Stacylm78's Blog

Mozilla is releasing the newest version of Firefox on June 17. They are hoping the new version called Firefox 3.0 will set a world record for the most downloads in one day. Firefox 2.0 managed to get 1.6 million downloads the day it was released back in October 0f 2006. Engineers have spent 34-36 months working on Firefox 3.0. They say the two million people already running Firefox and the twenty-thousand that gave feedback were essential to the development of the new product.
It is promised that the new version of Firefox will be the most secure web browser as well as being faster and easier to use. Firefox 3.0 will load web pages three to four times faster than Firefox 2.0 and seven times faster than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Firefox also comes with the Smart Location Bar which gives the user the ability to quickly return to web pages they have not bookmarked, even if they can’t remember they address. It can also search keywords referred to as tags that the users associate with a particular page. The engineers at Mozilla have dubbed this the biggest user experience change since tabbed browsing.
Security has also been upgraded for Firefox 3.0. Since phishing attacks aren’t really working on the public anymore people are now taking over legitimate websites and using them to try and install software on your home computer. On Firefox 3.0 there are spotters that let the users know when a website is not safe. A red box pops up in the middle of the screen to let people know of the danger.
The last big change to Firefox is the five thousand add-ons a user can access to customize a page. You can do things like extend your history storage information for up to three months, and make your back arrow bigger than the forward arrow. Mozilla says all these improvements are not an attempt to conquer the world just to make the internet a better place.
Microsoft is also planning the launch of their latest browser Internet Explorer 8. Like Firefox 3.0 IE 8 is touted as faster, easier to use, and more secure than its competitors. Microsoft has to step things up because its competitors have been putting a dent in Internet Explorers dominance on the browser market. For the first time, last year, Microsoft’s market share dropped below 70%.
Internet Explorer 8 offers upgrades to make loading pages faster, as well as new search features. Tab isolation is a feature that closes down only one tab if you hit a bad site instead of the whole browser. WebsSlices allow users to remain updated about an item on web page like the weather, or an ongoing auction. And, people can use Accelerators to put things like maps or translations in a small window without leaving the page.
Creators of IE 8 claim that it is the most secure browser on the market. Some new security features include In-Private Filtering. This feature allows users to see and block being tracked by a third party content provider, who may track users activities to target advertising. Another new feature In-Private Browsing makes it possible for users to surf the Web without the sites viewed being recorded in the history.
Even though there are consumers who are loyal to other browsers and enjoy supporting an underdog like Firefox, many believe that Microsoft will keep its advantage over the competition because its browser is included with its operating system. The European Union has even said that Microsoft is harming its competition by bundling Windows and Internet Explorer.
Personally I don’t have enough experience with any browser other than Internet Explorer to make an educated comparison. After reading both articles I am intrigued by Firefox and would like to see how it stacks up to Microsoft IE. I like many people used IE simply because it came on my computer making it very simple to use as my Web browser. I think that because it takes a little more effort for people to get Firefox this gives them the incentive to release the best possible browser.
Both articles claimed their browser was the fastest, easiest, and most secure. Firefox 3.0 and Internet Explorer 8 both offer many new features and upgrades from their predecessors. If you are interested on more privacy on the internet you would probably more interested in IE 8’s new features. On the other hand if you are looking for an easy way to access web sites whose address you can’t remember than the Firefox 3.0‘s smart bar probably sounds pretty tempting. I don’t believe either article did its job of convincing me that one was better than the other. I believe the only way for the consumer to know which of these products is best is to try
Them both and see which one suits their needs best.