Google Toolbar for Firefox Released 277
fizz writes "Google has released their toolbar, available in 10 languages for the Firefox browser, and available for 3 operating systems (Windows, Mac and Linux). You can download it from the Google Toolbar homepage, and you can read the Google Blog for more information." Reported on recently here on Slashdot.
That's great and all (Score:5, Funny)
Re:That's great and all (Score:4, Funny)
Re:That's great and all (Score:5, Funny)
Who says microsoft doesn't do cross platform, I got a cross platform virus people, years before java.
Re:That's great and all (Score:2)
This was a port of Word 5.0 for DOS.
Word macro viruses and alternate OSs.... (Score:4, Interesting)
[by the way the Mac of the time, while far more secure than the windows of the time, certainly had its share of problems. The autostart worm was a particularly nasty one that I was lucky enough never to get bit by. ]
Re:That's great and all (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:That's great and all (Score:2)
Re:That's great and all (Score:4, Funny)
Re:That's great and all (Score:2)
Yahoo has a toolbar for FF,
there is/was the PRGooglebar for FF,
now Google has officially released a toolbar for FF,
MSN is really last again and I wonder if they'll release a tool for FF for search.
I also wonder if Google went ahead and did this to kind of force MS to support the competition.
Re:That's great and all (Score:2)
Re:That's great and all (Score:3, Funny)
Re:That's great and all (Score:2, Funny)
Technically, it's not a dupe.... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Technically, it's not a dupe.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Technically, it's not a dupe.... (Score:2)
Re:Technically, it's not a dupe.... (Score:4, Funny)
Checksum, duh.
Re:Technically, it's not a dupe.... (Score:2)
Re:Technically, it's not a dupe.... (Score:2, Funny)
Slashdot is starting to suck so bad that the userbase is not longer submitting worthy stories (as witnessed by the crappy articles that have been posted lately). But the problem is even worse than first suspected. The submission rate is so low, that they must create filler inbetween the crap stories. This filler usually consists of dupes of the almost good to fairly good stories.
Re:Technically, it's not a dupe.... (Score:2)
Remember long ago when they appeared here first, and the other rags copied the /. stories the next day?
Re:Technically, it's not a dupe.... (Score:2)
Now I have spell-checking in Slashdot! Yay!
Its cool (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Its cool (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Its cool (Score:2)
Re:Its cool (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Its cool (Score:2)
Yeah, because nobody ever created a spellchecker extension for firefox before, such as SpellBound [sourceforge.net]
And to think, there wasn't a dedicated Google search bar in firefox before, either
Re:Its cool (Score:2)
Re:Its cool (Score:3)
The only problem I have with it is the doube google search box.
get rid of it and do it the smart [mozilla.org] way.note to knee-jerkers: before you jump allover yourselves, no it does not defeat the purpose, because the google toolbar isnt just for searching, it has a lot of other goodness too.
Re:Its cool (Score:2)
My complaint is that I still use Windows 98se as my windows box, not XP. I guess I can't expect them to support a 7 year old OS, but it would be cool of them to do so. Oh well. The reasons to 'upgrade' are starting to add up.
It works on Linux!! (Score:4, Interesting)
Does this mean that Google is going to migrate some more of their products from Google Labs http://labs.google.com/ [google.com] on linux now?
Re:It works on Linux!! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:It works on Linux!! (Score:4, Informative)
Foogle-Gox and the future: (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Foogle-Gox and the future: (Score:2, Interesting)
Other toolbars? (Score:4, Interesting)
Does anyone have suggestions for other toolbars that are useful that work in Firefox? I am sure auto-complete is just scratching the surface. ( That's really all I use the google toolbar for anyway...in IE)
Re:Other toolbars? (Score:2)
Re:Other toolbars? (Score:2)
Google /.'ed (Score:2, Funny)
I've never seen google... (Score:2)
Opera? (Score:2)
Other (Google) Firefox Extensions (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Other (Google) Firefox Extensions (Score:2)
Re:Other (Google) Firefox Extensions (Score:2)
That they can theoretically secretly record what you search with via Google Suggest and hide the fact deep in some agreement you agree to? What stops them from doing the same when you search via the regular google.com? Heck, there's even evidence [google.com] they do.
"Toolbars" make me uncomfortable... (Score:5, Insightful)
I know Google tracks and logs every search query by IP address, but it's these persistent session pieces like the GMail cookies, "Personalized results" etc, that I find scarier. And what's more, a large number of people tend to use their full names as Email IDs (moreso for an attractive email service like GMail, which can be used as a formal email account for most purposes), which gives Google a way to directly map People Names to Google Searches.
Re:"Toolbars" make me uncomfortable... (Score:4, Interesting)
Not quite, Google sets a cookie on your computer that uniquely tracks you regardless of what IP you're browsing from. Not only that, but that cookie will probably outlast your hardware. The expiry on my Google cookie as reported by Konqueror, expires: 30/11/37 07:00 pm. You might want to invest in another layer of tinfoil there...
Re:"Toolbars" make me uncomfortable... (Score:2)
Does your firewall detect any new outbound connections via Firefox if one have installed Google Toolbar to sites you aren't visiting, besides when sending searches to Google? It should be easy enough to check if it tracks e.g. your "online activity" and form information.
Re:"Toolbars" make me uncomfortable... (Score:3, Funny)
Not enough features.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Not enough features.. (Score:5, Insightful)
This isn't rocket science. When hiring offshore IT talent, does Google translate its requirements via http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en [google.com] ?
Re:Not enough features.. (Score:2)
I can't stand using Firefox on another computer especially with a lower resolution!
might as well (Score:5, Funny)
Great! (Score:2)
any way to move it? (Score:3, Interesting)
Too late... (Score:5, Interesting)
For example, for instant Google searches, Firefox allows you to create Keyword Searches in which you can just type in, in my case, "g <search query>" in the URL bar. Or for Wikipedia it is "w <search query>". For word highlighting you can just use Firefox's search functionality. And finally, for AutoFill you can use the AutoFill [mozdev.org] extension (which ends up being better than Google's anyway IMO).
So basically, Firefox has rendered the Google toolbar pretty useless to me.
Re:Too late... (Score:2)
*sigh*
Make a wild guess which browser had this feature first.
Re:Too late... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Too late... (Score:2)
With SS installed, when you highlight a word and right-click on it, you don't just see "web search for...". Instead, a submenu opens up that lets you search for the word specifically on those sites you have already specified via the bookmark keywords.
- AJ
All Fluff. (Score:3, Informative)
Great news (Score:2, Funny)
Great!
What's the benefit? (Score:3, Insightful)
Obviously the google toolbar offers a few bells and whistles, but I'll never use them. I just want to search.
So, the Google toolbar for IE makes sense, this one not so much.
Am I missing something?
Are those bells and whistles something worth sacrificing half an inch of screen real estate?
Re:What's the benefit? (Score:2)
As a tech I will say that all toolbars suck and are probably spyware. When pushed I will admit that Google and Yahoo probably are not but why trust them?
Re:What's the benefit? (Score:5, Informative)
That said, IIRC, Google has not included pop-up blocking in the Firefox version, because Firefox already has pop-up blocking.
Re:What's the benefit? (Score:2)
If you ever clicked on a pop-up you have spyware!
Re:What's the benefit? (Score:2)
Gee, google, that's swell (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Gee, google, that's swell (Score:3, Informative)
How long before... (Score:2)
Re:How long before... (Score:2)
How 'bout never?
Not only are they aware of googlebar, but they are apparently appreciative of the product and have been modestly supporting it with a link from the official Google bar page:
Letter from Google to googlebar [mozdev.org]
Re:How long before... (Score:2)
Its was in Feb 2005 that someone at google requested that the name be changed and that the logo be changed. Only the logo was changed. I wish I could dig up the legal letter, but I recall the agreement basically said we can change our minds at anytime. (ie; there really was no legal agreement).
Re:How long before... (Score:2)
Even if they did, though, it would be within their rights; hardly "evil".
Far from as useful as on IE (Score:4, Interesting)
AutoLink -- US use only; most stuff don't work outside US, and even then a limited usefulness
WordTranslator -- limited use; only useful if you must understand e.g. a french site, and even if you do, there are non-toolbar extensions for this
Pop-up blocker -- integrated
AutoFill -- as far as I can see, Firefox' form saving system works well enough here
SpellCheck -- useful!
PageRank -- why should I have a use for it? diagnosing rank issues with my own sites? seems like highly limited use
Highlight search terms -- integrated
Word find -- integrated
An entirely new toolbar for this? Hmm... I can get the spell checking elsewhere [sourceforge.net] without one, and besides that, it seems a bit much.
googlebar (Score:2)
The only cool thing about this... (Score:2)
Translate function... (Score:2)
Missing backwards link and cache link? (Score:2)
Re:Missing backwards link and cache link? (Score:2)
One reason to use it... (Score:2)
Mozilla? (Score:2)
Thanks in advance.
Re:Mozilla? (Score:2)
Two other extensions released (Score:2)
They also released an extension with 'suggestions', just like at Google Suggest [google.com].
Get them both, along with the toolbar, at http://toolbar.google.com/firefox/extensions/ [google.com]
Ah! Finally gmail-style spel checking! (Score:2)
Goodbye Spellbound! Thank you very much for your service, it was well appreciated, but you made me look the fool too many times in forum posts. I still love you but Google's spell checker is more thexy :)
I dunno... (Score:2)
Conversly, I installed the Google Toolbar from http://googlebar.mozdev.org/ [mozdev.org] and absolutly no problems at all...
Re:I dunno... (Score:2)
One question: Is there any way to tell what things in firefox (or mozilla) are running what cpu-eating things? I've got the Prefbar and Flashblock installed; I'm blocking image animation, java, javascript and flash, and still FF and mozilla are each eating 10% to 20% of my cpu.
It likely has something to do with a lot of tabs I have open to sites that I'm following. Presumably the cpu us
Guess I'll just have to bite the bullet ... (Score:3, Interesting)
I made the mistake of deciding to give it a try on my Mac Powerbook (10.3.9). Bad mistake. This was typed to the Camino browser, because now my FF is all but unusable.
To use an example that
So I tried opening a new FF window, using CMD-N as usual. Nothing. I tried it a few more times. Nada. No errors, no windows. I guessed that CMD-N was dead.
So I started playing with a few other things in the
WTF?
Then, after maybe 10 minutes, a set of blank windows suddenly appeared. So CMD-N isn't dead; it just takes 10 minutes. Now, I'd gotten used to FF taking 30 seconds on OSX, unlike my (slower
Then, a few minutes later I saw a whole lot of menus flashing above the FF window where I was viewing
So it looks like I'll have to hunt down this Toolbar and excise it. Too bad I didn't get a chance to try it. Well, actually, I did. I typed in a search string and hit Return - and the window became a zombie. And my cpu was pegged at 100%, with Activity Monitor saying that Firefox was hung. I got my cpu back by hitting the little 'x' "close" icon for the window, and after a minute or so it went away, and cpu usage dropped.
I wonder where I can find the docs on removing the little monster? I'd sure like my firefox back.
Ah; that's so much better! (Score:2)
And they didn't work. There were two ways listed, and both failed for the same reason. They seemed to want to pop up a new window to handle the job - and the window never appeared. Not even after 15 minutes of letting the "busy" icon spin.
Furthermore, attempting to get such a window put FF into an even more bizarre state that I've ne
Re:Ah; that's so much better! (Score:2)
Useless (Score:2)
Looked At The Features List (Score:2)
Didn't see a single thing I need to use.
Already got Google search on my address bar as it is with Firefox.
And I can already spell.
Never need to translate words FROM English, and any software I've seen translating INTO English sucks.
Rest of the stuff is just worthless to me.
Oh, well. I only have four Firefox extensions installed (Flashblock, keyconfig, Download Manager Tweak, and Netcraft Toolbar - and the latter is of questionable value until I actually find a suspicious site being flagged) as it is.
Superb dictionary! (Score:2, Informative)
Now is my first time to use Google toolbar (or any other browser toolbar add-on), and I find the dictionary superb!
I'm running Japanese firefox and it translates any English word that I hover my mouse on into Japanese. And Firefox doesn't seem slowed down one bit! The "magic" of AJAX, I suppose...
Now to see if it translates other languages into Japanese... ^_^
Re:Poor, poor Zonk (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Poor, poor Zonk (Score:2)
Slashdot is a tough crowd to please; furthermore, it seems that there are many who don't even want to be pleased, and will go out of their way to make sure it's that way for everyone.
Re:Firefox, that the other browser for windows rig (Score:2)
Re:Firefox, that the other browser for windows rig (Score:2)
My BeOS partition uses it, so it must have a high percentage of that market as well.
Re:Firefox and Searchbars... (Score:2)
Re:What about Konqueror? (Score:2)
"Demand?" (Score:2)
I'm not particularly a fan of Google (though I use and enjoy their services every day), but this kind of behavior towards a company that's releasing a Linux product is not very nice.
Re:Slashdot promotes spyware (Score:5, Funny)
Wow, imagine that, google needing to know which page you're viewing so it can 1) show you a cache of that page, 2) show links to the current page, or 3) show pages related to the one you're viewing.
How on earth could they do this without knowing what page you're viewing?
Re:Slashdot promotes spyware (Score:4, Funny)
How on earth could they do this without knowing what page you're viewing?
By sending you the information for every page on the Internet, then allowing you to pick the page you want client-side, of course.
(Note: may not be practical.)
Re:Mine installed in German! (Score:2)
Any idea how to fix this? Uninstalling, thankfully, seems to help with the language issue, but I'm interested in having the tool...
Re:Mine installed in German! (Score:2)
So, to be clear, if anyone else has Germanic trouble:
1) Install the plugin
2) Restart Firefox. It & the plugin will come up in German.
3) Do whatever's necessary to get past the opening dialog in German
4) Close Firefox
5) Run firefox again and it will be in English.
I am, of course, presuming that you don't *want* your Firefox to be in German. If you do, stop at number 2.
Re:PRGooleBar ahead of Google Corp. (Score:2)
PageRank, the directory buttons, and the history of things entered in the search box are the three most important features I use.
I especially like pagerank. For one thing, I don't have to send a request to get pages spidered. Another reason is I like to see the popularity of sites I visit.