Why Internet Explorer Is Better
Seems like the war between which web browser to use is getting out of hand. The 2 big names being FireFox and Internet Explorer. Having used most of all the browsers out there for some amount of time i do believe that all around Internet Explorer is the best you can use. I have always questioned FireFox and how good it is because when you ask someone that likes FireFox why they like it, just about all of them say because its open source and you can “fix it up”. I’m sorry what happen to using a browser because it worked? Another thing people like to say about FireFox is its faster at loading pages than Internet Explorer. Well this is kinda dumb that people say this because FireFox doesn’t have to load as much information has Internet Explorer does because it don’t support has much. It takes time to load image filters and all these other things that Internet Explorer uses that FireFox dont support so it don’t download it. So yes it is faster but the web page also don’t look as great.
“FireFox has kind of lost its place in the browsing world.”
Also seems that most of the people that brag about FireFox being open source aren’t even for sure what that means and have no idea what to do with “open source”. to me open source has always been an excuse for people to make something great worse. Most of the time things only get worse after 50 people play with the source coding. Since Internet Explorer 7 has come out and it now has tabbed browsing, which was the only advantage FireFox ever really had, FireFox has kind of lost its place in the browsing world. FireFox has been out since 2002 and still don’t have but a little over a 17% share in the browsers used with Internet Explorer coming in at almost 75%. If its so great why don’t more people use it? I honestly hate the way FireFox renders pages. There is a few things i do like about FireFox but not enough to get me to change. I am in no way a big Microsoft fan but Internet Explorer is the best all around there is. Even before Internet Explorer 7 came out i was using Opera and not FireFox, and even today if i wasn’t using Internet Explorer the next best thing i have found is Apple’s Safari. The only thing i dont like about Internet Explorer is no CSS2 support which they ave fixed with the upcoming Internet Explorer 8 release. So i been fighting with these 2 main browser for over 2 years now trying to decide what i like better, and i would have to say that all around Internet Explorer 7+ is better than anything else. If you are all anti Microsoft give Safari a try.
Donations
If you find this, or anything on Jerico Systems useful please help by giving a donation. It can be in any amount and will help me continue to bring you great content.
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:15 am
Hey came across your site from the Wordpress forums and then saw this and had to comment.
” FireFox has been out since 2002 and still don’t have but a little over a 17% share in the browsers used with Internet Explorer coming in at almost 75%. If its so great why don’t more people use it?”
Er… because Windows is shipped with IE pre-loaded and most non IT users dont know what a “browser” is let alone there are alternatives.
“Well this is kinda dumb that people say this because FireFox doesn’t have to load as much information has Internet Explorer does because it don’t support has much.”
It supports as much if not more, however it doesnt support the “custom codes” MS came up with while it was pretty much the only browser on the market and then people got in to laazy coding habits.
If you find a single bit of w3c code that Firefox cannot handle I would be surprised.
Open Source software does not break good software, in fact that is one of the silliest statements I think I have read this week (is only Monday though).
Open source does not affect the way Firefox works and will never break Firefox as it is developed and created by Mozilla, however it does mean it’s functions and features can be added to by anyone, but only if you install those functions and features.
I am not anti-MS and have no great hate of IE7 (IE6 is a different story though) and I use both IE and firefox. I do however think your blog post was not researched or thought through fully.
2/10 (see me after class)
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:06 am
if you look at the support list IE7 does in fact support more that Firefox does. This is the main reason Firefox is releasing Firefox 3. A main reason Internet Explorer is about to be out is for IE7’s lack of css2 support. Though open source doesn’t affect the way FF handles the web it does however affect the main template which FF runs on and the way FF handles Itself. It is true that IE is shipped on about every computer sold But this still don’t make up for FF’s lack in numbers, Most people using a computer do know what a browser is and choose to keep IE. Also the fact that IE doesn’t support MS code just proves my statement more. Most websites do use some kind of MS code. Even if you take a site that both browsers support FF is no faster that IE. I do agree with you on IE6 and i never really used IE much until IE7. I myself have found no reason using FF to keep using FF. IE is still better all around than FF, I didn’t say that it was better at FF at everything but it is better all around. MS code is a big part of the Internet and its coding, if FF don’t support it i would consider that a flaw. Also in all honestly if you do choose your browser from how much it can support we should all be using Opera. It supports more than IE and FF put together.
I do thank you for the comment though. Look forward to hearing from you again, If we cant agree on this post maybe another post.
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:13 am
I have to say this is the first time I’ve seen someone come out in favor of IE over FireFox… or anything for that matter. One thing that struck me about your post that still has me dumbfounded is this statement:
So yes it is faster but the web page also don’t look as great.
I’m making the assumption here that you designed and coded this site. If that’s the case then you should know IE’s horrible track record when it comes to page display. Lack of standards support, lack of transparent .png support pre-IE7, etc, etc.
The web design adage has always been “code for Firefox, Hack for IE.” Hacking a sites code to make it (sometimes) function properly in IE is clearly a problem. Granted, they have made better strides with IE7, but it’s still nowhere near where it should be. Microsoft’s commitment to making IE8 standards compliant is a big step, but I’m not holding my breath.
As for “Microsoft Code,” I am finding far fewer sites that require IE. The only Microsoft Code that FireFox, Safari, et al cannot handle is Active X and that seems to be on the way out, for that very reason.
Anyway, I like the design of you site. It looks great in Safari.
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:22 am
Who cares about what IE6 supports? its 2008 for goodness sake. In case you didn’t know IE7 has been out for some time. So stop using IE6 and trying to compare it to FF. Amazing how everyone that likes FF compares it to IE6. I still stick to all my statements though. I did a lot of research into this and a crap load of side by side testing. Once again i will say that i didn’t say that IE was better in every way, but all around i do believe your better off with it. And i don’t know why FF users always through up what FF supports. If you use a browser by what it can support then you would be using Opera since it supports more than IE and FF put together.
Anyways, Thanks for the compliment about the site, I do like Safari very much. There is just a few little things about it thats the reason i wont use it everyday. Though it is installed on my computer where as FF is not anymore.
April 27th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
I’m growing tired of Firefox, it’s starting slow up, crash more, eat memory and websites don’t look as good when compare it to viewing sites with IE. I’m not saying Firefox is bad. In fact I love Firefox but the way I’m using the internet at the moment is giving it troubles.
April 27th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
I agree. I don’t hate Firefox myself but i think Firefox’s glory days are about over. Internet Explorer has been listening to everyones complaints now for a few years and are making great progress with IE-8 and Firefox doesn’t seem to be able to improve there self anymore.