereas the yahoo toolbar is there to promote yahoo and it's many services.
Re:How hard is it to KEEP from getting? (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, remove the Solitaire and all the other games because they are not productive to work.
After that, uninstall Microsoft Office and install OpenOffice.
I mean it is not like Yahoo! Search (based on Altavista and Inktomi's algorhithm) returns relevant result or anything. Or that Yahoo! Plus e-mail users get 2GB of storage or that Yahoo! Music (Launch) is the biggest music site on the net.
Re:How hard is it to KEEP from getting? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yahoo! toolbar takes two clicks to disable in IE and does not require you to uninstall it. It is not a mal/ad/spyware. Yahoo!'s anti-spy is integrated into the toolbar and nowhere else. Lastly, it also allows one to search video, local, etc without having to go to Yahoo first. All things that Google do not provide and could be beneficial to the end users.
Yet, you do what a geek elitist would do: replacing it with a tool that you consider to be better for everyone else.
You said it yourself that google is there to help the user find information whereas the yahoo toolbar is not. That is what I am challenging you on. Yahoo! too helps user find the information in addition to providing access to its services, except that you disagree thus you force your view unto others. Bravo. What's next?
Re:How hard is it to KEEP from getting? (Score:2)
Re:How hard is it to KEEP from getting? (Score:2)
The Yahoo! toolbar is included with the (IIRC)Shockwave installer and it is installed by default. Although it's not too bad as you can choose not to as it asks you if you want it, but most people never bother to read the page and just click next.
Oh great, some (Score:2, Funny)
Tell me about it! (Score:5, Funny)
Even worse: for some reason I can't uninstall it!
Oh the humanity!
Yawn (Score:4, Insightful)
Let's see, Firefox already does the first two, and the third is arguably useful. The "anti-spy" feature doesn't seem all that useful for Firefox, since it's not easy to accidentally install spyware via XPI. I think Gator has more useful features. Am I missing something?
Re:Yawn (Score:2)
Re:Yawn (Score:3, Informative)
There's many vectors for spyware other than the browser. It's only a matter of time before Kazaa and the like start coming with Firefox add-ins.
Er, what? (Score:5, Informative)
Let's see, Firefox already does the first two, and the third is arguably useful.
Er... so how do I add RSS feeds to My Yahoo! with Firefox again? Oh wait, I can't.
My Yahoo! is a pretty powerful portal (you have probably never really tried it). I much prefer it to Google news.. it is highly customizeable, I can integrate RSS feeds from anywhere, I can add my own personal calender and to-do list that is synched with my desktop and PDA automatically, it has quick access to my photo album, my local TV listings, the local movie showtimes.. all on one page. It is incredibly useful.
Their Yahoo! toolbar will probably also have a few other things Firefox can't do out of the box, like new mail notification for Yahoo! mail, notifications for calendar events, and possible Yahoo! IM integration.
All that aside, I won't be installing it. But don't dismiss it as redundant so quickly, you haven't even seen it yet.
And for God's sake, don't compare it to Gator, the spawn of Satan.
IE Google Toolbar (Score:2)
Re:IE Google Toolbar (Score:2)
It'd be nice if Google released an official Mozilla/Firefox version of their toolbar... I wonder if the existance of the popular immitator is discuraging them from doing it right?
Re:IE Google Toolbar (Score:2)
Where do I get this google toolbar? It's not in the default install (at least in 1.0... maybe my version is too old), not on google.com that I can find either.
Re:IE Google Toolbar (Score:2)
Typeoh: s/Windows/IE/ (Score:2)
Nice idea....I guess (Score:3, Interesting)
Firefox good, Amazon evil? (Score:2)
How could the demand among the more tech-savvy crowd result in an Amazon toolbar for Firefox?
Not that I'm trying to start a flame-war. It's just resulting in some cognitive dissonance in my over-taxed brain.
Re:Firefox good, Amazon evil? (Score:2)
Re:Firefox good, Amazon evil? (Score:2)
Comment withdrawn. Moderators, feel free to take grandparent down to -1.
Ads? (Score:5, Interesting)
The toolbar 'screenshot' convieniently cuts off the end of the bar... is this to hide ads and other crap? Or are we spared?
Either way, I think I'd prefer to just add Yahoo to FireFox's in-built search engine bar. Not that I would use it... since I have Google!
But seriously, Yahoo seems to be going in the right direction. The engine seems to have increased in speed lately. In fact, search results are as quick to load as on Google. What's more, the number of ads on the results page has decreased; just a few textual ads remain.
In fact... Yahoo is looking a lot like Google.
Now I wish Netcraft would write a version of their toolbar [netcraft.com] for FireFox.
Re:Ads? (Score:5, Insightful)
Launch? (Score:4, Interesting)
Bookmarks (Score:2, Interesting)
What would really like to see is the ability to have your Firefox bookmarks synchronize with your Yahoo bookmarks automatically, so that you could have them wherever you go.
Additionally, I wish it would highlight the search terms like the Google toolbar.
Open Sourced? (Score:3, Insightful)
But if the toolbars are not opensourced, then I will not touch them. Sorry to sound like a troll.
Re:Open Sourced? (Score:5, Insightful)
A quick look at the Yahoo Toolbar shows that it is no different. Obviously it's not under the GPL, but you can easily have a look and verify that it doesn't do anything malicious. But let me guess... you can't be bothered, as you couldn't even be bothered to find out how Firefox extensions work before, well... sounding like a troll.
Re:Open Sourced? (Score:3, Insightful)
Why is it for Windows Only? (Score:2)
Not trying to spread FUD: I tried out the toolbar, and it doesn't appear to do anything bad (except for ask you whether you want to set your home page to Yahoo when it first runs). It's not something I'll use regularly, but it's nice that people have the
A choice finally? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:A choice finally? (Score:2)
Yahoo on the other hand has a lot to gain here: how many Firefox users are going to switch the default search from Google to Yahoo? How about if Yahoo gives them a cool toolbar?
Re:A choice finally? (Score:2)
The point being made here is that it's a good thing to see mainstream support for alternative browsers.
On Linux, this is the story (Score:5, Informative)
Re:On Linux, this is the story (Score:3, Insightful)
According to them, they have known, significant bugs that show up on Linux. They don't want you to get pissed at them, so their giving you fair warning. If you want to help iron the bugs out, download and install it anyway like I did. They sure aren't going to stop you.
Now I feel Ignorant (Score:3, Interesting)
Geez, I didn't even realize Yahoo was in there... I just click it down for eBay or Dictionary.com when I don't use Google... I guess my mind kind of filtered out Yahoo... scary.
One can already use Yahoo in the FF search field (Score:4, Informative)
However, I think it's good that Yahoo is making a FF toolbar. It's just a sign of Firefox's acceptance in the market--that's a good thing.
Yeah, well (Score:3, Interesting)
NOT useless (Score:5, Interesting)
I use it for the bookmarks, which are then common on any firefox or IE computer with the toolbar, but it also has shortcuts to useful Yahoo! tools like briefcase, calendar etc.
Firefox's search box is bad UI design (Score:2)
In Firefox you have to move your hand to the right, click on the small text bar and type in the search term, which also annoyingly stays there until you manually clear it. It also wastes space; there's no need for a second text box. (I mention moving your hand right because you can feel more stress on your tendons than m
Re:Firefox's search box is bad UI design (Score:3, Informative)
Control-L, and Tab.
Unless you were referring to moving the mouse pointer to that segment of the window. Then I would be complaining about having to move my mouse to the left for the address bar!
Re:Firefox's search box is bad UI design (Score:2)
The point is, by creating two text bars they have added unneeded complexity to the interface. More control does not have to mean more clutter. This is a major tenet of Apple design. The iPod is a classic example. Why have separate buttons for every function when a more streamlined interface is available that is at once both more elegant and
Re:Firefox's search box is bad UI design (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Firefox's search box is bad UI design (Score:2)
Re:Firefox's search box is bad UI design (Score:2)
g some-phrase some random words
into the location bar, and up pops the search results. If you don't already have the google quicksearch bookmark, make one with the location:
http://www.google.com/search?q=%s
- note that you can do this with any search by substituting the search terms with %s,
So they have one too.. (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a feature contest. Neither one wants to be the one with the less features.
Aero
Yahoo! -- Now with more stupid, poorly-written, inferior features!
Sidenote: I am a regular Yahoo! Mail user.
Re:So they have one too.. (Score:2)
Umm. It's not a search toolbar. You could already search on Yahoo! using Firefox.
Yes, you can search from this toolbar, but it's actually tied in to their My Yahoo! service, for which their is no Google equivalent. It's actually quite useful.
That being said, I agree that enither one wants to be the one with less features.
google yahoo (Score:2)
Who uses the Yahoo toolbar? (Score:2, Informative)
I use the Google toolbar, too. I almost immediately install both when I starting using a new system, though if real estate is scarce, I'll skip the Google toolbar. Having the Yahoo toolbar available on Firefox removes a big roadblock to using Firefox regularly.
Is there a point to this? (Score:2)
Is there a point to these toolbars that I'm missing?
I visited a relative recently who is running Windows and IE still, and who had no less than 5 different "toolbars" on their browser.
Frankly, I don't see the point at all. I haven't seen a single thing that any of these toolbars add which bookmarks and the built-in search field in Firefox don't, other than a whole lot of useless clutter. Indeed, most Winndows/IE users I know who have all of these bars installed don't even use them (and often don't remem
Re:Is there a point to this? (Score:2)
Re:Is there a point to this? (Score:2)
Re:Is there a point to this? (Score:2)
what is yahoo? (Score:2)
Functionality (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Functionality (Score:2)
But I still use the unofficial Yahoo Toolbar for FF- it's configurable, and I use enough Yahoo services (though typically not search) that it's worth having.
IMHO, Yahoo services (address book, etc.) tend not to be the best available, but are generally good enough and pretty convenient.
what the? (Score:2)
Does anyone use yahoo these days? I thought it was only usful for school kidies (as its what i used to use
Updates As Often As Messenger (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Updates As Often As Messenger (Score:2)
Re:Updates As Often As Messenger (Score:2)
What if..... (Score:3, Funny)
I'd tell you but (Score:3, Funny)
I've been using it for a month or so... (Score:2)
BTW, I still mostly use Google for searching, too.
Speak for yourself, not me. (Score:3, Interesting)
No it's not. I actually hate it. Somebody obviously thought it would be a good idea, but couldn't think of a good place to put it. It's too small. It's stuck up there on the right when most people's focus (esp. left-to-right readers) starts at the top left. This is an even bigger issue on larger higher resolution screens. Let's be honest, it's just crap.
I install Mozdev.org's Googlebar. It works much better, although I tend to hide all the annoying icons.
Re:Speak for yourself, not me. (Score:2)
OSS Yahoo! Toolbar (Score:2, Informative)
Peter Buergner, Dave Viner, Brian Kennelly and a host of others have created an excellent alternative for folks who like the functionality of the Yahoo! Toolbar but prefer Firefox/Mozilla. The current version (0.54) is a bit out of date - a new version should be hitting the servers soon. It is much further along than the of
Less clutter (Score:2)
I've installed additional search features to scan for IMDB entries, Dictionary.com and eBay.
Not saying Yahoo! search bar is a bad thing, but the reason I don't like some extra plugins is they take up another line of space at the top of the browser - lean is key!
If works on Linux, acknowledgement might be nice (Score:2)
It's been pointed out that this toolbar works fine on Linux; of course it does, since it's written for the browser. People are asking why Yahoo! didn't acknowledge this on their download page, and the answer (probably an accurate asessment of Yahoo!'s thinking) is that there may be bugs and they don't want to get a flood of complaints. I don't buy this.
For too long companies have had the power to provide information for unsupported users (read: Linux) but have avoided this for fear that it might be cons
Question (Score:2)
What I want to know is, does it have spyware? I seem to remember Yahoo! being in cahoots with some spyware jockeys a year or so ago.
What will this do to Firefox's reputation? I trust firefox and I advocate it heavily to all and sundry. But now, if toolbars like this contain spyware or malware, won't that just turn Firefox into another security hole?
Re:Why (Score:5, Funny)
Web search? Check. Email? Check. RSS feeds? Check. Popup blocker? Check.
Oh wait, there's one thing Firefox doesn't have: Yahoo Personals, Shopping, Games, Music, and whatever crap is there that I don't want.
Re:Why (Score:5, Informative)
You're right, there really is no functionality that the Yahoo toolbar adds to Firefox that's not already there (or available as an extension). But that's not why this story is important.
Microsoft's IE has had such a stranglehold on the browser market since the demise, resurrection, and crapification of Netscape that other browsers were not even on people's radar. Companies with formidible online presences only coded for IE, since that would effectively reach something like 99% of their potential audience; the other 1% using a different browser, such as the intrepid folks on Slashdot, probably didn't even want the product the company was offering anyway.
Fortunately for the internet population, Microsoft's strategy of "ease of use is more important than security" backfired, and their browser was eventually poked full of holes, exploited, and overrun with online annoyances. The next time someone came along with a browser that was both easy to use and secure, the public embraced it. Again, as luck would have it, the first people on the scene were open-source advocates: people with a firm grasp of software architecture, security, and standards adherance.
This story is important because it is Firefox's first foray into the mainstream. We geeks have been championing Firefox for some time now, and the fact that companies with worthless products are integrating with FireFox is a Good Thing (tm). It means that we have a sizeable enough market share to warrant some coding time and money.
Re:Why? Two words: (Score:2, Informative)
I have both the google and the yahoo toolbars. I use google for searches and yahoo for bookmarks, and the mail notification in yahoo toolbar is nice.
Where is that cool article-on-whatever-I-was-reading that I want to show a buddy or a user on their computer? That's right, I go to http://bookmarks.yahoo.com, log on and viola! there it is...
Re:Why? Two words: (Score:2)
Re:Why (Score:2)
This is probably why, as you noted, Yahoo!'s results are more relevant.
Re:Why (Score:2)
Re:exactly what firefox users DON'T want (Score:2)
Don't forget to recite your Open-Source prayer and throw a dart at Bill Gates' portrait on your wall before taking your tinfoil hat to go to bed tonite...