Firefox as Default Browswer in Thunderbird?

June 30, 2005 8:34 AM

How do I get Firefox to be the browser of choice for Thunderbird in OS X?

I'm running OS X on my iBook, with Firefox 1.0 and Thunderbird 1.0. I've set Firefox to be the default browser in OS X for .html and .htm files. However, links in Thunderbird messages and RSS feeds open up in Opera anyway. I've asked some more Mac-savvy friends than I, and they're also stumped. This is *really* annoying - doubly so since I just set up RSS feeds - and I'd be real apprecative if someone could rid me of this bother.

posted by absalom to computers & internet (9 comments total)

Go ino Safari and change the default browser under "general".
posted by dobbs at 8:36 AM on June 30, 2005

Within Safari, pull down the application menu ("Safari") and select "Preferences..."

Click once on the "General" button in the toolbar and select "Firefox" from the Default Web Browser pull-down menu.

If it is not listed, choose "Select" within this pull-down menu and navigate to the Applications folder to select Firefox.
posted by Rothko at 8:40 AM on June 30, 2005

Not for this particular problem but for people who are looking for a convenient way to change mime type/application associations in OSX there's Misfox.
posted by doctor_negative at 8:46 AM on June 30, 2005

Don't I feel silly! I checked everyone *but* opera. Thanks!
posted by absalom at 9:12 AM on June 30, 2005

You shouldn't feel silly; their putting the systemwide browser preference in a browser was a bad usability decision. (I was going to say dumb, and I think it's a dumb place to have the preference, but assuming their goal is to lock people into Safari, it's a smart, but shady, move.)
posted by kirkaracha at 9:50 AM on June 30, 2005

Thanks for that link doctor_negative! It'll come in handy.

I have a related question that perhaps someone in this thread would know about.

What's the Mac OSX equivalent to the File Type Association window in Windows Explorer? For instance, when I double-click a JPG copied from my digital camera, it opens in Preview. If I save this JPG in photoshop (still a JPG, not a PSD file), then the next time I click on it, it opens in Photoshop, instead of Preview.

What happened, and how do I fix it? I want to be able to control what program opens which files. I also want to better understand the mechanics behind this process.
posted by odinsdream at 10:39 AM on June 30, 2005

get info on that item.

You'll see a choice called "open with"

Mine is set for Preview (for jpgs).

Change the drop down to the app you want (so you're saving THAT ONE)...and you have the ability to change all.

I like preview - it's very very fast.
posted by filmgeek at 11:17 AM on June 30, 2005

Control-click on the file and select "Open With" to open a file with a different application that one instance.

You can also change system-wide associations by control-clicking on a file and selecting "Get Info".

Change the association within the "Open with" tab and click "Change all" to apply this association change across the system, i.e. to all files with this filtetype.
posted by Rothko at 11:18 AM on June 30, 2005

Thanks filmgeek and Rothko!
posted by odinsdream at 2:46 PM on June 30, 2005