Mozilla v's Internet Explorer/Outlook
I think that Internet Explorer has finally met it's match!
About 6 months ago I was introduced to Firebird (mozilla) and all its extensions. What a great browser that became for web desginers! Full editing functionality, validations, compatability checking, you name it... you could add it. But still, it had speed issues when loading, so until recently IE has always been my default browser, even though when I design sites I used Firebird.
But now its move over IE, time for trash heap. I updated to Firefox (it's upgrade) about a month ago & have been slowly customizing it. Everyone...if you haven't got it....GET IT ! No other browser even compares to it. Once you have customized Firefox to do everything you want to do, it leaves competition behind. It has more than 200 extensions Google search, popup blockers, web design & development, trouble shooting capabilities, compatability checking, accessibility & validation checking, ad banner removal, spell-checker, blogging, the ability to search Amazon.com, eBay or other popular sites, and much, much more. It reads good code better than most other browsers out there. If it reads well in Firefox/Firebird, it will read well in nearly every other browser. The beauty of it, add what YOU want, not what Microsoft SAY you want. And who even needs IE now to check how it looks in IE? You can do that too. In fact, I bet I could almost teach it to do my housework! ;-)
Now I know there will be those of you out there that will be saying "why, IE is already my default browser, I use the others when I need to", I have said it too in the past. After upgrading to Firefox, I actually sat back & asked myself why I was still keeping IE as my default browser. In fact, why was I even using it all! I couldn't come up with one good reason. Here was a free browser that was far superior to IE, a Microsoft's product that hasn't even had a decent update in years! All we have heard is whispers about 'what' MS is doing with future versions. Dangling that carrot in front of everyones noses. Why keep chasing that carrot, when its already here in another browser?
My next venture is trying out their email application Thunderbird. I have read some great reviews about, and if Firefox/Firebird are any indication, I am looking forward to trying it out. Mozilla 1.6 is next on the agenda, again having recieved rave reviews for its stability & features.
Take the few minutes to download these, especially Firefox. Browse through the addons & customized it to what you want. Then see if you want to go back to using IE again. Don't just stay with IE because its convenient. If your a fan of Microsoft, do it anyway... its about time that MS got of its rear end & realized there is serious comptition out there, and not to be so complacent in what it provides to the public.
Now I will go collect my commission fee from Mozilla! ;-)
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