With Firefox 2, Mozilla touts security and speed

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Practical reasons for a common user to use IE?

Mind you, I'm not fanatic about anything, and will use any Microsoft piece of software (as well as anyone else's) if it suits me better. But I started using Firefox a year or two ago just out of security concerns. While one can certainly argue which browser has more unpatched security holes, it's undisputed that, statistically, most threats you are likely to meet out there are specifically targeted at IE.

With time, I got used to Firefox's nifty features and became uncomfortable when I had to switch back to IE just because of some lazy or overworked Web designer who didn't check or didn't care for browser interoperability. (The IE Tab and IE View add-ons solved most of that problem, though, and so did Maxthon - actually more an IE front-end than a real browser, in spite of some interesting features, many of which directly inspired by Firefox...)

When IE 7 came out last week, I found it a shot on Microsoft's own toe. It has such an awkward, non-intuitive and dysfunctional interface that it not only didn't close the gap between IE and the competition, but actually increased it. If someone is already used to Firefox or Opera, there is no reason why he or she would want to waste time getting used to that weird new interface. There would be absolutely nothing to be gained from all that effort. I actually found that the learning curve of switching from IE 6 to IE 7 is steeper than that of switching from IE 6 to Firefox, Opera or any other browser!

It was definitely suicidal from MS to do it... That reminds me of the other major interface redesign they made, some 10 years ago, from IE 3 to IE 4, but the latter was SO strikingly better than the former version (and than the then-competitor, Netscape) in all respects that it left no room for complaints. IE 4 made history, and deservedly so. Like millions worldwide, I left Netscape for it without regrets. But the situation is now reversed - IE 7 is a complete flop.

Now, IE itself is used only for Windows Update here. I see no reason to use that clumsy user-unfriendly piece of software in any other situation, when there are now better alternatives even for IE-only sites.

Posted by: goyta   Posted on: 10/24/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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