If you haven't noticed yet, I have added a "Get Firefox" button to my increasing number of pointless blogs. Its part of spreadFirefox.com, a website set up by the Mozilla organization to help promote their browser - Firefox. If you're part of the 100 million people that have downloaded it already then I don't have to explain, but for the rest.
Firefox is an alternative for your web browser, It offers many advantages and features that currently make it my preferred browser over internet explorer 6. Such features like tabbed browsing, built in pop up blocking, spyware blocking (in terms of limiting ActiveX controls), as well as live bookmark handling (stripped down RSS Feeds), as well as easily being able to add a search engine to your browser, so you can, for example, google from anywhere without having to install a separate toolbar. All these features right now, including the fact that the install package is only 4.7mb, it has less overhead and tends to launch and open pages quicker.
But the fate of firefox will most likely one day go the way of Netscape. Simply put Microsoft is doing everything it can to counter these problems of losing browser market share, and with their new operating system and Windows XP SP2 users, they will unleash Internet Explorer 7. Such as RSS Reader, tabbed browsing, and control over ActiveX. While firefox will still exist for years, its already served its purpose in the fact that it is forcing Microsoft to improve, because competition is good for the end user generally by forcing programmers to better their software or fade away. Firefox Should rule users of Windows 9x versions, and 2000 where IE7 wont be released, but once IE7 is a mainstream release I expect to see a sizable dip in firefox users.
Another problem I have with Firefox is its handling of XML Data, it wont directly handle data when its in XML format, instead you have to use a parser or follow very strict conventions. This can be troublesome because XML is part of a growing trend in advancing web development.
Just to show what I mean, I set up a ATHF fan site in which I stored a list of episodes:
visit it here and click on the episodes tab
If you're using internet explorer you should have no problem when you view the episodes, yet in firefox it wont interpret the data. Rather I'd have to use a parser, or program to act as an intermediary, in order to view it in firefox which would require addition development time. While that is feasible, some companies and government organizations would rather forgo the development costs and make it only IE compatible.
Still in the meantime, one of the things that makes firefox more secure is simply the fact that it is targeted less than Microsoft, firefox has many
bugs in it just like IE, its already been patched multiple times, and will continue to be, plus the fact that its open source tends to have its flaws disseminated quicker so that people can take advantage of it before its fixed. While Microsoft likes to keep its flaws hidden and is more likely to announce them as soon as they release a patch for it, normally the second Tuesday of every month.
If you're interested in
spreading Firefox, click the get firefox button on the right under my links, and you'll see "Spread The Word" under Resources and Links. Spread Firefox also has the ability to set up a blog on their own site (although I prefer Google's Blogger.com). You can sign up with SpreadFirefox.com, Its a good temporary solution that still has the possibility of surviving Microsoft.
