Firefox- Undisputed Winner Of Browser War

The Firefox brand of web browser is one that many Internet users both know and love. But what many don't know is that the browser first got its roots in an entirely different browser altogether- Netscape Navigator. Because of the hot war between Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, Netscape eventually decided to release their source code as an open source item to be viewed and developed by any who wished. This decision led to the founding of the Mozilla Firefox project, previously know as Firebird, in 1998. Ever since the critical acclaim that Firefox obtained after its mainstream success, it seems that the browser has been outperforming each and every release of Internet Explorer that comes out in recent months. After all, the long development time and open source movement can be quite a powerful tool indeed.

Security is a very big issue with Internet browsers. After all, there is no reason in entrusting a browser that has multiple security risks in it that can lead to identity theft, ruin one's computer, or otherwise damage an investment that goes into every computer. Mozilla Firefox recognizes this, and likewise does not allow Active X components that are largely attributed to spyware and security holes. Microsoft's Internet Explorer, on the other hand, has long been associated with security risks that are usually wide open for months at a time- compared to the mere hours or days that Firefox can fix their security holes.

Firefox browser is very light weight in terms of its installation setup which is just above 4.9MB as compared to IE which is around 80 MB. Firefox download is available for different platforms like Windows, Mac & Linux and hence is more versatile in usage.

The Acid 2 test is a highly praised test that measures how well an Internet browser can display a webpage. Oddly enough, both Firefox and Internet Explorer fail this test respectively. But it should be noted that Firefox obtains a much higher score than Internet Explorer, who has an embarrassing low grade in browser rendering.

Internet Explorer is commonly close to many types of invention and creativity that Mozilla Firefox lets its users enjoy. Internet explorers can't enjoy open source plugins, themes, or other add-ons that Mozilla Firefox can. In many respects, such add-ons are what can make one browser more useful than another- as we all have specific needs in a browser that only open source developers can address on such a large basis.

Firefox has long been given popularity due to the simple fact that it supports tabbed browsing. Some versions of Internet Explorer allow for this feat, but Internet Explorer doesn't handle memory usage properly, and lagging is a common repercussion. Opera is another example of a browser that uses tabbed browsing, but expands on the idea by offering thumbnail previews.

A browser crash is something that is hated by many. After all, it's extremely counter-productive to be browsing the Internet and have a browser completely stop responding. Even Firefox admits that browser crashes happen, but they implemented a session restore feature that gives URL data and other information to users, should they want to restore the URLs they were previously viewing. This is something Internet Explorer lacks, and is much less appealing as a result.

As we look to the future, we can only hope that browsers will continue to be competitive and see who can make the better product. Things such as the Acid 2 test are being worked on by both sides, and will make an interesting next couple of years in the very least.

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