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Our initial scepticism about FireFox web browser has been entirely warn away. We now consider FireFox as the main option for web browsing for many different reasons, some of which are outlined in this article.
Web browser market has been quiet for a number of years now. The only interesting (and very beautiful looking) alternative to Internet Explorer has been Opera browser, which worked significantly faster, featured tabbed browsing and was compling nicely with the W3C standards.
We were intially concerned about using FireFox as it was too tightly related to the very bad and horribly buggy Netscape browser. For this reason we waited to see how FireFox was going to develop and also wanted to hear some user reports on why they like or dislike the software.
One significant question related to browser use is: "Why should I change a tool which is designed for doing something really simple – browsing the web?".
Initial search for the answer to this question is very buffling. There are no obvious reasons for this. However, reasons are very much there.
FireFox is much more configurable browser than Internet Explorer. Its configurability is not present just in the simple aspects like security and connection, but in the ways in which you can browse the Web.
Since, say, year 2003 there has been an upsurge in different tools which have 'hit' the Web and have been offered to the users world-wide for use free of charge. Some of these tools include: blogs, RSS feeds, wikis, email clients, online calendars, social web sites, etc.
These tools are starting to be used by more and more people world-wide on daily basis and the idea of 'simply-browsing' has become almost entirely obsolete. 'Simply browsing' today means inputting information into the Web almost as much as requesting the information from the Web.
Internet Explorer has fallen behind with provision for this fairly new requirement from the users. FireFox hasn't! Through its extensions it offers users ability to improve every aspect of their browsing experience.
As we do plenty of web design, we have become keen on the FireFox's integrated web development tools (or aids). As an example of a very useful tool we'll take the so-called TAW3 extension. This simple tool adds a button at the bottom of the browser called 'TAW it', which (when clicked) automatically validates a given page for W3C accessibility compliance (to triple-A level).
Similar to Google Analytics' site overlay feature, TAW3 gives us an excellent overview of each individual error or warning right in the place where it resides. Each error and warning also features a very well written description (from W3C) of what needs to be done to the given element in order for it to comply with the standards.
A tool like this can be used by developers as well as managers in Local Authorities or Housing Associations in order to monitor the W3C accessibility compliance of pages on their web sites. Highly useful, easy to use and only available in FireFox browser.
Other extensions for FireFox include easy integration with the Google Calendar for easy and quick inputting of Calendar events straight from the browser. Tabbed RSS feeds are also available as well as extensions for adding blog entries straight from the web browser (which is a true 'two-way' browsing feature of modern browsers like FireFox).
As the final thought we would like to comment about Google's effort into the browser market. Many news headlines have written about the fact that 'Google has no plans to enter the browser market'.
Considering the fact that FireFox is an open source browser and the fact that anyone (including Google's engineers) can add extensions to it and improve it in general, FireFox is Google's browser.
Google actively supports FireFox through its Google Pack area and has developed extensions for it. It is only a matter of time before we see FireFox being used as a main option for browsing throughout the world. Google will support FireFox in the future (no doubt) as they are known for supporting open source intitiatives like these.
This now means that we have finally come to a point in time when there exist a valid and much better working alternative to Internet Explorer browser, which is fast becoming an old browsing solution for an outdated Web.
Whether you are a web developer, manager or just an everyday Internet user, FireFox is the right browser option for you. It is faster, has more features, more useful and overall better on the eye. The fact that it conforms to the latest W3C standards much better than any other option means that it is the tool of choice for surfing the Internet with.
And not only that. You can input back information which you think is worth publishing on the Internet as easily as you were downloading or surfing for the information which you simply wanted to view or read.
Good luck surfing with FireFox.
