While trying to track down a bug using Internet Explorer and deleting categories in WordPress (ticket:3343, no luck yet figuring out the cause), I clicked the link in the WordPress control interface to browsehappy, and then today while checking out Glipper, a clipboard manager for Ubuntu, I noticed it had a browsehappy badge as well.
The Why is Internet Explorer unsafe? with its list of “recent security issue” from 2004 needs an update.
Browsehappy suggests use any browse except Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. I do not encourage the use of the proprietary browsers Safari and Opera, because I do not think there is a compelling reason not to instead choose the open source Firefox.
I really llke the concept behind browsehappy with its diverse, real, personal testimonials, but with Microsoft’s concentration on security in the last year and the release of Internet Explorer 7, I think security is not currently a persuasive argument though Mozilla is still making phishing one.
Performance currently seems to be an argument for Firefox 2, but here and with phishing the IE team will likely quickly close the gap taking the substance out of the argument.
What are we left with? Again, “most people don’t care about free culture, they want their tools and gadgets to just work”.
I think the strongest arguments for Firefox currently are pretty weak, but I think they are:
- Do you trust the company behind your browser?
- What do your computer savvy friends use? Is it easy to use for everyone?
- Is there a helpful community to provide support if you have problems?
I don’t think inviting bloggers to their San Francisco launch shows that Microsoft gets community. It shows they get marketing. The IE team is doing a great job with their blog, and Microsoft in general with topical blogging. This falls far short of, as CEO of Mozilla Mitchell Baker puts it, “[giving] up some command and control” to their community.
Firefox has some self empowered communities, but I am with Chris Messina in wanting more from Mozilla:
I’d like to see Mozilla stand up and declare the principles, ideas, dreams and ambitions that set it apart and keep its proponents up at night, dreaming of ways to get the story out there to an ever-widening audience. Anything less, and the juggernaut will bowl us over, diminishing the effects of the incredible achievements that have been made in the past two years.
I want Mozilla to give us more than just Firefox and Thunderbird. I want a platform led by these and other great products. I think Chris is correct that Webkit is empowered developers and designers in a way that Mozilla is missing out on.
Initiates like Mozilla Labs are excellent, but Mozilla, like all open source organizations, still has many challenges with fostering a diverse contributing community. I really enjoyed listening to Mike Shaver’s keynote at Seneca’s 5th Annual Free Software and Open Source Symposium; he is a leader in understanding the challenges of open source and his talk discusses the challenges of diversity.
One Comment
I think it is funny that the BrowseHappy Why? page makes no attempt to say why it is unsafe. It references one 2004 bug and the rest of the articles are all “Well, so and so thinks it is unsafe….” I was excited when I saw that link, because I thought I would finally get some facts about how a properly configured IE browser is unsafe, but found I was instead reading about some grandmother who things IE is to clutterred.
IE is a good browser and Maxthon turns it into a great browser. Any time I try to find out the details of a general flaw in the IE design, I find I am arguing with some 13 year old twerp who doesn’t know anything except what he’s been peer pressured to say.
I do not like the elitist atmosphere Firefox is promoting. Browse Happy falls in this category but does it gently. I DO NOT think Blogs should be in the habbit of insulting the 85%+ of their users by saying “Your not welcome here because you are too dumb to choose the right browser.” Sites like http://awstats.sourceforge.net/ go too far in belittling their IE users.
Their arguments don’t wash anyway:
· Firefox blocks pop-up windows. - So does every IE browser with a search bar installed. Maxthons ad blocker beats all others anyway.
· It’s more secure against viruses and spyware. - No longer true. This trend has been reversed. Its now popular enough to be targeted. Firefox actually has had more major security holes this quarter than any other browser. Opera, as usual, had the least.
· It keeps Microsoft from controlling the future of the internet. - OK, That I agree with.
· It’s better for web designers and developers. - Each browser is actually broken in different ways. And THAT’s what is the most annoying. There are pleanty of niceties available in IE that are not elsewhere.
· Features like tabbed browsing make reading webpages easier. Maxthon supplied this in IE6 and it is built in in IE7.