I’m sure some of you have been wondering what the fuzz was all about with Mozilla Firefox 3 release and download news a few days back.
I’ve also received some good feeback to make a post on why Firefox 3 is better than Internet Explorer that you are using at the moment.
This is totally my own opinion. So if you think Opera, IE, or your other favorite browser is better than Firefox, than feel free to shout! What I like, doesn’t necessary mean that you’ll like it too!
There are so many browsers to choose from. Only 4 browsers have caught my attentions (and yes, I’ve tried them all quite extensively):
- Internet Explorer
- Safari
- Opera
- Mozilla Firefox
The rest are pretty much clones from Mozilla or not worth to mention here.
So let’s investigate why I think that Firefox is better than Internet Explorer (Firefox 3 vs Internet Explorer 7). Please note that I’m not an industry expert, so I’m reviewing based on user’s experience point of view.
From Mozilla’s page:
From my personal point of view:
Firefox is more secure than Internet Explorer
I’m not a security expert, but if you want to find out more about the security back-end and why Firefox is claimed to be more secure than Internet Explorer, you can read it on the Wikipaedia here. But of course, no browser is ever 100% secure. Firefox has had some vulnerabilities in the past, too.
Firefox browses the web faster than Internet Explorer
If you try using Firefox for a few days to browse the web and read articles, you’ll find that pages load quicker on Firefox than Internet Explorer. The rendering engine and the caching mechanism are different than Internet Explorer.
You just need to give it a try for a week to believe me!
Firefox wins because of its useful extensions available free to download online
One of the main reason I can’t leave Firefox (no matter how hard I try), is because of its extensions / plug-ins. Extensions are components that you can download and “attach” to the browser. Extensions are built by developers around the world and therefore the possibilities are endless.
Some useful/best Firefox extensions that I currently use:
- Net Usage Extension
Display my current Internet Usage for the month. Know when to hold your internet usage at the right moment and avoid being capped or charged for extra bandwith!
- SearchStatus Extension
“Display the Google PageRank, Alexa rank and Compete ranking anywhere in your browser, along with fast keyword density analyser, keyword/nofollow highlighting, backward/related links, Alexa info and other SEO tools”
- Web Developer Extension
Very handy if you are currently designing or re-designing your site. It can display all Javascript errors, CSS styles on a specific area of your site, colors, and other nifty features.
- Translator Extension
If you browse non-English sites often, you’ll probably love this extension. It will try to convert the page you’re on into English (automatically or manually).
- FireFTP Extension
Tired of opening up your FileZilla, FlashFXP, CuteFTP or your other FTP client everytime you want to upload files to your site? FireFTP is a built-in FTP engine that you can install on Firefox! Simply click the logo installed on the browser and you can upload/download files in seconds!
- There are many more useful extensions depends on your needs, of course. The best is to browse them yourselves on Firefox’ Extensions page.
Firefox is skinnable, whereas Internet Explorer is not
I don’t know why Microsoft doesn’t build a skinning engine on its browser, but I”m bored often. When I’m bored, I want to have a flexibility to change my Windows visual style, wallpaper, and my browser looks.
Firefox has a variety of skins/themes available (people can make their own just like extensions). You can even find Internet Explorer skins if you think you are going to miss yours 
Check for more Firefox themes here.
Beauty aside, there are useful features built-in on the browser itself, so head on to next page to find out!
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Firefox really gets slow when opening lot of tabs. Hope they find a solution for it.
Chelsea FC-True Blues last blog post..Ballack’s Germany defeat Portugal
Firefox gets really slow when opening lots of tabs. That is the only drawback of it.
Chelsea FC-True Blues last blog post..Ballack’s Germany defeat Portugal
Nice review! Personally I prefer firefox than IE.
Stefens last blog post..Entrecard Droplist
I use firefox3, and i think it is the bomb!!!
Wenbins last blog post..10 Attention Grabbers for Better Public Speaking
thanks for the extensions.. and haha that toilet cleaning ad on homepage made my day
infots last blog post..New theme!
i’m just starting to use firefox off and on, because i can’t use it @ the library where i’m online 90% of the time…but i absolutely love it and it’s going to be the one i use when i get internet set up @ home again.
“..that toilet cleaning ad on homepage made my day..”
Hahah.. believe me or not, I really want to try that scrub if I live in the U.S ^^
So I guess we have a lot of Firefox lovers here!
The only drawback and i hate is firefox takes up lot of memory after you use it for a while.
Do you know any tip on that?
Nihars last blog post..West Indies v Australia 2008 – Live Cricket Streaming Links – SopCast links – TVU links- TVant links
Internet Explorer 7 has lost since Firefox 2.0
@Nihar: There were memory leaks problem in Firefox 2. I’m not sure if Firefox 3 has the same problems too. Sometimes it also depends on the extensions that you are using (some of them may be buggy)
as you know i use opera ..
**********************
but as your post .. i like firefox more than IE . but as site owner i HAD to check my site under IE each time i update it [ i know about IE tabe for firefox ]
so the summary for me as for web browsers
Opera is my main
Firefox , IE [ both my 2nd ] no difference for me
Safari .. [ not interested ]
Seamonkey [ i love it as it's a complete browsing suite] but i still use opera though .
ameos last blog post..Rusty minds / i’ll comment for Food
Firefox is simply better than IE. IE is all about making money everytime you breath. But still, it sucks.
Every problem such as slow loading when using extensive tabs and also on some webpages when it loads slow has been fixed by new features added in FF3 as well as less memory hogging features have been made to take less now! Firefox rules!
Aye, Firefox is definitely better, but the new address bar in Firefox 3 is just terrible. -_-
Luckily, there is a fix for it.
Deimos: After forcing myself to use it for a few weeks, I actually love the new address bar now, especially the keywords search (You don’t have to type the beginning of a URL anymore)
I agree with Chelsea, it firefox is not very good at handling having more than about 5 tabs open at once.
IE is better here.
Article Marketings last blog post..The Different Types of Printing Techniques
Its faster and performs a lot better… Firefox has been my preference for almost a year … I love it
Becoming a Millionaires last blog post..Issue 77 : Link Building to Build an Empire!
Firefox is my favorite browser and of course FF 3 faster than more 2.0 version because it doesn’t eat your RAM
.
However i’ve got a problem, the site will be very slow if have some flash in there, i must use adblock
Vans last blog post..Create high-definition video quality on any disc format with CyberLink PowerProducer 5
Van, have you tried updating your Flash Player? That may be the reason (if you haven’t updated your Flash Player for a while)
Adblock? But you won’t be able to see my lovely ads on my blog, then!
Shockwave Flash 9.0 r47 << i checked my FF plugin and found it.
I’m reading your tips with full design
Vans last blog post..Create high-definition video quality on any disc format with CyberLink PowerProducer 5
Big deal FF3 is faster than IE7 the slowest least secure browser around.
Try comparing it to Opera 9.5 download size = 6.7MB
FireFox3 = 7.2MB (both for U.S version)
FireFox3 with 50plus extensions and Thunderbird to match the features Opera has in 6.7MB ? you tell me
does Firefox 3 slow down with extensions added ? probably.
I’m glad FF3 is here i’m sure Opera has been been improved & optimized to stay ahead.
Nearly all the features of FF3 were in Opera first.
Opera has just about everything you’d want in a bowser allready included yet the interface is clean if you don’t use something it does’nt get in the way.Want to see a page full size hit F11
Opera is very easy to tweak my speedial has 30 slots instead of the default 9 by adding
[Size]
Rows=5
Columns=6
to the speedial.ini
Opera got a little slow going back & fowards in a tabs history just go into opera:config & tweak
What I love about Opera
Click on the left edge of the screen & the panels spring open:The notes panel really speeds up research :
Speed dial : copy & paste & go in the search bar: The drop downlist in the searchbar easy to add new search engines:Built in email client:
Saved sessions save all the open tabs as a session complete with history of each tab,Manage sessions load in a saved session any time (opens in a new window or windows)Starting Opera having a choice continue from last time , home page, open a session
Downloading as soon as you go to save something it’s downloading in the background by the time you hit save or save as you find it’s allready finished most of the time & if you change your mind & don’t hit save opera flushes it away.
The speed i can browse at, i often have 30plus tabs open with no slowdown each tab has it’s own history
& it’s very fast going back or forwards on a tabs history using mouse gestures or keyboard shortcuts.
Your choice if tabs open next to their parent or on the end (in preferences) : reorder tabs by dragging them around on the tab bar. Want to open a tab in a new window drag it to the top menu bar. If you have a personal menu bar open drag a tab onto it right click on the menu bar to customise it & select text only
right click on the tab & change the name to 1 or a ect to get lots of tabs available with one click.
Most of the above has been in Opera for years if opera was’nt around i’d use FF3 & spend a week or two getting it into shape & probably be happy enough i have a fast computer & plenty of ram & a 5 MB connection . IF i was still useing a older computer & a slower connection i’d miss it more.
Opera downsides
you still need IE for some badly coded sites
Opera tends to crash more often yet you can restart Opera & be back exactly where you was before complete with tabs & history in seconds.
tip still using windows explorer check out Directory Opus
tip 2 if your internet provider is useless check out Open DNS & use their servers i believe google offer something similar.
Trying out firefox 3 ;]