(10/12/04)
Update 10/25/04 - This page has gotten quite a response (ok, only 2 people), but both claim that Firefox runs faster than IE for them. I will concede, then. However, Firefox simply can't compete with the google toolbar. Finding or highlighting search terms, Autofill, and PageRank are enough for me to continue using IE. To each his own, I suppose.
Update 2 (06/01/05) - People are still giving me feedback about this page. Look, I've switched again to Firefox because the programmers have fixed the bugs I didn't like, and it now renders pages much faster than the version I was using a year ago. I still stand by my previous assertion that the security is better only because of its small market share, and some pretty serious exploits have been discovered and patched.
Update 3 (04/23/06) - I should've seen the writing on the wall. I can no longer stand using Internet Explorer, as I started to use Firefox extensions pretty regularly. So yeah I pretty much exclusively use Firefox. Plus I never did figure out how to get this site's current template to work right in IE (the right side of the gray border isn't straight). If this is a problem,
Back in June, I read an article on Slate.com praising Mozilla Firefox for being a better browser than IE. Interesting, I thought. I decided to give the alternative browser a try. After about 4 months of this, I have reached a verdict: Firefox is overrated.
On my computer, Firefox runs slower than IE, both in starting up and in rendering pages. To its credit, Firefox version 0.9.3 ran much faster than the latest version, and was slightly faster than IE. Now, however, it isn't very close. Microsoft isn't going out of its way to accomodate Firefox, either. Outlook delivers a random Browse for file... box when I click on a link in an email, because it can't find my browser (and yet the link launches anyway). ESPN and Slate Magazine work better with IE, seeing as they are affiliated with MSN. As far as reliability goes, I've had Firefox v1.0PR crash on me a few times. It's no longer my default browser.
As far as features go, SP2 and the Google Toolbar are enough to keep IE preferable to Firefox. Now that IE automatically blocks popups and ActiveX scripts, and the Google toolbar allows for easy search, only the RSS features are worth it. Tabbed browsing is retarded. It's no different from treating your taskbar as the tabs. Security comes at the cost of convenience. It was annoying to install Flash, Shockwave, and Java plugins Computer security is overrated anyway. I don't even have the firewall turned on. And I have a static IP address on a poorly maintained network. (I like to live dangerously).
Someone who uses Firefox (or Opera or anything else for that matter), explain to me why you don't use IE anymore. What else is there besides speed (advantage IE), features (tie), convenience (IE), and security (Firefox, barely)? Am I missing something? I think I'll keep it installed just because I keep thinking that everyone else in the world has stumbled across a must-have feature and that's the reason for their ridiculous loyalty.
