Mozilla

With all of the concerns about Microsoft's Internet Explorer, I decided to install Mozilla. I was skeptical of switching for a couple of reasons. First, from a user's point of view, I really like IE - especially with the integrated Google Toolbar. It is straightforward and easy to use and I don't have to think about anything or have to configure any advanced settings. Second, I have tried numerous other browsers in the past. Netscape Navigator was a bust for me long ago. I can't recall what I couldn't get to work right, but way back, like eight or ten years ago, Navigator did something to rub me the wrong way. I tried Opera too. I could never get it configured properly, and it was noticeably slower for me than IE. I didn't like their version of tabbed browsing either. I think there was another one that I tried a few years back, but its name and details escape me.

I downloaded Mozilla 1.7 about three weeks ago when the big security flaw in IE was announced. I have been using it exclusively since then. It seems to load pages differently than IE which usually - though certainly not always - seems faster. Last night I got Macromedia Flash working in the browser. (I had been ignoring it until now; it's not that it was at all difficult to install.) Today I found that there is a Googlebar for Mozilla. And now I am back to having everything I need in a browser. The only thing I really miss is the shortcut to press shift to open a link in a new window. That can still be accomplished with a right click, but it's just not as smooth.

Jonathan 7/14/2004 12:00:00 PM