Firefox
I’ve been using Windows Internet Explorer since I bought my first ever computer way back in 1997 right before I started college. What a time of joy it was to be using such a great machine and looking at information from all over the world using this simple, easy to use browser. Even today through all the updates and changes, this browser packs a lot of punches for almost nothing and is almost completely unbeatable.
Recently, I don’t know if you’ve noticed all of the relatively negative attention Internet Explorer has gotten but because of it, there have been probably around 8 different patches released to the public through Windows Update that have all but fixed the problem. So, as a result of these very serious problems that have always plagued the browser but just recently came to the attention of the public, much attention has been given to a newer browser, one that is only a year old but has made a huge impact on Windows users. It’s called Mozilla Firefox.
I decided a few weeks ago that it might be worth my time to go ahead and trust the CERT’s warnings about these serious conditions which exist in IE because of the private and confidential data which I regularly obtain through the Internet, such as bank statements, credit card statements, e-mail, and similar info. Please realize this – I hate Netscape with a passion. I think it’s such a waste of time for anyone who uses it. It’s confusing, it’s slow, Internet Explorer can do the EXACT same things that Netscape can do, but much better. That said, Firefox is made from the same people who developed Netscape. So I had my doubts about it.
After downloading it and using it for a little while, I really couldn’t get into it. It was nothing different than IE and the layout and usability was way too similar to Netscape. However, I’ve been testing with it for a few weeks now. And surprisingly, I am much more of a fan. Yeah, I still can’t believe it myself. I modified it to work very similarly to my Internet Explorer and it’s almost exactly the same in terms of simplicity. So there are only a few quirks which I don’t like, but let’s go through the positives.
Firefox has a built-in pop-up blocker. You don’t have to download the google toolbar to block pop-up windows. It loads pages just as fast as IE if not a tad faster. The installation file is less than 5 megabytes. It has a very small, quick search toolbar which already uses google…and with this toolbar, you can add other search functions such as amazon, ebay, imdb, urban dictionary, and other cool sites. And now that I’ve discovered it as of a week ago, you can actually download a google toolbar that is much better than Internet Explorer’s in terms of functionality. And probably one of my favorite qualities is that you can right click on a banner or image advertisement and block them from showing up on your webpages! Wow, that’s a lot of positives. So what about the negatives?
Well, most of its downfalls are quirks. I am VERY used to pressing ctrl-o to open my websites, and with Mozilla, I can’t do that. Why do I use ctrl-o? Because it doesn’t leave a big mess in the address bar for all people to see. It keeps my browsing a little more private, especially to novices. I also don’t like the way it organizes my favorites. I’m used to all folders resting at the top of directories rather than alphabetically in the middle of all the links. The worst thing about it is that it doesn’t work with interactive macromedia flash files correctly like Internet Explorer does. Not only that, it won’t load many pages correctly especially if they’re optimized for IE or other browsers. I simply cannot use Firefox on certain websites because it’s way too messy for the browser to handle.
I’m sure I could add a lot more to this both of these lists but you get the general idea about my feelings. I will probably continue to use Firefox in the future and will be interested to see what kind of changes they make to it in the coming months. Version 1.0 is due in September which the current version is 0.9.2. So, in conclusion, continue using Internet Explorer for most of your browsing. It really shouldn’t affect you unless you get that virus. However, for those curious about this newer browser, I can safely recommend it to you and I do believe you will find some satisfaction in its abilities. I hope that the people at Microsoft are paying attention because the competition is finally heating up and very quickly!