Originally posted March 8, 2010
I have to admit, my favorite browser is Firefox, for many reasons. It is more secure, faster and less of a pain in the tail than Internet Explorer.
You don't need to remove Internet Explorer from your system if you decide to download and install Firefox. Just install it and use Firefox instead. Leave Internet Explorer alone. It won't hurt a thing to have two browsers handy. You will just find yourself using Firefox more.
If you don't have it already, you can find (and read more about) Firefox at mozilla.com. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
The first thing to do if you are new to Firefox is make sure your settings are the way you want. Here is a brief rundown on mine:
- Click the word Tools at the top of the Firefox screen, then Options. When the options window appears, click the word Tabs at the top to see your tab options. Make sure you have Always show the tab bar checked. I love tabs in Firefox. You can browse till your blue, have several tabs open (each on a different website) and still be in the same (one) window. Firefox tabs seem to be a bit less of a drain on your computer resources than the ones in Internet Explorer. In fact in the tabs option area, I have all checked except Warn me when closing multiple tabs.
- Click the word Main (special note... the new version of Firefox now says General) at the top of the options window and in the Send files to area, click the Browse button and make sure your Desktop is selected and showing in that box. That way any time you download something, it will automatically go to your Desktop. Things are so much easier to find there, and once you have decided if you want to keep whatever you downloaded permanently, you can always move it to a permanent home in a folder in your Documents area.
Find the address box at the top of the Firefox window (it has http://webaddress in it) and click in it once so the entire existing web site address is highlighted. Immediately (don't click anything else) type manybooks.net and press the Enter key on your keyboard. Browse around a bit when you get there. It is an amazing site.
When you find a book you may be interested in, click either the title or the cover image. This will take you to a special page for the book with more information. Look for the (orange) Download box to the right of this page. Just below the word Download, there is a little white box with the words select format with an arrow directly to the right. Click the little arrow to see a drop down with choices of different formats you can download this book in. Some will have more choices than others, but the formats native to the Kindle, (meaning they will work right on the Kindle without any converting) are Kindle (.azw), Mobipocket (.prc), Mobipocket (.mobi), and Plain Text (.txt). Choose the format you want to download your book in by left clicking on it once. It will replace the words select format in the little white box above.
Once you have the file format you want, click the Download button (in the same area). A new (small) window will appear. Make sure you click the little circle next to the words Save File and take a peek at the box to the right in that window and make sure Desktop is where it is going to go. When your file is finished downloading, you will see a final Downloads list window. This is just a record of all the files you have downloaded to date. I like to click the Clear List button frequently. You can X out of this window and your Firefox browser when you are finished downloading your file.
You are ready to find your file and take it to your Kindle!
Special Note: Pdf files will also work on your Kindle, but you might find they look better on the larger Kindle DX than on the smaller Kindle.
Taking it to the Kindle...
Find your book file on your Desktop, right click on it and choose Copy. Then connect your Kindle to your computer with the USB cable. Once connected, you should see a window with choices appear. Choose Open folder to view files with a single left click.
