The browser WAR continues, who's leading the pack? :: Archived

[Shadow_Bshwackr]

Just thought I would post this for all to read...:wink:

CNET editors' review
for Firefox 1.5
Reviewed by: Robert Vamosi
Edited by: Allen Fear
Review date: 11/29/05

They said it couldn't be done, but during the first few months of 2005, the Mozilla Organization's Firefox browser carved a sizable dent in Microsoft Internet Explorer's domination over the desktop Internet browser market, and this new release should bring even more converts. Now courting roughly 10 percent of the browser market with versions that run on Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms, Firefox 1.5 continues to make usability and features a cornerstone of its success. Unlike Internet Explorer 6, Firefox 1.5 offers built-in search, tabbed browsing, and an RSS reader. The new features we see in Firefox 1.5 easily best the bells and whistles we've seen within the upcoming release of Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP.

After downloading Firefox 1.5, you'll find that the changes to the interface are subtle. We liked the way you can reorder tabs by simply dragging and dropping them in the order you'd prefer. We also like the search box feature; new to this release is the inclusion of Answers.com in the search bar by default (of course, you can always add other search engines on your own). Want to look up something on the Web? Simply highlight a word or text within a page, then drag and drop it into the search box for an instant search. Most of the changes are beneath the hood, such as improvements to pop-up blocking and better support for Mac OS X. Also new is binary patching, which updates only the sections of code that have changed from version to version, thus automatic updates to the latest version of Firefox are not only possible, but relatively painless (even for dial-up users).

There are also a number of security enhancements within Firefox 1.5. Whenever you access a Secure Socket Layer (SSL)-protected Web site, the Firefox address bar turns yellow and displays the padlock icon after the address (a handy feature for detecting potential online phishing scams). Version 1.5 also offers a one-click Clear Personal Data option, which deletes your browser's history, cache, and cookies after, say, an online banking session. Firefox does not support ActiveX, which is both good and bad. It's good because you'll be safe from an increasing number of ActiveX malware attacks, but it's bad because some Web sites might not render properly. Firefox does support other popular and emerging Web standards, including SVG, Canvas, CSS3 Columns, and JavaScript 1.6.

Unfortunately, if you're attached to your current set of Firefox extensions, plug-ins that provide Firefox with additional use, you'll need to update almost all of them. Some extensions written for the current Firefox simply do not work within Firefox 1.5, although Mozilla says it's working to tweak these into shape. Also, as Firefox continues to grow as the default alternative to Internet Explorer, look for more coding flaws to be reported. Of the flaws announced so far, Firefox has had far fewer critical flaws than Internet Explorer, and in general, Mozilla has been quick to patch them, while Microsoft has waited up to three months at times.

The first thing we noticed after installing Firefox 1.5 was its speed--even complex pages, with plenty of Flash and Shockwave content, loaded much faster than the first version of Firefox. New caching technology means hitting the Back button will return previously viewed pages almost instantly. Support options for Firefox 1.5 include extensive online documentation and FAQs, a very active online community forum, newsgroups, online chat, and telephone support hosted by a third party, InfoSpan for $39.95 per incident. We found Mozilla's up-front disclosure of options and costs refreshing; Microsoft's support options for Internet Explorer, for example, are not clear, and costs for telephone support are not disclosed until after you've initiated your call.

[Shades]

Missed this originally.
Those percentages are slightly inaccurate.
I'm not a fan of the Fox but it's actually got almost twice that reported figure with an average 18-19% of the market so far this year (before the upgrade). Just in Jan of this year it had over 16% of the market and it's highpoint in May saw it with 21%
2005 averages up to the end of October (reported):
IE6 has around 66-67%
IE5 has around 6-7%
The old Mozilla has around 3%
Netscape Navigator is under 1% of the market these days and the rest account for the change.

[Shadow_Bshwackr]

Those are better numbers than I expected

I've been using FireFox since the name was Firebird...:D Once you get on to using the features on FF, you'll whine about using IE. There are a few reasons to keep IE on your agenda, but overall, it's FireFox all the way for me.

[Shades]

I have tried it, just didn't like it.
I've uninstalled it since.
I seem to one of the 'unfashionable few' at the moment.
lol

[edit: here's a link to my source for the browser 'popularity' figures]

[Hangman]

you're not the only one that didn't care for it Shades, tried it myself sometime back. It didn't work well with a few of my favorite porn sites, had to give it up & keep viewing with IE.

[Shades]

Yeh, that's exactly what I fou....
Ermmmm.......
Never mind....

[Shadow_Bshwackr]

LOL Hangy and Shades.....

I have to ask, what it is that you like/dislike about each browser? I know all of us have different preferences, so should we list the pro's and con's or preferences of each?

[XcalibeR]

Personally, I like the customizability of Firefox. There are so many addons, they're easy to install, and you can put anything anywhere. Buttons and bars are easy to move around. It's a just a lot easier to navigate and use than IE.

[Hangman]

For me there were some issue with Java (I think) enabled sites...couldn't get some of the bells & whistles to work right...it probably woould have if I'd spent more time tuning it but I have the patience of a virgin in a whore house...if I can't get it with some simple tweaking it ain't worth gettin

[Shades]

Some site layouts (and even colours) don't display the same. I'm as guilty as everyone else and only build mine with IE in mind, but then I'm not doing 'em professionally and I still like IE.
While 3/4 of users are still using IE, so will I.
Also, I just don't see the advantages the fox's fans like.
As yet I see no reason to change and I jest plain refuse to do it because the fox is supposedly 'more secure'. As a Londoner, that'd be the same as going to Birmingham instead of London because of July 7th.

By the way, WE ARE STILL NOT AFRAID.

[Shadow_Bshwackr]

I agree with the different browser displays, we go through those issues with CC. Lucky for us, they're not all that bad and are usually fixable.

The advantages for FF as I see them are:

Tabbed browsing. I do a lot of research and at times have a lot of pages open. Tabbed browsing helps me keep them in 'groups'. Tabbed has become so popular that IE came out with their version, although, it's not as good as FF IMO.

SpellCheck: This will let you spell check any text box open in your browser such as this one. In sites like CC, most boards don't offer any kind of Spell Check and this is necessary IMO.

Web Developer: Another great add-on for CC, but as the name implies, only good for Web Developers....or is it? Functions such as Right Click menu and Menu bar displays lets you gather all sorts of information. While it really is more valuable to the Webmaster, it's sources such as Display Image paths, Display image sizes, could be useful to people who need that info to post pics on a forum for example.

BBCode: Available as a right click menu extension, this does some great things if you use or go to places that has Bulletin Boards like CC has here. Need that quick URL to post as a "word" instead of that LONG URL? This has that feature. Very nice and very professional and exportable into XHTML format too. More features such as Paste Quote, Make Image URL are a couple more things I use on a daily basis.

FoxClocks: This will display in a configurable menu, times from around the world. I love this addon as I have friends all over the world and this helps me understand the time difference. For instance, at this posting it's 11:00 CST (my time) but I have Amsterdam 6:00PM (18:00), London 5:00 (17:00), and New York 12:00 noon on my display.

FireFTP: An FTP client. Quick and easy, you can grab or upload a file quickly from any site in your saves.

These are but a small handful of the hundreds of files available for FF. IE offers what???

Just me 2 cents...:D

[Hangman]

I've been playing with the new Netscape browser some lately and I like it alot..it has the tabbed browsing that firefox has and alot of other things..so far I ahven't run across any site that has not displayed right...I do like that tab browsing, usually I'll have 3 or 4 IE windows open at one time so that really is a good feature...maybe the new IE will have it?

[Shadow_Bshwackr]

The new IE does have it, but it's not as user friendly as FF. Of course, it could be I'm used to FF and not a 'new way' I suppose..lol

I haven't tried the new Netscape yet...

[XcalibeR]

Has anyone tried the Opera? Their new launch was supposed to be really good.

[RCAF_MadDog]

Im using Firefox 1.0.7 and I also have installed Firefox 1.5 and im in no hurry to switch from Firefox. I very seldom ever use IE anymore and i dont use Outlook at all anymore I use Thunderbird instead.

For now Firefox does everything I need to do and if it dont do it neither do I lol Im not planning on going up to the new windows or the new IE for that matter.

For now i'm quite happy with Firefox and will stay there until it becomes unsafe or something better comes along.