I gave up web browser evangilism a long time ago. Whether I like it or not, Internet Explorer dominates the web experience found on most Wintel machines. Any webpage I design needs to function inside IE’s quirky rendering engine and I still need to frequently access my desktop’s blue ‘e’ icon. But, I do find that my resentment towards IE’s code bloat grows with each new hotfix I need in order to forestall its ubiquitous security flaws. For example, do you have any idea how much space IE and its requisite patches are eating up on your computer? Does it seem like a fair tradeoff in terms of program size to program performance and usability? No, I doubt it does and why should Microsoft care anyway? The principle of parsimony has never been a great favourite in Redmond, WA. As the notion of bigger is better crept into define the Netscape vs Microsoft browser wars, the ability to imagine the browser as a powerful but sleek tool diminished. We had no idea what we were missing and IE’s eventual victory meant the mainstream would never know anything but a plodding behemoth of a browser with which to access the web.

Mozilla Firefox 0.8

Plumbing the full depths of Mozilla’s many software developments would be a lengthy undertaking, but let me just propose that the Mozilla Project may be an even greater example of the potential of open-source software than even Linux. One Mozilla product in particular, the newest version of Firefox, version 0.8, is the definitive answer to the ills of browser bloat. Unlike any other project I’m aware of, Firefox has been designed to be a fast, efficient and standards-compliant browser since its inception. It’s a streamlined rethink from the page-rendering engine to the user interface. Don’t mistake its compactness with a lack of features. Firefox can do everything any other browser can, it just doesn’t have to accomodate the vestigal code that most of the, literal, heavyweights do.

As I said before, the days of prophesying one browser to rule them all all are long over. I don’t expect people to adopt Firefox in droves. However, arming yourself with a speedy secondary browser would be prudent if you’ve found yourself finger-tapping as IE laboured to pull up a page. Users with the most to gain from adding Firefox include:

• Anyone who multi-tasks extensively. Tabbed browsing is a great advantage over IE. In fact, even traditional, multi-windowed browsing is more responsive with Firefox.
• Web designers building standards-compliant websites. The building blocks of the web, XHTML, CSS, XML and more, are well supported in Firefox. Facilitating site design with both the implementation and spirit of web standards is a beautiful thing.
• Anyone who is concerned about adware, spyware or malicious scripts sneaking in through an insecure browser. Remember, no bloated, old technologies are present to exploit.
• Users who have played Peter Molyneux’s Black & White. I’m not kidding. B&W was the first mainstream software to feature an interface based on gesture recognition—a technique that intuitively understands your mouse movement as a command. Firefox borrows this feature from Opera and expands upon it.

The only hassle I’ve had with the browser has come from its double name change due to trademark disputes. We’ve gone from Pheonix to Firebird and—for now—to Firefox. Heck, I’d use Firefox even if the Mozilla Project saw fit to rename it FireStone.