Note: I originally prepared this essay for a class in mid-October 2006. In the two weeks after its writing, Microsoft and Mozilla both released substantial updates to their browsers. This post, therefore, does not aim to give a rigorous comparison of the two browsers but rather persuade IE users that Firefox is a sensible alternative.
The internet has fundamentally changed the flow of information in our nation and around the globe in little over a decade. This has resulted in an economic transformation and, as Thomas Friedman sees it, a flattening of the world. However, the internet is still in its infancy, and the tools we use to communicate, seek information, and do business via the web are still far from perfect. The web browser – the very piece of software that bridges the gap between humans and network computers – is one such tool. Currently, the global market for browsers is dominated by Microsoft Internet Explorer. However, I believe another product, Mozilla Firefox, is superior due to its social benefit, security advantages, and user functionality.
First, using Firefox has distinct social utility. To understand exactly why this is so, I will first give a brief history of the development of the browser. Netscape was the world’s first commercialized web browser. Released in the early 1990’s, it quickly caught fire as more and more consumers adopted network-based computing. Netscape IPOed in 1994, thereby ushering in the dot-com era. In fact, Thomas Friedman named the Netscape IPO as one of the 10 primary events that spurred the globalization era, proving just how important the company was to the development of the new economy. At this point in time, the company boasted a market-share of over 90%; however Microsoft was prepping for battle.
Microsoft launched Internet Explorer (IE), its Netscape competitor, in late 1998. Bundled with its ubiquitous Windows franchise, IE quickly took the forefront in the browser market. Some claimed that its business practices were unfair, even illegal, but Microsoft made it through court unscathed by antitrust accusations. By the early 2000s, IE dominated the market with a 95% share – a de facto monopoly. This dominance was not ideal for the average internet user, however. Set with an apparent success in IE, Microsoft lacked the incentives to bring new innovations to its browsers. In fact, the company did not release a new version of IE in the period from 2001 to 2006, a lifetime in the fast-paced technology world. By downloading Firefox for free from the web, users encourage innovation with browsers by fostering more competition. More competition, in the end, results in better products for internet users.
Advocates for Microsoft and IE will dispute the benefits of increased browser competition and will argue that the company actually did release a steady flow of new browser enhancements in the period from 2001 to 2006. However, the fact remains that Internet Explorer version 6 was released in March 2001, while Internet Explorer 7 was just made available to the general public last week, nearly five and a half years later. Even Dean Hachamovitch, Microsoft’s general manager for browsers, conceded to CNN that the “company could have done more sooner” with IE.
Second, Firefox offers better user functionality than Internet Explorer. Firefox was the first browser to incorporate tabbed browsing, which lets users open multiple Web pages in a single browser window to eliminate desktop clutter. It also pioneered integrated search capabilities by including a built-in search bar that lets users conduct searches without visiting the actual homepage of the search engine. In terms of speed, Firefox is generally faster than IE in loading web pages and browsing back and forward from a particular site. In addition, “improvements to the engine that powers Firefox deliver more accurate display of complex Web sites and support for new Web standards” (Mozilla.com). Some argue newly released Internet Explorer version 7 offers many innovative features that eliminate Firefox’s functional advantages. However, Colin Teubner, an internet analyst with Forrester Research, comments, “A year ago Firefox was head and shoulders above Microsoft’s current offering, and I think even with IE7 [Microsoft] is mostly playing catch up.”
Third, Firefox is more secure than IE. This is partially due to the open source nature of the browser’s development, which lets any member of the public view and improve the Firefox code. As a result, the browser essentially boasts a vast “community of developers and security experts working around the clock to monitor security issues” (Mozilla.com). These developers and web experts have created a browser that offers better security architecture. Firefox eschews well-known infection paths, such as the ActiveX system. Further, it automatically notifies users when they attempt to download .exe files, commonly associated with computer viruses. All of this has led some experts, such as Wharton professor Dan Hunter, to comment that “The Internet Explorer is a terrible browser and it has security problems. Firefox is just a better browser, but I would argue that its market share gains have come because spyware and other hacks plague Explorer.”
Those who favor Internet Explorer disagree with the premise that Firefox is more secure. They believe that the appearance of security flaws in IE is primarily due to the popularity and pervasiveness of the browser itself and that any software scrutinized as often as IE would undoubtedly reveal flaws. However, backers of this argument commit a straw man fallacy. True, the widespread use of IE correlates to increased security breaches. But, as web expert and writer Paul Boutin points out, hackers will primarily target IE because its user-base spreads viruses more quickly. Rather than a fault in Firefox, though, this is really just another reason to stray from IE.
To conclude, I urge you download and surf the web using Mozilla Firefox. Resist using Microsoft Internet Explorer in lieu of a browser that is socially beneficial, faster, innovative, and more secure.