Newbie to Firefox

I was getting tired of IE, so I decided to give firefox a try. First thing I've noticed is it's much faster than IE for browsing, and the download manager is nice. I have a few questions though:

1) When a new version is available, do I have to uninstall and re-install the new version?

2) To keep my computer safe, would I have to worry about script or running javascript in firefox? In IE i've disable this due to the flaw reported.

3) What are some disadvantages using firefox compared to IE?

Overall what else should a newbie to firefox know?

Thanks

-J

 

To answer some of your questions

Do I have to Install a new version of Firefox each time?

I do. But you don't have to, you just go to tools > options > select the 'advanced' tab > scroll down to 'software update' and click 'check now' (but make sure the box next to 'Firefox' has a green check mark in it). This will update Firefox. I find that uninstalling the old version of FF and reinstalling a new version works better for me. Also I can keep the installer that way incase I need to reinstall it later for some reason.

I just disable java and javascript in Firefox at all times and only enable them if I need to, so I don't have to worry about any possible flaws using javascript.

Some disadvantages to using FF over IE is some websites will only display images correctly with IE (not the fault of FF though) and when using Firefox they may be somewhat garbled and messed up. I've not run into too many websites displaying with this minor problem while using the Fox.

But the safety benefits of using FF far outweigh any minor inconvenience that you may incounter while using the Fox. If you do run into a webpage that is not displaying properly (words and sentences running over one another ect..) you can switch to IE if you need to for just that website.

What else should a newbie of the Fox know?

Well for one it is far safer than IE. It's faster, as you stated, and a better all around browser than IE. It's tabbed browsing is so good, it is being used in IE 7 which is coming out this summer sometime for XP users.

I like FFs many extensions available that make using the Fox such a joy. I hope you enjoy the switch over to FF, I know I did.