"I Use Internet Explorer, And I Feel Fine!"

Why? There are a bunch of reasons. First off, I'm just not convinced that Firefox is any guarantee of better online security. Firefox has not proven to be immune to security breaches, and if you're not running the very latest version, you could be at risk. As Firefox grows in popularity, it will become a more interesting target for hackers and crackers. In other words, as more people begin to use Firefox, there will be more security bugs uncovered. In fact, the Mozilla Security Advisories page lists several DOZEN flaws of High or Critical severity in the past year.

Sure, there have been some nasty bugs in Explorer, but if you run Windows Update on autopilot, along with up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spyware software, there are no serious exposures that I'm aware of. And the new Internet Explorer v7 comes with a focus on security and a set of enhanced privacy and security features. So to me, the security issue is a big red herring.

It's annoying to me that some fonts display differently on Firefox. Come on... Arial 11-pt should look the same no matter what program is running. And CSS elements just don't render correctly in some cases. Oh, I hear the shrill cries. "But Firefox is 100% CSS compliant! It's IE that has all the CSS bugs." Sorry, do a little searching and you'll see there are plenty of CSS rendering (not compliance) anomalies on both sides of the browser fence.

I've complained in the past about not being able to combine toolbars. In previous versions of Firefox, toolbars that only consumed a portion of a line had to be there all alone, wasting valuable screen space. Thankfully, this has been fixed, so users can put two more more toolbars on a single line.

I've also had numerous problems installing plugins. Firefox keeps telling me to install Internet Explorer, the Windows Media Player and other stuff I already have, just to make some silly plugin work. (And ummm, isn't the whole idea of using Firefox to GET AWAY from Explorer?) And then there's the "Firefox uses 100% of the CPU" problem, which remains unsolved for some users.

By all means, give Firefox a try, if only to prove to yourself that you can live without Microsoft owning everything on your desktop. I don't deny that Firefox is an excellent browser, and it has some cool features like tabbed browsing that you may love. (But IE7 has tabs now, too...) And I'll admit that it may be a better choice for some users. For not me, at least not yet. If it's any consolation, I did switch from Outlook Express to Thunderbird. :-)

Got comments on the Firefox vs. IE debate? Tell me why YOU like Firefox! Post your comments below...