Ejecutive

Web browsing

I’ve been using Firefox since its “Phoenix” codename days (which is way back, since version 0.3 I think), which is why it think you shouldn’t dismiss what I have to say completely out of hand, but I think Firefox is over hyped.

Sure, it’s a good browser, infact, its up there with the best, if it wasn’t, I would’ve have been using it as my main browser for all these years, but calling the best thing since sliced bread is just over the top. I think that Opera 8.0 is a more technically competent browser and it performs better. It has a better download manager, version 9.0 plans support for torrents, a far more logical tabbing system (new tabs are always opened behind the current one unless you specify for it not to, and closing of a tab returns you to the previous tab, not the tab thats next to the one closed), each tab has its own close button (why not Firefox?!), and the print engine is far better at shrinking a page to fit onto one A4 width.

So why does everyone use Firefox? It’s free, and it generated lots of media attention; Opera only recently became a free browser. It’s highly extensible, something that Opera currently lacks. So why do I still use Firefox even though Opera is now free? My brain is now so hardcoded in Firefox shortcuts and its way of working, that switching over would take a long time, and I would be initially much slower at using it. I just don’t have the time currently to do it, but I will eventually.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 doesn’t compair to Opera or Firefox. I remember in the IE 4 days when it beat Netscape 4 to the ground. It was the most advanced browser in the world, and it was free (as long as you bought Windows)! IE 5 was an incremental improvement over IE 4 compaired to the jump from IE 3 to 4. IE 5.5 bought some improvements to printing, and I can’t remember what IE 6 bought along. So in essence, there hasn’t been any major work done to IE since version 4, which is why browsers such as Opera and Firefox have been able to over take it. Saying that, it still is the dominant player in terms of market share.