Ride the wave: Firefox 1.5
Last year, after less than six months into its initial release, I expounded upon the benefits of making the crossover to Mozilla Firefox. If you aren't privy to that column, here's a basic summary: Microsoft's worldwide dominance through Internet Explorer is showing signs of wear, outperformed consistently by the open-source (read: free) Firefox and the myriad of features it brings in its pretty little box. Claiming upwards of ten percent of the market and running on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms, Firefox offers a much-improved web-browsing experience.
Mozilla's initial campaign centered on the security exploits and concerns behind Internet Explorer. Due to its near-complete monopoly (at its pinnacle, Internet Explorer for Windows claimed nearly 90% of all web traffic, including Linux and Mac users), the sheer volume of malware designed to penetrate its defenses virtually guaranteed something, eventually would get through. Coupled with the uncovering of several high-profile security holes, many of the more technically savvy Internet users began switching away from Internet Explorer, but the motivating factors behind switching are not one-sided.
Browsers such as Mozilla Firefox offer several major experience enhancements which go beyond under-the-hood features such as enhanced security and compliance with international web standards. Let's be honest: the average person cares little about those issues; they want a browser that is easier and more convenient to use. Two features stand out above the rest, including tabbed browsing and the ultra-cool search bar. The first allows for multiple "tabs," which are essentially miniature windows within the main program, allowing for several different sites (including full back-forward capability) to be open simultaneously, without cluttering the rest of your operating system. The latter includes defaults such as Google, eBay and Dictionary.com, allowing for immediate one-click access to their respective search engines. (In addition, Mozilla's website contains hundreds of additional engines, covering almost every conceivable website or topic.)
Don't get ahead of yourself, though. Microsoft isn't ready to concede defeat, especially not when they still claim an overwhelming majority of the market. Although open source alternatives have been steadily growing over the past two years, Internet Explorer retains a lead of at least 80% (or higher, depending on which statistics you refer to).
That dominance is beginning to wane, and the recent release of Firefox 1.5 will only further the decline. The newest version includes various technical improvements, such as increased rendering speed (the time it takes for a page to load, including Flash and Shockwave content, as examples) and binary patching, which will allow for faster and automatic updates. As for the stuff people care about, we've got drag-and-drop tabs, allowing you to re-order existing tabs simply by clicking on one and moving it. Browsing on (SSL) protected sites will now turn your address bar yellow and allow for a one-click Clear Personal Date option, deleting the browser's history, cache and cookies. Firefox's trademark search bar, mentioned earlier, now includes Answers.com by default. More importantly, it allows for its own version of drag-and-drop functionality: highlight a word, drag it to the search bar, and Firefox does the rest for you.
There is a downside, however, and it comes as a shock more to power users than the casual web surfer. Previously, Firefox allowed for numerous extensions, which allow for invaluable features and improvements. While this functionality is still in place, almost all of your extensions will need to be updated, and many will cease to work entirely. Mozilla claims to be working on a solution, and many of the extensions and frequently updated and—as a result—will operate fine. However, it is disappointing to see Mozilla fail to offer complete backwards compatibility on one of its more promising and useful features.
Ditch Internet Explorer, already, and move into the future with the aide of Mozilla Firefox! It's available for free, and you can even use Internet Explorer to download it—browser over to mozilla.org, and you can't miss the giant "Download" button. If you're not entirely convinced, however, there are further options which I don't have the time to cover, most notably Firefox's main competition and open-source peer, Opera. Offering many of the same advantages and features, and including a few unique ones of its own, Opera is an additional free, competent and full-featured alternative to the crapfest that is Microsoft's Internet Explorer.