I have used Mozilla Firefox since version 1. I have found it much better than IE 6 and 7. The following are my reasons to switch to Firefox from Internet Explorer.

1. Security
Internet Explorer is a security nightmare! There is a very large number of security flaws in IE, which is why there are so many attacks. The majority of IE vulnerabilities are not trivial issues, but fundamental flaws. For example, merely visiting an infected web page while using the Internet Explorer browser, without doing anything else on the site, has been enough to allow hackers to take control of your system. As you may remember in 2004, some security groups such as CERT, suggested that IE’s problems were so bad that the safest way to use the web was in another browser such as Firefox. If, for some reason, you are addicted to IE the only real way to make it safe is to ratchet up the security level to the highest level and disable JavaScript. When this is done, it makes Internet Explorer a pain in the neck to use, as you will be bombarded with warnings and security prompts. Firefox has very few, if not none, of these issues. When a security flaw in Firefox is found it is promptly patched, minimizing the risk of a user being hacked.

2.  Add ons
Firefox is nicely complemented by thousands of great add ons. Add ons add just a little bit more to what Firefox already has to offer. One of my favorite add ons, for example, is Adblocker Plus. As the name implies, this add on blocks advertisments that drive me crazy on the web, adding more features to Firefox. Because of this, Firefox is very customizable. Add ons allow you not only to add new features, but to change the look as well. All Firefox add ons are free and can be found by simply typing “addons” in Firefox’s address bar.

3.  IE is a Sitting Duck
Internet Explorer holds a massive part of the browser market. This makes it a big target for hackers. Think about it. Why would a hacker write a piece of malicious code to only harm the users of Opera? By writing a worm that affects many users, which is the case with IE, he can cause a massive inconvenience. Additionally, people love to hate Microsoft and some tech savvy detractors” show their hate by cracking and usually dismembering the company’s products. Chances are that a security loophole in Mozilla will not be exploited because many users fell safe using the open-source project. However, a similar flaw will likely be blown open by one of those “tech savvy detractors” I previously mentioned.

4. It’s Faster
Firefox is currently the fastest browser on Windows. It constantly, proven in many tests, out performs both IE7 and Safari. To further prove this point, a test at http://moourl.com/ml1r0 (its really on Wired.com…That’s just another URL shortener) shows that when loading both Gmail and the Google login page, Firefox was about 3 seconds faster than Internet Explorer.

5. Download Manager
This is not a major selling point for Firefox, but is worth mentioning. I. personally, hate how in Internet Explorer, when you attempt to download something, it pops up with a dave windows like this one:

Firefox uses a much more manageable download system that stores all your downloads in one window even if there are multiple, simultaneous downloads. Firefox does not ask you if you would like to run the download and just automatically downloads it. When the download is complete a small windows pops up for a few seconds in the bottom right hand corner of the screen telling you that you downloads are ready to be used. Also, in the Firefox Download Manager, you can pause downloads, a feature that IE still lacks. The Download Manager enables you to browse a history of your downloads as well.

For those three main reasons, I believe that Firefox is a substantially better browser than Internet Explorer 7. These could change, however, with the pending releases of both IE 8 and Firefox 3.