Mozilla Firefox 3 Challenges Windows Internet Explorer 7 For "My Default Browser" Title

For Internet navigation, I've only been familiar with Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer (currently, version 7). Since it's always been good enough for me, there was never a need to look around for something better. However, these days I've been feeling more confident about exploring options outside of my "stock" set.
I've heard people talking about Mozilla Firefox for a long time now, and I can't remember exactly where, but I recently saw a discussion that made me decide to give it a try. I followed that up with a search of comparison reviews Firefox 3 (latest version, available since July) starting at CNET, which also has Firefox 3 available on their Download.com page. There are loads of other places to find great practical reviews, so I won't list them here, because you have a search box too, and I can only assume you know how to use it.
There were three basic points in the comparison reviews that gave me the green light to try it out.
Number one: Firefox 3 is FREE...ya gotta love Open Source software (you're more likely to try if you don't have to buy).
Next was the comparison of browsing speeds/page load times, which I think is touted as the main attraction.
The other was the user interface (UI), described as more intuitive and VERY customizable.
I also suggest a full exploration of the feature set on Mozilla's Firefox 3 info page.
After downloading and installing the correct version for Microsoft Windows Vista, off I went.
Note: Firefox 3 runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux Platforms (as if anyone running Linux wouldn't already know this), but is not supported by some older versions of these OS's...so you'll want to verify that.
I'm not going to go into detail on those custom options; there are so many choices, and you can explore that on your own. What's important is that Firefox 3 offers tons of add-ons and plug-ins (both useful and just plain fun), available through the Tools menu.
For me, the biggest attraction is the "Awesome Bar," search box located conspicuously at the top center of the browser. It remembers all sorts of keywords/tags from every page you've visited in the Firefox 3 browser (as well as the bookmarks automatically imported from your default browser when you install Firefox 3). As soon as you start typing a relevant keyword (a site name, a subject, a title, etc.) in the "Awesome bar" you see a drop-down menu below the box listing the most likely options. This feature gets more and more useful the more you browse. I consider this very intuitive to the way we all think in keywords. This also means you don't have to clutter up your bookmarks with a lot of obscure pages you don't visit often.
The browsing speed also impressed the pants off me. All this time that I've been using Windows IE, I assumed the sometimes painfully slow page load times to be the fault of my Internet connection alone (Sprint Mobile Broadband USB Card). Oh, sure, the bandwidth doesn't offer as much love as, for example, a high-speed Internet connection...but it was NOT just my Aircard. The Firefox 3 browser showed me just how fast I can go with my little Sierra Wireless 595U friend. I can only assume that Windows IE, as great as it may be, is probably bogged down with all sorts of redundant program codes (a mystery to the average user like me) that Microsoft feels is necessary. I'm not hating....remember, I'm on Windows Vista.
I should also mention that there's a fair bit of security goodness built in to Firefox 3, with plenty of additional advanced security options available. These options are every bit as good as (maybe better than) what's available with Windows IE.
Another selling point (for me) is that the Google integration on Firefox 3 is giving me a new place to combine my development of writing (can you say: Blogger and GoogleDocs?) with general life stuff...in a more user-friendly way than Windows IE.
Now, since I've only been rockin' the Firefox 3 for a week or so, this is not the last you've heard about my experience. And yes, when I come across something in the browser that I want to compare to Windows Internet Explorer, I'll check it out. So, I'll be bringing it up from time to time.

Coming Soon: Which smartphone will I marry? Also, my days and nights with Open Office...

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Just A Few Thoughts on Windows Vista

As, I said in my initial post, I'm not the world's biggest technophile...I just know what works for me. That being said, I'd like to offer my humble opinions on Windows Vista.
I used Windows XP Home edition on my former roommate's system for three years, and I thought (and still do) that XP is a great, solid OS...I mean, it's been around for a few years now, and it's had eons (in tech terms) to mature and develop into a very useful system. I definitely became familiar with it, got used to it, and even became infatuated with the system sounds (even the "critical stop" alert that most people I know find too jarring and loud).
When I bought my own Toshiba Satellite laptop one year ago, it was after much consideration on usage, price, and hardware specs...but one of the most agonizing was: Should I go with XP or Vista? I had heard the wailing and gnashing of teeth from those who had updated from XP to Vista, and I was concerned, too. I kept hearing about crashes, and incompatibilities, and thought, it couldn't be that bad, could it? What made the decision for me was pricing and availability. At the same time I was doing my comparison shopping, I noticed a sudden price jump for systems with XP, while pre-loaded Vista was (not surprisingly) priced lower and were immediately more prevalent. Though, even now, I think it's still possible to get a brand new computer loaded with Windows XP, but they're scarce.
Back to now. After a full year of using Windows Vista Home Premium on a 200GB HD, 1GB RAM, for lots of web browsing, typical communications, and average use...not to mention lots of system updates (including Service Pack 1) that have kept anything icky from happening, I am quite happy with it.
Having said that, here's the caveat: I've given many people I know this advice, based on my experience tempered with reading loads of articles/blogs from people who know way more than I do. If you are getting all new hardware, I can't see the need to be afraid of Vista. It's far easier to buy a new system with Vista, and XP's support is going to be yanked soon, anyway. When it's pre-loaded, unless you have too many needs that it can't fill, just go with the Vista. HOWEVER (and I'm still saying this), if you don't find yourself severely limited with your maturing Windows XP, stay with it. I'm pretty sure a lot of current XP users will be fine skipping Vista altogether, since Microsoft is cooking up "Windows 7" for release in another year or two. I've actually begun to wonder if me and the other Vista users are on the "transition" system between two solid OS's.
As an end note, a quick word about the system sounds in XP and Vista. A little thing, I know, but sometimes it's the little things that matter. I never quite got used to the drastic change in the sounds that Vista has. On my Toshiba laptop, even with Harman Kardon speakers, some of the sounds were barely audible, and not exceptionally distinctive (except the "system start" sound). I looked everywhere for the wav. files of the Windows XP sounds, found them, snagged them, and created a theme in the settings. They never worked properly, so I restored the Vista default sounds and reassigned the XP sounds to my Yahoo Messenger alerts. That works out better, because I get to hear them more often.

Coming Soon: I'll talk about my current tryout of Mozilla Firefox version 3, after being a Windows Internet Explorer user for ages...and my continuing search for (my) perfect PDA/smartphone.

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