If you’re like most people, you use Internet Explorer as your default browser. But there are other browsers out there that are just as good—or even better—than IE. If you’re looking to switch to one of these browsers, here’s how to do it: First, download Firefox or Chrome. (If you’re using a Mac, Safari is a good option.) Once you have the browser downloaded, open it up and click the “File” menu item. From here, select “New Window.” In the “Window Title” field, type “Firefox/Chrome Downloader.” Click OK to close the window. Now that we have our window open, we need to set up some preferences. To do this, click on the “Tools” menu item and select “Preferences.” In the Preferences window, click on the “Advanced” tab and under the heading “Browsers,” select Firefox or Chrome. (If you’re using a Mac, Safari will be listed under “Other Browsers.”) Next, in the General section of Preferences (underneath Browser Type), make sure that both Firefox and Chrome are selected as your default browsers. Finally, in the Downloads section of Preferences (underneath Advanced), make sure that both Firefox and Chrome are selected as your downloaders. That’s all there is to it! When you want to download something from a website—like an article or video—just hit Ctrl+D (Cmd+D on a Mac) in Firefox or Chrome and your browser will automatically start downloading the file! ..
Now that Internet Explorer has officially dropped below 50% market share, it’s high time that we rename it to a more fitting title: Google Chrome Downloader, or if you prefer, Firefox Downloader.
Obviously this is a very stupid geek trick, and the reality is that Internet Explorer 9 is a very capable browser that works well. But don’t spoil our fun!
Renaming Internet Explorer to Firefox/Chrome Downloader
The first thing you’ll want to do is open up regedit.exe through the Start Menu search or Run box, and browse down to the following key:
Once there, create a new String key on the right-hand side, call it Window Title, and set the text to Chrome Downloader, Firefox Downloader, or something else entirely.
You should probably also open up the properties pane on any IE shortcuts and change the General tab to the new text.
Next, you should change the home page of Internet Explorer to the Chrome or Firefox download page:
Awesome Results
Now that you’ve done the rename and closed all the IE windows, you can launch it again and see that the title is really changed everywhere, including Alt-Tab:
And even Task Manager:
If you’re the techie fix-it guy in your family, all you have to do is set this up on everybody’s computer, and they won’t be confused again.
