Why use firefox

The majority of spywares and vulnerabilities are commonly programmed for Internet Explorer being that IE holds over 70% of the internet browser market. There are other browsers out there that can compete with IE, but Mozilla Firefox (formally known as Firebird) is a complete browser filled with tons of features that’s only light in size. From a built in pop-up blocker that works better than many commercial pop-up blockers, to tabbed browsing, these are just two of the factors that contribute to making Firefox an internet browser’s dream.


Popup Blocking
In this day in age, an internet browser without a popup blocker is like having a broadband connection without a fireball. “Firefox stops annoying popup windows dead in their tracks”, according to Mozilla.org, and that’s exactly what it does. Visiting a popup blocker test page, Firefox’s built in popup blocker was able to close all popup windows while the page loaded and during the page's onload() event. At http://www.popup-blocker.info’s test page, several test can be ran to prove your popup blocker’s power. Mozilla Firefox’s built in popup blocker was able to handle the “Stress Test”, which according to pop-upblocker.info… “[Stress tests] attempts to overcome your pop-up killer by trying to spawn large numbers of windows as quickly as possible.” Firefox’s popup blocker was able to close all 200 popup windows without even breaking a sweat. Trying this with IE and no popup blocker would probably bring your pc to its knee’s. You can also easily access the list of websites that the popup blocker blocks and altering it’s state by a simple click.




Download Manager
A feature which I thought was going to be integrated in Internet Explorer 6 was a download manager. Download managers allow you to manipulate and take control of your downloaded files. Mozilla Firefox’s download manager contains just the essentials to allow you to control your downloads. You can pause your download and continue it a later time, something which is not possible with IE’s download manager. Apart from sporting a nice look, the download manager stores the information such as size and location of your downloaded file. When the download is complete, a small notification is displayed in the lower right side of the screen.




Tab Browsing
Because having too many windows open at a time can be a bit annoying, not to mention time consuming, Firefox features tab browsing. Here’s more on tab browsing from Mozilla’s homepage…”Tab-Browsing changes the way you use the internet by allowing you to open links on a page in background "Tabs" and then read them when you're ready. No confusing new windows, no need for context menus, just hold down Ctrl when clicking a link, or use your middle mouse button (if you have one).”




Integrated Search Engine
Now why didn’t the IE programmers think of this? Mozilla Firefox comes with a built in search engine. The default search engine is Google’s, of course, with the ability to add others. The search entry takes up a very small space, which is a plus when compared to those huge toolbars out there.




Options
Less confusing and cluttered than IE’s Internet Options is another factor in Mozilla’s Firefox. You can easily navigate through each setting. Deleting saved passwords is a snap and clearing any saved history. The “Downloads” section of the options allows the user to choose which program will automatically open a downloaded file.





Page Info
When right clicking on a page (PC users), selecting “page info” will pull up a window displaying vast amount of information for the webpage. General information as well as a Link tab showing all the links that the page contains.




Faster Response
A typical webpage will load faster on Mozilla Firefox than Internet Explorer.


Keeps HTML Formatting
Mozilla Firefox is able to keep the html format when copying from a webpage to a text file. For example, when copying html formatted text from a webpage and pasting it on a note pad, the text copied using Mozilla Firefox keeps the format yet the text copied from IE doesn’t.




Security
Because many of those malicious plug-in’s that cause your everyday web surfing into a trip to the DMV are mostly programmed for Internet Explorer, having Mozilla Firefox as your internet browser can save you tons of headaches.


Open Source Advantage
The Mozilla project is an Open Source project where thousands of independent programmers can work on finding security holes before they are exploited.


Cleaner Interface
Firefox isn’t filled with clutter such as a history button or other buttons that take up most of the area in Internet Explorer. Firefox offers 2% more space to web pages than Mozilla, 4% more than Internet Explorer, and a whopping 10% more than Opera.


Smaller Download
Ignoring the fact that Internet Explorer comes integrated with Windows, Firefox is almost half the size of Internet Explorer meaning half the time downloading.


Block Images
When right clicking on an image, the user is given the option to block all images from that webpage. This feature comes in handing when visiting a site that holds many pictures, many due to ads, which can be disabled for faster surfing.




Mozilla Firefox is an alternate browser to IE with features that, I believe, surpass the latter. Firefox has defiantly broken ground in the war of the browsers. I know there are many out there who would think otherwise and never settle for any browser other than IE. Think of it this way, if Mozilla Firefox was integrated by default into Windows besides IE, would you switch to another browser?