For years and years if you wanted a good, somewhat reliable Internet browser, basically your only choice was Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. After that demise of Netscape in 2003, Mozilla began the production of new Internet browser that they wanted to compete with the giant Internet Explorer. While your average Internet user may not know or even care about the lesser known Firefox, it is beginning to become more and more common on the desktops of your average computer user. It has been five long years since the last update of Internet Explorer and the recent changes strike a remarkable similarity to those already offered in Mozilla Firefox. The long awaited update of Internet Explorer comes just as Firefox is taking more and more of its dominating market share. In October 2004, Internet Explorer was used by about 92 percent of all Internet users. In just a very quick 2 years, that number has declined to 82 percent while Firefox’s share has grown to over 12 percent. This number represents about 1 out of every 10 Internet users which may not seem like a whole lot, but take into consideration that this is an open source, free download that is not advertised, marketed or bundled with an operating system as Internet Explorer is.
While the Internet browser battle has been done before and may have fallen to Microsoft, Firefox has a step ahead and looks to be a promising competitor to Internet Explorer. One key feature to Firefox that Microsoft admits has been their problem is software updates. Mozilla is quick to update and patch any issues found while Microsoft has taken years to update and it’s definitely not because of a lack of need. Although this upgrade has been years in the making, many Internet users are not so quick to update their Internet Explorer browser. Microsoft has a long history of bugs in their initial release of any software. While they have promised more frequent updates, this may be one more reason to use Mozilla Firefox. Even though they offer similar products, the installation or upgrade of these two Internet browsers are two different stories. Installing Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 has proven to be a much lengthier process than many deem necessary. The install file is pretty large in comparison to the quick Firefox download and is definitely more involved. During an Internet Explorer install, you can expect to have to shut down your Internet security software, all of your running programs as well as reboot your computer whereas with Firefox, all you need to do is simply close any instances of Firefox you already have running.
The rise in popularity of Firefox was fueled by the open source community which leads to another key feature offered in Firefox but not Internet Explorer. Due to its open source nature, there are thousands of add-ons created by Firefox users. With computer users becoming more tech savvy, they expect to be able to customize everything on their computer and with add-ons and different themes, Firefox caters to this request. Microsoft has recently offered some add-ons but really struggle to compete with Firefox. Microsoft has featured their classic browser style for the last few years before the release of IE7 but has undergone a massive redesign that will leave Microsoft users a little confused. The overall design looks great and shows its advantage of large corporation resources over Firefox’s simple but easy to use interface.
One of the biggest features offered by Firefox before the Internet Explorer 7 update was tabbed browsing, which has been attributed as the reason for the quick popularity rise of Firefox. Microsoft was quick to incorporate the tabbed browsing feature in their latest release and tried to improve on it with a couple nice features. On the tab bar there are a couple new buttons, one being a thumbnail view of all your tabs and the other being a blank tab that quickly lets you open a new tab. While most Firefox users are probably pretty quick with the CTRL+T shortcut that opens a new tab, this feature on Internet Explorer 7 will aid those who are new to tabbed browsing. Firefox isn’t standing still though. With the release of Firefox 2, they added an impressive feature that will restore all your previous tabs if something were to crash and also a history of recently closed tabs.
Some of the latest new features that both browsers have incorporated are RSS feeds. In typical Microsoft fashion, your choices are limited to their own products for feed readers while Mozilla Firefox will allow you to subscribe with a third party newsreader. Some other small but new features were also a page zoom tool for IE7 and a handy spell checker from Firefox.
One of Internet Explorer’s downfalls has always been security and performance. On the other hand, Firefox has recognized these issues and excelled in these two areas. Security issues are probably the number one concern for a lot of users and a major reason Mozilla Firefox has become so popular. Microsoft has promised better security measures with IE7. Both Internet browsers have integrated antiphishing measures but as we’ve seen with many features, Firefox offers more flexibility and give you many more options when it comes to security. Also, their reputation for quick updates and patches helps them move past the slow-to-update Internet Explorer.
Many of the features offered by Firefox are designed more for an advanced user but its basic operation is not too tricky for a beginner either. Although Internet Explorer has the glitz and glamour advantage, its basic features still don’t compare to Mozilla Firefox. After many years of no updates, their biggest new feature was tabbed browsing which Firefox users have known and loved for years. Internet Explorer 7 has definitely come a long, long way from the previous version of Internet Explorer but Microsoft has failed to take any innovative steps to really impress Internet users. Overall, Firefox is the better browser but with its integration with Microsoft Windows, don’t expect Internet Explorer to go away anytime soon.
Firefox seems Synonomous with Excellency, and its the little features that do it for me on there. One feature, the autospellcheck. Saves me a lot of time on correcting.
Considering Word has it, why wouldnt they put something like this in the “Brand New IE” *Sigh* Microsoft, Take the lead Already!!!!!
(I Love Firefox.Ftw,1337,etc.)
Comment by CaptainZM — September 6, 2007 @ 3:47 pm