PCWorld.com had a nice article on the new Firefox 4 today that talks about some of its features and the benefits of using Firefox over Internet Explorer.
One thing that really struck me was the rate at which users upgraded to Firefix 4. Microsoft was bragging not too long ago about its IE9 download figures for the first 24 hours of its release, which Firefox proceeded to destroy in about a quarter of that time.
I am also amused by the steady decline of IE’s market share given Microsoft’s typical greediness and business practices. Don’t get me wrong: of course Microsoft is a for-profit organization whose ultimate responsibility is earning a profit for its shareholders. But I’ve been rubbed the wrong way one too many times by things like broken security tools, monopolistic practices, and modified file extensions. (Remember when Word document extensions were only three letters?)
So to see IE now holding less than 50% market share makes me a little bit happy. Not only because I like seeing Microsoft actually have to try, but also because I know Firefox is a far superior product. This statistic means that web users overall are having a better and safer browsing experience.
I haven’t been using Firefox 4 long enough to comment on its overall stability, but one thing I did immediately notice was the removal of my CTRL+E search shortcut. I don’t use a mouse and have grown accustomed to this as an alternative method of accessing my search bar. Luckily an easy fix can be found in the Change Search Shortcut extension. Very easy to install and does the trick wonderfully.
I’ll write more on the Firefox 4 features later, but for now, please support the cause! If you are tired of slow webpages, frequent crashes, and constant security glitches, make the change to Firefox 4 today. Firefox is compatible with all your favorite websites and will copy all your favorites and personal settings right in from Internet Explorer. Give it a shot.