For years Internet Explorer dominated other web browsers. It was available on every computer and worked well enough to satisfy the majority of users. Then, independent browsers began to make waves. First Netscape appears and disappeared. Then, after a long uninterrupted stretch, a new browser began to gain market share – Mozilla’s Firefox.
Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer may be the standard, but it had some flaws. Without competition to make it necessary for continuous improvements, the browser became stale. The features didn’t improve much and bugs didn’t get fixed. Windows would freeze and nothing new was announced – until there was a good reason to do so.
Introducing Firefox
Firefox is nothing new really; it’s been around for years. Its popularity has been steadily increasing through this time until it’s not only popular with techie geeks, but with casual internet users. Until the latest release of Internet Explorer, Firefox had a few features that really made it stand out.
The most obvious of these was the tab viewing. Windows in Firefox opened in tabs. This made it easy to switch between windows and didn’t require extra room on your toolbar. Searching and SEM features were better integrated into Firefox as well. Firefox is easy to use and has plenty of updates with new features. There are relatively few glitches in the browser as well.
Competition Heats Up
With Firefox starting to cut in on its market share, Microsoft stepped up its game. It released Internet Explorer 7 which had many of the same features that had set Firefox apart. Despite the new tabs, feeds and search features on Explorer, Firefox still has a leg up on the browser competition. Explorer is full of bugs. Of course Microsoft is working to get it all fixed, but until it works as smoothly as Firefox has for years, it’s still in need of improvement.
