The World Needs More Ninjas

The alternate (but evidently too long) title for this post is: Your Browser is a Hamster and Its Rendering Smells of Elderberries.

After fighting with Internet Explorer’s non-compliance to CSS for a couple of hours, I felt obliged to write about why Firefox is a superior browser. Something like 10% of people are already using it. Unfortunately, something like 85% of the people have drank the Microsoft Kool-Aid (or, more likely, had it forcibly injected in them when they bought their computer) and continue to use the inferior Internet Explorer.

Yes, Firefox is open source, which I like in general, but the reason I advocate it is because it’s simply the superior product between the two. I have a decent amount of experience with open source software and I’m fully aware that most of it, while useful to some people, is too much of a pain to install and operate for most people. Firefox is not that type of software. So why should you be using Firefox…oh let me count the ways. Here they are based on my experiences with the two browsers:

• Pop-Up Blocking: I’m on the Internet a lot. I maybe get one pop-up a week with Firefox. With Internet Explorer, I find myself closing pop-ups on about every other site.
• Tabbed Browsing: So when you use Internet Explorer, you probably end up with a whole task bar full of browser instantiations. It’s quite the pain trying to organize them on your desktop. Enter Firefox’s tabbed browsing. Now, I can just keep one window open with a bunch of tabs for each site that I’m viewing. Rather than opening links in new windows, you can open them in new tabs. Give it a try for a day and you’ll be hooked.
• Extensions and Themes: With Internet Explorer, you’re at the mercy of Microsoft to come out with an update to add that new feature you’ve been waiting for. With Firefox, anyone can add a downloadable extension. Similarly, Firefox has themes (a.k.a., skins), so if you want to change the look and feel of your browser, it’s easy to do.
• Less Vulnerabilities: A vast majority of the security exploits out there are for Internet Explorer. Open source enthusiasts will say this is because their model is superior from a security standpoint. Microsoft loyalists will say this is because hackers are much more likely to target the more ubiquitous browser. Potato, Patato…either way you’re going to be less vulnerable to attacks.
• Support For Older Operating Systems: Internet Explorer 7 will only be available to Windows XP users. Firefox runs on a Windows 98 computer that I have. That’s right, Mozilla’s Firefox actually offers better legacy support for Microsoft products than Microsoft does. What’s wrong with that picture?
• Standards Compliance: You might want to pull up a chair for this one, it might take a while. So, I’ll save a discussion of the virtues of open standard for another post, but, suffice to say, the Internet is because of open standards.

  Since the dawn of human civilization, a margin of 10 units has meant that 10 units of space are placed between two objects. Unfortunately, Microsoft tried to go against thousands of years of precedent in Internet Explorer 5 by rendering a margin of 10 units as 20 units. The wreaks havoc on web designers who were under the impression that 10 units meant 10 units.

  And, then there is the CSS bug in Internet Explorer that has a workaround which requires exploiting a different bug. How’s that for software design…people have to fix one bug by exploiting another one. Whomever the design team was that’s responsible for that Great Moment in Software Engineering deserves to have their jobs outsourced to Elbonia.

  Even Paul Thurrott, one of the biggest Microsoft gurus outside of Redmond, is calling for a boycott of Internet Explorer 7 due to Microsoft’s refusal to comply with open standards.

OK, so maybe this post comes off something like a chainsaw hitting a slab of meat, so the comments are open. If anyone knows why one should use Internet Explorer over Firefox, please let me know. Bonus points if the comparison actually comes from you having tested both browsers instead of just Googling for what others say. Because it was on my computer to begin with isn’t a sufficient answer…downloading Firefox will be one of the best 5 megs of ones and zeros that you ever get. Try it for a week and you’ll never look back. Here’s a link to download Firefox: