Is there a better web browser out there than the Internet Explorer that 90% of the surfing world uses? Of course there is, otherwise I wouldn’t have asked. Several excellent alternatives are Firefox and Opera. There are others, but these are the 2 main IE contenders. Some who have tried IE alternatives claim there’s nothing special about Firefox and the others, and ask, why change?

Here are just a few reasons I prefer Firefox and think it is “special”:

1. I develop web sites. The Web Developer extension makes my job a lot easier and saves me a lot of troubleshooting time.
   
   
   
   • The CSS editor lets me experiment with the CSS stylesheet “live” in the browser without having to click on preview buttons or having to FTP a new css file every 2 minutes.
   
   
   • The Information and Outline options outline Tables and Table Cells, and DIV and SPAN blocks, making it easier to figure out what’s going on.
   
   
   • Instant access to Speed Reports, and HTML and CSS validation sites.
     
   • Window Resize presets, so I can view my web pages at different screen resolutions.
   
   
   • Clearing the cache is only 1 click away.
   
   
2. With SuperDrag&Go when I drag any text from any file to the web browser I either get a Google search, or the web page opens up. When using SD&G from inside the browser, dragged bookmarks will open up in a new tab, as well as dragged links and words. I don’t have to leave the page I’m on in order to open up other links.
3. “Begin finding when you begin typing” (Tools > Options > Advanced > Accessibility) allows me to do a find on a web page just by typing. I don’t need to open up a dialog box. F3 will find the next occurrence, Backspace works just like you would expect. ESC clears the search term. I use this feature so much, that I forget it doesn’t work when I’m in a text editor, and end up clean-up after absent-mindedness.
4. SessionSaver restores your last Internet session after startup, computer crash, whatever. It is not unusual for me to have over 20 different web sites up at one time, and to not shutdown my computer for over a week. When I get to a point when I must restart, it can be painful getting all the open pages bookmarked so that I can get “back to work” after a restart. Not anymore.
5. Bookmark and History search. When I have the Bookmark or History tabs open, I can search for specific sites, or keywords within the site description. (IE allows this with History, but not Bookmarks).
6. Pop-up ads just don’t. It’s that simple. [Full disclosure: I have heard rumblings on the ‘net that some ads are sneaking through. I haven’t had a problem yet.]
7. Spybots and Automatic program installers “don’t” either. If a website tries to install software Firefox will alert you and get your explicit permission before allowing the install. IE’s solution to nefarious software has been trusted zones. Most people do not understand the concept behind the zones, or what it takes to properly use them. Firefox’s solution is much simpler and easier to use. IE will not allow you to set up a trusted zone unless the the url is for an SSL web page (web address begins with “https://"). They have their reasons for this, and I disagree with those reasons (but won’t get into a long involved discussion about it right now).
8. Microsoft tracks your Internet usage with Alexa. No matter how many times you remove or block Alexa, IE reinstalls it and phones home whenever you surf the web. Very creepy. Firefox respects your privacy.
9. Web pages display faster in Firefox than they do in IE.
10. If I type in r and hit the enter key in Firefox I go to resurrectionsong.com, because of a cool Firefox feature that allows me to assign shortcuts to bookmarks. In IE, I get taken to my r: drive (yes, I have one). For some reason, IE thinks I want to use my web browser to surf my computer rather than the Internet. I have never understood this. If I type in “t” I get a list of websites that I have visited that begin with “t”. I can easily select the website I want with the mouse or arrow keys. In IE I have to keep typing until IE decides to display whatever site it is I want to visit. By that time, their “type-ahead” feature is pretty meaningless.
11. Type in “about:config” into the Firefox address field and you will have access to almost every setting Firefox uses.

When Microsoft won the browser wars they stopped being innovative and focused mostly on fixing security holes and complying with web standards. Firefox, on the other hand, has a vibrant, innovative, and responsive developer community that has been actively developing extensions and program updates that meet the needs of users. There are hundreds of Firefox extensions available that will allow you to do things you just can’t do in IE. To me, that makes Firefox especially “special.” I get a program that meets my needs, instead of the “needs” Bill Gates and his shareholders say I need. Internet Explorer may one day copy Firefox’s (and Opera’s) ideas and incorporate them into their own browser. I have work to do, so I’m not going to wait.

I have more reasons why FF is special, but I don’t want to put y’all to sleep.

Update: I can’t believe I forgot this one—By using Ctrl-plus or Ctrl-minus I can increase or decrease the size of fonts on a web page. I am no longer held captive by web designers who think 6-point is cool. IE will allow you to select a default font size from a menu that will apply to all pages, but savvy “cool” web designers know how to circumvent this IE feature. In FF, I can also hold down the Ctrl key and use the roller wheel on my mouse to change font size.