Internet Explorer or FireFox

[RanchHand]

The primary reasons someone would use a third party product like Firefox that is so similar in function to IE on a computer running Windows are:
It's not a Microsoft product.
It's not an American product.
Whatever the perceived advantages, they are far outweighed by support issues, both for the user and infrastructure personnel. There is a case to be made for UNIX vs Windows in many applications, with a huge impact on infrastructure support but life is too short for most people to dick around with Firefox. Anyone who has that kind of time needs more to do.

 

[Mogz]

Firefox by far; IE is riddled with spyware, and the pop-up blocker on Firefox is choice.

 

[gopher]

I prefer IE 8 because it is quicker than Firefox. But I have a problem: for some @#$%$#@ reason I cannot download Adobe Flash Player on IE. It works fine on Firefox.

Therefore, the best thing is to keep using both.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

I had IE, but viruses whacked it twice so I switched to Firefox and its been clear sailing ever since. I hope Firefox wins. Open collaborative systems rule.

 

[DavidB]

Firefox almost ALL the time.

The odd time I use IE, because I suspect I might be missing something in Firefox, I use Maxthon, which uses the IE engine, but adds on several good features (such as multiple tabs before IE offered it).

 

[MissAnnika]

i did use firefox, it corrected my spelling for me, until it decided to no longer keep my history and bookmarks, and some of that was stuff i really needed

 

[Francis2004]

I prefer IE 8 because it is quicker than Firefox. But I have a problem: for some @#$%$#@ reason I cannot download Adobe Flash Player on IE. It works fine on Firefox.

Therefore, the best thing is to keep using both.

Gopher, you can fix the problem of Flash in IE pretty easy if you do the following..

Go to Tool, Click on Manage Add-Ons..

When IE opens a new window click thru the different options ( Downloads ) available and may need to go thru several pages before you get to the New "FLASH". click on download it and install it and see if that help ?

Let me know Via PM..

 

[gopher]

I even tried Maxthon and Adobe Flash Player still won't work on that.

Oh well.

 

[WindWalker]

I swear I've used every browser out there over the years and I always end up coming back to IE. I do use FF as a secondary browser though.

I use a lot of internet based applications for my business and the only browser I can count on to show me what there is to be seen and used is IE. Firefox doesn't load this, Opera doesn't load that and on and on. I don't have the time for it, I just want to get the job done.

Having said that, I've also tried IE8 and I don't like it either. Some sites don't display properly with it now either. I'll just stick with IE7 and see what happens in the future.

 

[bill barilko]

In the developing world Firefox is used much more than IE.

They'll have IE on the desktop in cybercafes in Neiafu or Cartagena but they always tell you to use Firefox.

 

[WindWalker]

That makes perfect sense. I suspect that would be because of security issues.

 

[Kreskin]

I hear a lot about the popularity of FF but it doesn't seem to translate onto my own site:

 

[WindWalker]

My sites show similar stats. FF is about 10 to 20% of IE over the years.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Some browsers tell the server they're IE when they're not, you have to look a little deeper than just the first layer query/response to be sure. This guy suggests IE's real market share is only 60%.

 

[Francis2004]

Some browsers tell the server they're IE when they're not, you have to look a little deeper than just the first layer query/response to be sure. This guy suggests IE's real market share is only 60%.

I agree Dex, but I didn't want to get into the logictics of it all.

Estimates are that by next year EI will have fallen to less then 50%.

Browser market share

 

[DurkaDurka]

As long as Internet Explorer continues to be included with Windows it will remain the browser with the largest market share. Most windows users use the browser that comes with the OS and are not concerned about plugins, HTML compliance, security threats etc. Firefox is a superior browser in my opinion but Microsoft has the advantage of IE being the first browser the customer see's.

 

[L Gilbert]

... and the first one they dump when they realize there is better available.

 

[DurkaDurka]

... and the first one they dump when they realize there is better available.

Average, casual internet users don't necessarily want "better", they stick with what is familiar to them.

 

[L Gilbert]

Really? That's just dumb.
Does IE take you right back to where you were in the net when the power comes back on? No.
Is IE as fast as FF? No.
etc. etc.
I got used to (familiar) FF pretty quickly. lol

 

[DurkaDurka]

Really? That's just dumb.
Does IE take you right back to where you were in the net when the power comes back on? No.
Is IE as fast as FF? No.
etc. etc.
I got used to (familiar) FF pretty quickly. lol

I agree FF is a superior product, and I think you would find that the 30% of the market that uses FF also realizes this. Some people/companies will always use IE though for many different reasons.