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Yahoo! Releases Firefox version of Toolbar
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."
Everyone knows that Firefox is a great tool for the community (well, everybody who uses Firefox, anyway). What the Firefox people should try to in their marketing, though, is by showcasing how their openness can help corporations. If such toolbars could be easy as hell to make, a lot of companies with an online presence out there would be willing to give it a shot. Good for the company who has an easy way to search their products, good for firefox for being the middleman, good for the consumer who wants to search those products, and no harm to everybody else since you don't HAVE to install the toolbar...
When cleaning up customer's computers, the Yahoo toolbar is on my list of things to uninstall. I find that most times users have no idea how it got there. I replace it with the google toolbar.
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.
Humor from a Genetically Molested Mind
In the past, the main reason I have avoided Yahoo is simply because of all the ads. They slowed down the search to a crawl, and I could barely find any content amongst the ads.
:)
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 for FireFox.
I agree. What can this toolbar do that Firefox cannot already do or existing extensions cannot already do?
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.
The significance I think which is going unnoticed is that someone thinks it is worth it to support something other than Internet Explorer. Perhaps, this can spread?
I don't practice what I preach because I'm not the kind of person that I'm preaching to.
It really sucked when they had their jackbooted thugs kick down my door, hogtie me, and install their extension.
Even worse: for some reason I can't uninstall it!
Oh the humanity!
--
the strongest word is still the word "free"
Has it occurred to anyone that the only reason Yahoo! might release a search bar could be so that the lack one can't be used against them? I know this sounds stupid, but hearing a user say "I use Google instead of Yahoo! Search because Yahoo! doesn't have a toolbar" is a likely reason enough for Yahoo! to release an inferior search toolbar. Just so they can say they have one too.
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.
Please stop hurting America -- Jon Stewart
This isn't about providing a service to existing users, many of whom are, on average, probably a little more savvy than the average internet user. It's about getting new users who are used to using IE.
Exactly, I've been holding off on switching my parents secretly to Firefox for a long time now. Why? Because they use Yahoo! Toolbar for IE. It would be an obvious switch, and I don't want it to be that obvious for them. With this toolbar, however, I think I could secretly swap browsers without them even noticing.
They are very conservative, and they think I'm crazy when I mention that there are other products besides ones that Microsoft makes. They are completely oblivious to almost everything, and to a certain extent think if they stray away from their daily routine, they are breaking the law in some way (yeah, I know)...
They don't realize how much freedom actually exists in the world, and it's scary at times to think what it would be like to live like them.