How do I make Firefox 3 my default Web browser?

When Mac OS X first came out, it was surprisingly difficult to change this sort of setting and people wrote all sorts of little utilities to let you access your Internet settings and preferences. Now, fortunately, while it's not easy to find this setting in a System Preference, it is easy to find it in a Web browser.

In fact, just about every modern browser has a spot somewhere in its preferences that lets you specify not only whether you want to have that browser as your default, but whether you want it to keep checking, each time you launch the program.

In Firefox 3, for example, go to Firefox --> Preferences... then choose the "Advanced" tab and the "General" subtab:

To change Firefox to the default browser on your Mac, simply click on "Check Now".

Want to ensure that it's always your default browser, not just this one time, then check "Always check to see if Firefox is the default browser on startup".

In Safari, by contrast, it's easier to find, though it looks different. Just go to Safari --> Preferences and then go to the "General" tab, and on the top you'll see:

Other browsers (including Camino) have similar settings. And that's all there is to it.