Why Should I Use Firefox?
I received an e-mail from Mary-Anne inquiring about Firefox. Her son has been trying to coax into installing it on her personal laptop. And, she wanted to know why she should install it.
If you are not familiar with Firefox, it’s a web browser similar to Windows Internet Explorer, which is the default browser on Windows Vista, XP, and other Microsoft operating systems. If you are a Mac user, you are likely using Safari. Firefox gained a lot of popularity a few years ago and has since gained a lot of market share. There are a number of reasons why it became popular. Firstly, it is a very fast browser. So, obviously, anything that is faster on your computer compared to a similar product is going to be an easy sale. And when I sale, don’t think Firefox it’s going to cost you something. It’s free, and it’s free in more ways than one. So, not only is there no cost associated with Firefox, it is open source, so anyone is free to take the software code, and use that code to not only develop the software further, they can also create additions to the software. So, Firefox has numerous 3rd party Add-ons and you can pick and choose which ones to add. In a future podcast, we’ll discuss some of the fantastic add-ons.
Another reason why Firefox is in demand is that it’s a very secure browser. Many virus and other Malware creators take advantage of Internet Explorers flaws and attempt to exploit these flaws and other weaknesses. Having said that, Microsoft has made some strides in securing the Internet Explorer 7, their latest release. But still, Firefox is still a more secure browser.
Internet Explorer, which has the largest market share, ignores many web developments conventions. So, you may not be getting the fullest web experience using IE. For example, some sites may appear different in Internet Explorer then in Firefox. You could argue that good web developers should create content for multiple browsers. Well, a counterargument is that with the increased popularity of Blogs and content management sites, including Wordpress, Joomla and Drupal, beginner bloggers shouldn’t require to code so that the Microsoft’s browsers can be backwards compatible. I can speak from own experience when my first blog would not render properly when using Internet Explorer 6. And, like many, I am of the opinion that we should be moving towards open standards to create consistent functionality, and not let a single company dictate the standards.
So Mary-Ann, there a little bit of background with Firefox. The newest version of Firefox, version 3 is even faster than version 2. You have really nothing to worry about installing Firefox, so I would encourage you to install it. There are some differences compared to IE, however, nothing too major. The biggest hurdle I found when I first started using FF was opening a new website - IE uses CTRL + O, but in FF this attempts to open a file, so you need to use CTRL + L. I’m a big fan of shortcuts but if you use the mouse more than the keyboard, this will not be a big deal for you. To download Firefox, go to http://www.mozilla.com and enjoy! One thing Mary-Ann did not mention was what version of IE she was using. So, if you are still using Internet Explorer 6, and you plan to continue Internet Explorer, I would also encourage you to upgrade to IE 7. Not only is IE 7 a better browser, it’s more secure and offers tabbed browsing, so you can have multiple web pages open at the same time without having to open up IE a 2nd time. I should add that Firefox included tabbed browsing for many years now!
