1. General

1.1. For whom is Mozilla 1.5 intended?

Mozilla 1.5 is for everyone. And we mean everyone. Mozilla is open source, which means it is made possible by a large community of developers, supporters, and users like you. While you enjoy our software, please consider joining and contributing to the Mozilla community.

We also welcome anybody to freely alter and redistribute Mozilla under the terms of the Mozilla Public Licence.

1.2. Why are there so many versions of Mozilla? And which version should I choose?

Mozilla follows fast development, with milestone releases made according to the development roadmap. As of year 2003, Mozilla is released on a quarterly schedule.

1.3. What are the differences between Netscape 7 and Mozilla?

Netscape 7.1 is based on Mozilla 1.4. Both applications share almost the identical features, such as tabbed browsing, custom keywords, and Sidebar. Exceptions are additions of proprietary features such as the support for Netscape WebMail and AOL mail. In general, Netscape 7 and Mozilla will display Web pages and read mail the same.

1.4. How do I install a newer version of Mozilla?

First, uninstall Mozilla, as detailed for your operating system in the Mozilla 1.5 Release Notes, then install the new version. You should never install a new version of Mozilla over a previous one.

If your plug-ins folder is inside the Mozilla application folder, you may wish to save it elsewhere beforehand so as to restore it after reinstalling. You can also keep your plug-ins folder in your profile. Go to Help | About Plug-ins to see the locations of the plug-ins Mozilla is currently using.

Uninstalling Mozilla this way will leave your profile and your user preferences intact. You may lose access to some add-ins and have to reinstall them.

If you have problems with a new installation of Mozilla, see the Troubleshooting Guide and the Getting Started Guide.

1.5. Where do I download patches for Mozilla?

Stable releases of Mozilla are stable and secure and normally do not require updates. (In fact, Mozilla 1.0 only has two maintainance releases one year after release.)

mozilla.org does not release patches. If you want new features such as the spell checker, you should either install an add-on or get the next stable milestone release.

1.6. Where can I get add-ons for Mozilla functionality?

See the add-ons page. A large number of development projects can be found at mozdev.org.

1.7. What keyboard shortcuts are there?

You can see keyboard shortcuts in the on-screen Help (Help | Help Contents).

1.8. How do I turn on this ‘hidden preference’ I’ve heard about?

As well as the preferences found under Edit | Preferences (Mac OS X: Mozilla | Preferences), the advanced user has fine control over a tremendous number of Mozilla parameters. To access and modify these advanced preferences, enter about:config in the Location Bar.

Improper configuration may cause Mozilla to malfunction. Your preferences are stored in file prefs.js in your profile. Be sure to back up this file before you use about:config. Also read Customizing Mozilla, Hidden Mail Compose Prefs and Hidden Address Book Prefs.

You may also use the MozTweak or Preferential add-on for a more user-friendly interface.

1.9. Does Mozilla include crash recovery?

A crash recovery project is in development at http://recall.mozdev.org/.

1.10. Can I use AOL Instant Messenger directly in Mozilla, like in Netscape?

AIM is a proprietary AOL product and is integrated only with Netscape. You can still use the stand-alone version of AIM, or the Java version (if you have the Java plug-in installed).

There is also a Jabber instant messaging client for Mozilla in development at Jabberzilla.

1.11. Will uninstalling Netscape 4.x affect Mozilla?

Mozilla uses plug-ins from the Netscape 4 plug-in folder if it is present (except on Mac OS X native builds); uninstalling Netscape 4 may remove these plug-ins. You may need to copy your Netscape 4 plug-ins to the Mozilla plug-in folder before uninstalling Netscape 4. Go to Help | About Plug-ins to see where the plug-ins Mozilla is currently using are actually stored.

1.12. What Mozilla news and advocacy resources are there?

These sites contain Mozilla news and resources: