More and more I'm experiencing problems with safari . . . I think. I got to a website, and click on something and that little rainbow wheel emerges, spinning, and doesn't stop for a few minutes or never.

Question

First, I'm assuming when the rainbow wheel appears, the computer is processing. Second, I'm seeing that almost anytime I click on one website, click on a tab in the website, or try to get out of safari. I don't know if seeing that more means my computer is not functioning properly, or that it's been on too long and needs to shut down, or what? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

You can use the Tab key to select a search engine on the bottom bar and press Enter to use the search engine to do the search.
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Search+bar
In the current Firefox 34 release there is a new "one-off" search bar.
This search bar doesn't show the name of the search engine and a logo.
You can type one letter to make a drop-down list appear where you can see suggestions and see the used search engine and that also has bar at the bottom where you can select other search engines that are enabled via the Search tab in Options/Preferences.
You can use the Tab key to select one of the other available search engines and press the Enter key to search with the selected search engine.
Click the search engine icon and click "Change Search Settings" to open the Search tab in Options/Preferences (positioned between Tabs and Content) to select the default search engine and select which search engines to show in the search bar drop-down list that opens when you start typing search terms.