firefox vs safari on mac

TheDen · #1 11-01-2009

I just switched from Windows to Mac and have a little learning curve. I downloaded firefox and have it set as my default browser but have some shortcuts or whatever they call them on a mac. Some of my shortcuts are the sites I use when listing. When I click on the shortcuts they open Safari. I have messed with it for hours and the only way I can get Firefox is to open it and then open the sites from within firefox. I don't want to have to use bookmarks, I know I could go that route.

2 questions.....

1. What Im I doing wrong.

2. Would it be easier and is it safe to use safari since I am using a ⊗⊗⊗⊗ name and have used eBay Stealth to get on to eBay?

Thanks for the help
Denise

Here We Go Again · #2 11-01-2009

Hey Denise,

If you have the shortcuts sitting on your desktop, just as a icon, here is how you get them swapped to open with Firefox...

1 - Click on the shortcut 1 time to get it selected or highlighted.
2 - Left click on it once to get the drop down menu to appear.
3 - In the menu go down to "Get Info" and another window will pop up. This is the info for this file ONLY
4 - About 1/2 way down you will see a section named "Open With" and it will have a dropdown bar there.
5 - Open it and select "Other"
6 - Now another new window will show up.
7 - You need to locate FireFox where you installed it.
8 - Once you locate the Firefox.app file click on it once to select it and hit the add button.
9 - You will be pushed back to the "Get Info" window now.
10 - You have now changed just that single file to always open with Firefox.
11 - If you want ALL shortcuts of this bookmark style to open with FireFox then in the "Get info" window press the "Change All" button

This sounds like a long and draw out process but it really is not.

Let me know where you get lost or stuck

TheDen · #3 11-05-2009

Thanks for the help....sometimes the smallest things can be so pesty.

I followed the great directions which were not long at all. When i get to the screen to locate Firefox it is grayed out so I had to select the drop down instead of Recommended Applications to All Applications to select Firefox. I changed the browser area to Firefox and thought I was going to be in luck but not. The short cuts are just a gray box with "exec" in the upper left hand corner. When I click on them the "download" file opens with the name of the folder I am trying to open there with URL changed to a name like this "file:///Users/Denise/Downloads/Wieman.url" When I go through file finder and click on the same Firefox shortcut it opens up Firefox fine. There is an Opera browser to select and if I select that one it works OK but not Firefox.

I already LUV MY MAC! I pondered Windows 7 vs MAC and just decided I was sick of Windows for all the usual reasons and decided I would take the Mac plunge. I have had my MacBookPro for about 3 weeks now and couldn't be happier with it. There are some things I am sort of struggling with but it is me not the computer!! Yee ha!

Here We Go Again · #4 11-05-2009

You can NOT try to select the Firefox shortcut.
You must select the original program.
If you did not install it in a weird place, then the original program will be located in your hard-drive>Applications folder.
Try the process I told you above but add the "Recommended Applications to All Applications" swap. and look for the original Firefox program.
Then let me know if it works.