Firefox - Why I Use It
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I just got finished reading an article Scot Finnie wrote for PC World comparing Internet Explorer to Firefox.
And after reading what Scot had to say, I had two thoughts. The first was a biased opinion that agreed with the article that Firefox was a better browser. And the second was: Why do I use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer?
I had to look back to my first experience using the Internet starting about 1993. At that time I lived in a small town nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and there was no access to the Internet. But a group of us formed a computer club which effectively sought a company to bring Internet access to us, and we were fortunate to finally be able to convince a company to set us up.
The first browser I used was Netscape. It was the browser of choice at the time, mainly because it was one of the only browsers available and everybody was using it. Then Microsoft came out with its version of a browser called Internet Explorer. I tried it, but always went back to Netscape. And I continued to use Netscape products until its demise.
I went back to Internet Explorer until the Mozilla project took shape and I gave Firefox a try. I liked it and have been using Firefox ever since. But why? Scot states “it provides the best overall user experience.”
I believe it is how the software ‘feels’ to the user. Can software feel right to us? You bet. It is a natural flow of how the software functions that makes it easy for a particular user to control the software itself. For me, Firefox just has the right ‘feel.’ So it is not a case of who has the better browser - that debate has gone on for many years. It is which browser fits you, the computer, user the best. That’s the bottom line. 
Tags: firefox, internet explorer, internet, browser, netscape, experience, feel
5 Comments
Tim Hodkinson
January 2nd, 2007
at 8:15am
After a year of daily use, I switched to Opera 9 from Firefox 2. I know the “fast” word is thrown around rather loosely in browser comparisons, but I found Opera was noticeably faster than Firefox (I have W98SE). Opera has some startup and shutdown issues, and it’s not accepted by my banking site (for which I use Firefox) and I miss the Live Bookmarks from FF, but I find Opera is just a little nicer to browse with. But really, I think we have such good choices now because there’s been so much competition among developers. Opera just brought out anti-phishing in their latest update; was that a coincidence or to keep them from falling behind FF and IE7?
Ron Schenone
January 2nd, 2007
at 9:02am
Hi Tim,
You peaked my interest. I may have to try Opera.
Thanks for your comment and insight.
M. Parthew
January 3rd, 2007
at 3:41pm
Opera is #1 for me and has been for years. I haven’t had the problems Tim reported since version 6 (I use xp pro). My bank accepts without a hassle which is great as it is a more secure browser as well. I used to leave the IE icon available for the odd page that needed it but that has lessened considerably. The zoom and the “paste and go” features are incredibly useful. Not to mention RSS, mail, built in, I could go on…
Grant
January 4th, 2007
at 9:31am
You’ve hit it right on the nail, Ron. Browser ‘feel’ is a much more important factor for individuals than the hackneyed and ultimately redundant ‘wars’ about which is better or faster. I’ve experimented with a few browsers (and IE shells such as Maxthon and Avant) and, at home anyway, prefer Opera. It just ‘feels’ right for me, like that favourite jumper you always wear but find hard to explain to other poeple why that is.
This is not to say I don’t like or use Firefox, just that in most cases I choose Opera.
Ron Schenone
January 4th, 2007
at 12:41pm
Thank you Grant - you’ve given me another idea for a posting of pet peeves like, which is better Intel or AMD?
I have Opera sitting on my desktop ready to install. It’s just been a hectic week. But I will give it a try.