I'm not particulary anti-Microsoft, but I always like to see a healthy dose of competition. I was really thrilled to see a front page article in yesterday's USA Today Money section about Firefox, which this week released the long-anticipated Version 1.0. It is almost unanimous among users and experts alike that Internet Explorer is beyond stagnant: it is dangerous. I hope that you will join with me, millions of users worldwide, and the companies and governments that have denounced Internet Explorer as a security threat and "unusable," in switching to Firefox. I know I feel better using it, and it can do so much more than IE ever could.
Firefox represents the periods of intense innovation that we saw 20, 10 or even 5 years ago, and it should be embraced. There is always an alternative, and while sometimes the alternatives are geeky or cryptic, Firefox is accessible to everyone. Give it a try, especially if you've never used tabbed browsing. Just be sure to keep Internet Explorer around for the occassional trip to Windows Update--I wouldn't want to encourage anyone to ignore any safe computing practices. :)
I've been using for some time now, and using mozilla in general for years. I love it, downloading the latest version right now. I want to get my school to switch, and also start using openoffice.
And what happens when IE finally catches up? Will the less enthusiastic move back? Will we see headlines like "Internet Explorer Safer, New Features Worth Switching For"? I think we will.
Unfortunately, there a bug I've found in Mozilla that has been irritating me. It has not been fixed in this release.
When an client-side script updates a floated element, the element returns to it's natural position for a moment before returning to it's proper position. In the case of a timer, this creates a flickering effect.
That was the one thing I wanted fixed in this release so, I'm a bit dissappointed.
The if IE catches up is exactly that, an if. Not to mention, given Window's security problems and IE's tight integration with Windows, can IE ever be safe? Besides, even if it does catch up, why switch back?
i've been using mozilla for like 1 year+ now..and using firefox since about .8 or .9 ...i havent downloaded the new one yet, im still on 1.0RC.
i never had security issues with IE. the main reason i use mozilla is because of pop-up blocking, secondary (and equally got reason) is tabs.
it also looks sexier than IE :-)
IE its self does not need to catch up to anything other than security, the Avant browser has many of the Firefox features with IE integration.
Also there are many Code parsing things IE can do that mozilla can't. Most of them are just visual effects and don't hinder browsing. However it is annoying when the site's navagation requires it. eg win update and bigbend.edu
IE is a total piece of garbage. Plain and simple. IE has a ton of security flaws, functionality flaws, relatively few features and options, lacks many features of CSS Level 2, and won't parse XHTML 1.1 pages unless they're sent with the *wrong* MIME type. Moreover, any tags or code that are propriatary to IE have been left out of the W3C standards for good reason (most of which fall under the category: the user should decide how his client displays a page, not the developer) If a website is using propriatary IE code, it is a poorly designed website.
IE is a security nightmare, it lacks requisite features of today's modern clients, and it doesn't support web standards. Any way you slice it, it's just a pile of garbage.
I think that the biggest reason IE is so minimal on features and so behind on standards is that it simply has not been significantly updated for years. I remember when IE 4 and 5 came out there were huge campaigns, with comemorative CDs (which I still have), and then IE has changed anymore. I'll bet that was 5 years ago. Is it any wonder that the browser rendering engine in IE is so primitive and backwards with regards to modern standards and features?
Just a clarification on the bug I mentioned earlier: The bug has been fixed in the trunk and no longer occurs in the nightly build.
I've been avoiding this topic, because I like Bitwise, and was afraid of what I would read. I was hoping BitWise and Kevin would not get involved in any holy wars or advocacy, because I'm frankly tired of the incessant IE v. Mozilla flame wars. I guess this is the end of an era. BitWise has lost its objectivity and neutrality. It appears there is no sanctuary from this war. It follows you everywhere. This is the last place I expected to find it.
Hi Bob, thanks for taking the time to comment. You are right that there are many Firefox vs. IE discussions, but I hope you will note that my only post on the subject was timely with the release of 1.0. I also personally do not view Firefox vs. IE as a holy war, because usually in a holy war there is someone defending both sides, and there is no one coming to the defense of Internet Explorer (the standalone product, not with add-ons like Avant or MyIE2). I don't see suggesting using Firefox as any different than suggesting that you use anti-virus or firewall software. It's commonly considered smarter computing.
I would also point out that my blog is hosted at my personal site, kevinhock.com, and anything posted in my blog does not represent the position of BitWise Communications, LLC. BitWise didn't endorse anything, and my blog is not a part of BitWise or the BitWise web sites. Sure, I post about BitWise a lot, but all the posts are still posts written and endorsed solely by me. Talking about BitWise all the time would end up being pretty boring and leave some dry spells inbetwene posts, so I choose timely topics to discuss. Firefox was the biggest technology news this week.
I hope that clarifies my position a bit. Thanks for reading and I do hope that you won't let one post deter you from visiting in the future.