Why is Firefox regarded as superior to Internet Explorer? Help me out.

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Hi all,

So, I've been an IE explorer since I started using the 'internets', in the 20th century. Pretty much the only other browser I've used is Netscape, way back in the day. I've used Firefox briefly on other computers and I simply can't see what the fuss is all about.

Every once in a while, people glance over my laptop and tell me I'm crazy for still using IE and that I should switch to Firefox and more recently, Chrome (But I'd really like to leave Chrome out of this discussion).

So, GTP members I ask thee: Why is Firefox so widely perceived as being superior to IE? The main reason I ask is because I recently downloaded IE9 and all I have to say is... They've butchered IE enough. I also figure, well, if so many people think it's that great, there must be a reason, right?

Also one side-question. I hate tabbed browsing, is there a way to turn it off in Firefox?

I found other topics, but I really didn't want to include this discussion on those topics, as they seemed more like a general discussion on the browsers available. I think a discussion regarding just IE and FF is adequate considering the inquiry.
 
One of the main key points is Firefox in general is open source has far more security layers than Internet Explorer. You'll notice that it's also a bit faster when you browse the net. Not to mention the variety of plug-ins you can easily download for it. Of course, you don't have to.



Off-topic, but I've been liking Google Chrome quite a bit. It's fast.
 
I tried Chrome but the lack of a drop-down address bar killed it for me. I figure I'm going to switch to FF sooner or later but I just want to be well versed on what it can do and how is it better I guess.
 
The main reason why I stick with Firefox is the plugins.

There's no way that I know of to turn off tabbed browsing, but you can easily choose to simply not use them.
 
IE9 isn't that bad, it's just not as usable as either Chrome or FF: you have extensions and even browser based apps. Plus it still has issues rendering web pages (though that's greatly improved over IE8). There's also the perception that FF and Chrome are more secure. Chrome is awesome though, love the way each tab is treated as a separate process.
 
If you go from the firefox menu to options and then to the tabs option; you will have the option to uncheck the "Open new tab when opening a new window" and uncheck "Always show the tab bar".

I find the browser to be faster and easier to use with addons such as Adblock Plus(I use it only to stay away from ads loaded with viruses) and Memory Fox(To combat firefox's memory usage). When I found Firefox 2 with the then new tab browsing it was heaven for me. I could easily switch between websites and I found browsing the web to be more enjoyable. I also loved the fact that firefox does not make any clicking sounds when you clicked on a link(my mouse makes a loud enough clicking sound thank you) and I loved the fact I could download a theme to make the browser look nicer to my tastes. I also never liked ActiveX(programs from the internet getting info from your PC) in IE.

There are a lot of malicious websites that can get access to important personal data and inject viruses into the system just from getting permission to install a program into IE. I've had a bad experience with that problem where a old computer of mine crashed because of it. Viruses were loaded into the computer and we could not get access to IE until the PC crashed and I had to wipe the hard drive to start over with Linux since I did not trust windows at the time. So due to that experience I've stayed on the Firefox boat since the days of Firefox 2.
 
I use FF since IE7&8 couldn't load certain pages, and it got worse and worse. FF loads everything properly and quick.

Only thing that bugs me in FF is that I can't seem to find the option, as IE does, to run a download instantly instead of first saving it, and then run it.
 
I like the fact that Firefox is open source so in essence is created, tested and improved by the people for the people whereas IE is closed and designed by a committee that for many years didn't really listen to what people wanted because they knew they had air tight dominance.

IE9 has been a major improvement though and they are really making a great effort probably because of 'the c word' coming along and growing extremely fast. I'd say 9 is just as good as FF4 but the plug ins are the deal breaker.

If your from the Netscape era as I am and have fond memories of that time then Firefox is its spiritual successor.
 
IE gets updates each week for security.
It had tabbed browsing.
It can be customizeable.
Its pop up blocker is not easily bypassed.
It is Faster.
It is not force feed down your throat.
 
I assume "It" is Firefox in your post?

There are .NET apps out there in the business world that don't work on Firefox or Chrome. My own office uses one for our service tickets.

Initially Firefox was "safer," and IE developed a reputation as being very susceptible to malware code downloaded from sites or received in HTML emails. Properly formed intentional "errors" would grant the code the right to do whatever it wanted to do on your machine. Since Firefox didn't actually run such HTML extensions back in the day, it was widely heralded as the only safe way to surf.

That rep began back in the IE4 days, and it's been very hard for MS to get rid of. Personally, I've not found IE hard to live with at all. My brother uses Firefox, and I use it once in a while, especially to check out new versions. FF had tabbed browsing first. There are ad-blocker add-ons that are very easy to implement.

My "I hate this!" thing with Firefox is getting my bookmarks from one machine to another. The export-then-import process is cumbersome compared to simply copying the Favorites folder from my profile. And although Firefox can easily import your favorites on initial setup, if you use both browsers and don't import IE favorites from time to time, they diverge. And if you add a bookmark to FF, I'm not sure there's even a way to make sure that gets to your IE favorites, but I may just be uninformed on that.

IE is not the big horror any more that it was when MS introduced their first HTML "extensions" back in the day, without considering what kind of trouble could be stirred up by evil boys in dark rooms full of PCs and monitors and switches and routers. It's like they introduced it as "Wow! Look what your corporate programmers can do for your apps!" without even considering that ANYBODY could now run code on your PC.

Like I said, that issue is gone. EVERYBODY gets security updates, FF and Chrome included. Sometimes for the same issues, from add-ins.
 
With Firefox I have a browser that works the same on Linux machines and Windows machines. IE no longer runs on anything other than M$oft.

The purpose of IE is to serve the interests of Microsoft first and foremost, not mine.

If I don't like something in Firefox I'm free to change it. Microsoft doesn't even like me looking around inside IE.
 
Now with Firefox 4+ sync option you can go between mac, linux and windows pcs and still have your bookmarks.
 
You can one click with the add-on FlashGot, try it out.

Opendownload2 seems to do it better. Tried flashgot but meh.

Opendownload2

It's still a beta/experimental, but for me it works perfectly, it adds a Run option to your download. 👍
 
Hi all,

So, I've been an IE explorer since I started using the 'internets', in the 20th century. Pretty much the only other browser I've used is Netscape, way back in the day. I've used Firefox briefly on other computers and I simply can't see what the fuss is all about.

Every once in a while, people glance over my laptop and tell me I'm crazy for still using IE and that I should switch to Firefox and more recently, Chrome (But I'd really like to leave Chrome out of this discussion).

Well, back in the IE6 days, it was a complete joke. I could not handle PNG files correctly, which much older versions of Netscape could do, it was clunky, security issues, poor handling of just about everything, ugly GUI, etc.

Firefox was a huge improvement in just about everything, from how it rendered pages to caching, etc. It was, in every way, a superior piece of software.

At this point, the difference isn't so bad now, since MS has actually made some effort to improve their product.

So, GTP members I ask thee: Why is Firefox so widely perceived as being superior to IE? The main reason I ask is because I recently downloaded IE9 and all I have to say is... They've butchered IE enough. I also figure, well, if so many people think it's that great, there must be a reason, right?

Also one side-question. I hate tabbed browsing, is there a way to turn it off in Firefox?

Tabbed browsing was another huge draw of Firefox initially. It makes it much easier to keep track of what you are doing in various windows, where I can have all my forums and crap in one instance, shopping I am doing in another, research, etc etc.

Plug-ins are another huge reason why people have like Firefox more than IE - ad-block, HTML debuggers, etc. Firefox can be an amazingly powerful tool after a few plug-ins, in terms of doing just about anything.

I found other topics, but I really didn't want to include this discussion on those topics, as they seemed more like a general discussion on the browsers available. I think a discussion regarding just IE and FF is adequate considering the inquiry.

Well, you are going to hear about Chrome because a lot of people are using it now. I've been using it for a couple years over Firefox now because of how it handled Flash in different tabs (due to it treating each tab as a separate instance) and a very clean, minimal GUI.
 
This has actually been very helpful, thanks. It seems that the concensus is that that reputation was obtained when IE sucked really bad, and while IE has been improving (from being an awful browser), FF has been a steadily good browser.

So now that it was brought up... I hated IE9. I was really fond of the little search bad on the top right and most importantly, I was -very- fond of something that had not changed in years: The way IE handled downloads. IE9 changed it whereas IE8 had the same download interface IE ever had. Is IE9 really that much better than 8?

Interface-wise, the IE I've liked the most is IE6.
 
To be perfectly honest. You should only be using IE for 3 reasons.

2. http://www.update.microsoft.com [only applies to XP machines really]
3. Getting a new browser on a new machine.

Only two I ever use it for, besides at work where we have to use it for an online database system (I think I accidentally used Firefox once, and it didn't seem to have an issue doing what I needed to do).

I used Chrome for a while after it came out but missed plugins. I haven't bothered to use it now that it does...Firefox works fine for me so why change. And I just use Safari on Mac.
 
I'm forced to use IE for a school lab this quarter and so far I despise it to the point where I have a separate FF window open for regular browsing at the same time. IE is so clunky! Maybe I have to set it up correctly or something, but I never had to do that with FF so I don't see the point. Security verification this, popup blocked that, enable cookies here, every time I change a page or open a window some other stupid warning comes up. All that stuff happens in the background on FF and it only tells you about the most dire situations. Plus, those annoying clicking noises! Gah!

I use Chrome occasionally but rarely. I stumbled upon FF first and got used to it. Chrome is good but just hasn't caught my attention enough to switch. The interface is nice.
 
Use firefox portable on a USB drive to add new webbrowsers on your PC.

You still had to download it from somewhere. Even if the last computer that you downloaded it off of was running with Firefox, the chain of computers eventually leads back to a machine with IE.
 
You still had to download it from somewhere. Even if the last computer that you downloaded it off of was running with Firefox, the chain of computers eventually leads back to a machine with IE.

Or Safari or Konqueror.
 
This theme:
Capture.PNG

That is all.



Seriously though, everything I would have said has already been said.
For me though it's faster I like the layout more, and Ad-Block plus is fantastic.
Only problem with FF5 is that it doesn't work with drag&drop for files on sites like Google and Picasa, but that can be solved by going to FF4.
And back to the theme thing, that's another reason, the amount of awesome themes online for FF, and the amount of extensions just make it so you can make the entire browser exactly the way you want it.
 
Is there anything that Firefox has now that Chrome doesn't? Because I really don't like Firefox anymore.
 
IE8 and lower are 🤬 to create webpages for. IE interprets style sheets differently then other major browsers (this has been improved in IE9). I also despise IE for the simple fact that Microsoft insists you use it. You CAN'T remove IE from Windows (vista or 7, dunno about XP). Plus the multiple warnings for everything

I like Firefox (still using v3.6.x) because it offers the same good things about IE without the significant drawbacks. FF is actually faster, too. And for programming JavaScript, you don't need to enable use from the local source every time, as well as having a much better Error console

And Firefox has no click sound. After returnung to IE for a test, I was shocked by the sound, having forgotten it.
 
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