Firefox vs. Internet Explorer

Everybody uses the Internet. It's just become a major part of daily life. But do you ever pay attention to what you're using to access the Internet when you're looking up web sites? The vehicle software for Internet use is called a browser. There are many different browsers to choose from, but the vast majority of Internet surfers use one of two: Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. At some point, you may have used both and wondered what's so different between the two. Why do some people religiously cling to one or the other? Is one better? Here's a brief history and comparison of both browsers.

Of the two, Internet Explorer is definitely the oldest and most established. In fact, Firefox came about as the result of a competition between Internet Explorer and another web browser. In the late nineties, a battle to the death between Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator ended with, well, a death-Netscape Navigator's death, to be exact. After that, Netscape open-sourced the code they used for their browser, and that resulted in the creation of Firefox. So Firefox is the newer, younger of the two and definitely seems eager to prove itself.

Firefox was the first to come up with the idea of browser tabs and implement them into web surfing. When you are online and you want to go to a different page from the one you're on but you also don't want to leave your current site, the tab feature allows you to simply go to the top of the browser, right below the URL address bar and click on a new tab to pull up a whole different window within the same browser, making web surfing much more convenient. Of course, eventually Internet Explorer saw how well-received the tab feature was and added a similar feature to their browser.

Firefox is compatible with all operating systems. Internet Explorer will only work with Windows. However, Internet Explorer comes automatically installed with a Windows Operating System, so most people do end up using Internet Explorer over Firefox, and are more comfortable with it.
For the most part, Firefox also tends to be in the lead regarding features, as well.  Internet Explorer does not have the download managing that Firefox does, or the spell checking. The accessibility features seem to be about the same, though Firefox still comes out slightly ahead in that area. Also Internet Explorer doesn't have the speech-to-voice or voice control features that Firefox does. And Firefox did better overall in the Acid Tests, which are simply tests that rate the performance of a browser. Firefox definitely supports java script better than Internet Explorer, and has better protocol support. Another handy feature of Firefox is that it has built-in pop-up blocking.

Regardless of which browser has better inherent aspects, it may be safer to use Firefox. But this is simply because a lot more people use Internet Explorer than Firefox, and when someone decides to create a virus, they want it to target as many people as possible, so they program it for the most widely-used browser, which is Internet Explorer in this case.