Firefox 2, Internet Explorer 7

OK, it's official: With today's release of Firefox 2, we have final shipping versions of the two biggest browsers for Windows. My colleague Erik Larkin's extensive review of both Firefox 2 and Internet Explorer 7 has been one of the most popular stories on our site over the past week, and I'm not going to duplicate it here. But after having spent months running beta versions of both--when it comes to browsers, I've always been pretty transient--I do feel like thinking out loud briefly about where the browser war stands.
(I apologize, Opera fans, for leaving Opera 9 out of this discussion-and promise I'll come back to it before too long.)
For the first time since the bygone days when IE 4 battled with Firefox granddaddy Netscape Navigator 4, we have a real battle. (For years, IE didn't face truly serious competition--then Firefox 1.0 came along, and suddenly there was no question that it was the best browser for most people.)
In Internet Explorer 7, we have a Microsoft browser that has no glaring deficiencies--which doesn't sound like much of a compliment, but it's more than you could say about IE 6. But here's a compliment that really is complimentary: It's inched ahead of Firefox in a few respects. It's got a better printing engine. Its zoom feature lets you resize Web pages onscreen, while Firefox can only resize text, not graphics. And I like how IE now lets you see thumbnails of all the pages in all your open tabs at once. I wish Firefox 2 had all these items built in.
But the funny thing is, Firefox 1.5 already has some of these features--and dozens more that neither Microsoft nor Mozilla has gotten around to implementing--courtesy of the array of amazing extensions that let you customize the browser to a fare-thee-well. (My current fave: Google Browser Sync, which lets you turn all your copies of Firefox on all your computers into clones of each other with the same bookmarks, cookies, and other settings. It alone is a compelling argument for choosing Firefox over IE 7.)
While some extensions aren't yet compatible with Firefox 2, they're the single biggest reason to opt for Firefox over IE 7. There are IE 7 add-ins out there, too, and Microsoft is cultivating the development of more. But for now, Firefox is easily the more vibrant development platform, and it does all its good stuff not only in Windows, but in OS X and Linux, too.
As my Computerworld colleague Scot Finnie says in his Firefox 2 first look, the Mozilla upgrade is no giant step beyond Firefox 1.5. Is it a must for 1.5 users? Yeah, as long as you're not dependent on any extensions that don't work yet. Features like search suggestions that appear as you type in the search box, spell checking, better RSS support, and additional tab-related conveniences aren't life-changing, but I use most of 'em almost every day, and they all make my time online more productive and happy.
Which isn't, sad to say, true of every change in IE 7. Why did Microsoft turn off menus by default (without replicating all of their functions with toolbars), put the menu bar under the address window even when you do turn it on, and move the refresh button from its traditional location to the left of the address bar over to the right? I've asked multiple Microsoft executives about these changes, and the answers, which have ranged from, essentially, "I can't remember" to "For consistency with Windows Vista," have never been entirely satisfactory.
Change for the sake of change is par for the course with a Microsoft upgrade. And there's a fair amount of it in IE 7, while things that cry out for fixing, like the browser's convoluted configuration settings, haven't gotten the attention they deserve.
(Side note: If you use IE 6 and decide that you'd prefer for menus to live under the address bar, it's easy to drag them there. But this customization feature, along with other interface-tweaking options, is gone in IE 7; there's no way to move the menus back to where they sit in 99.9% of the planet's other applications.)
So do I have a personal answer to the question "What's the best browser?" Ultimately, I agree with Erik's take: Overall, Firefox maintains a lead, even though it's not gigantic and isn't there in every aspect of the browser. Like Erik, I think it's a good idea for anyone who's moving from IE 6 to try both IE 7 and Firefox 2.
And I'm still fascinated by one question: If Firefox had never cut sharply into IE’s market share, would Microsoft ever have gotten around to bringing its browser into the modern age?
Comments
You talk about how IE is for the user, but Nothing about if Microsoft has finally decided to follow internet standards of Cascading Style Sheets, HTML or just continue to bully the webdesigners to design for IE.
Firefox follows standards and for that reason alone I chose FF. I truly despise Internet Explorer for the vulnerabilities and for it's interpretations of webpages.
You say IE has a fighting chance? I doubt it. I'm installing Firefox on every client PC I'm selling and removing all traces of IE. When I tell my clients it's because IE causes too much problems (spyware etc) they are more then happy enough. And they also love the Tabbed browsing.
Bye bye IE.
Fable
October 24, 2006
10:42 PM PT
I can think of one huge reason not to use IE 7: It has the worst implementation of tabs of ANY of the major browsers available (for any OS).
1) They are huge in size (is MS officially endorsed by Fisher Price?). I use a browser to view web pages, not to view chrome.2) The bar is too small, not only are the tabs huge but the annoying buttons steal a quarter of the tab bar.3) You can not open multiple tabs from the tab tool bar (and I am not using the left panel and arrow).
All in all, I feel that IE 7 has the worst user interface of any software that I have seen in years. I think that a lot of users will be mad when Windows Update automatically pulls this one down. I have recommended that my office hold off to deploy this so that we are prepared for the training issues. This GUI is just bad.
jdawgnoonan
October 24, 2006
10:43 PM PT
I think one of the key differences is that you can use IE7 ONLY on the most recent releases of Windows (XP Service pack 2, and some releases of Windows 2003). Surprisingly, Windows 2000 is not supported. As usual, if you want to use the latest Microsoft software, you need to upgrade your operating system (ie: spend some $$).
pmundkur
October 25, 2006
2:11 AM PT
I have abandoned IE on my entire network in favor of Firefox for about a year now with no regrets. My clients, after minimal training, appreciate the customization that Firefox provides them. I appreciate not having to logging in to find yet another IE vulnerability needing another patch. Slowly, Microsoft is losing it’s desirability as users become more technically savvy.