For years, Microsoft Internet Explorer has enjoyed near dominance of the Web browser space -- but not any more. Since the release last year of Mozilla Firefox 1.5, Firefox has been steadily eroding Internet Explorer's claim of superiority. According to information from NetApplications.com, in October 2004 Internet Explorer had 92 percent of the market; in September 2005 that dropped to 86 percent; and as of September 2006 Internet Explorer's market share dropped to 82 percent, with Firefox's rising to 12.5 percent. In two years Microsoft ceded 10 percent of its audience to its competition.
So how do the latest versions of each browser compare? For this prizefight, we looked at Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft's first new Internet browser since 2001 and Mozilla Firefox 2, Mozilla's update of its popular Firefox 1.5 browser released in November 2005. I've already had my two penny-worth in the reviews we've already published, so I've turned over this prizefight to my colleagues who specifically cover the Web services beat.
About the judges
- Rafe Needleman, editor at large for (ZDNet sister site) CNET, covers new online applications and is launching a new CNET Web site about them: Webware.com.
- Peter Butler is senior editor for CNET in charge of Download.com reviews.
- Elsa Wenzel is an associate editor for CNET who reviews hulking office suites, tiny apps and Web services.
Talkback
I get the impression that FF had won this before the review had even began.
IE7 is NOT a new browser. It uses IE6 code so the insecurity is
inherent. It is just IE6 with a new paint job. M$ has had time to do a complete rebuild on this browser and this is the best they came up with? Not acceptable.
Yes, i've got a feeling you were right! :P
I have still to use either (new) version, so i will make up my own mind until then. Ever since firefox came out however, i have been using it as my default browser - and to be honest, it will probably still be the case with these new versions....
I use both IE7 and Firefox 1.5 and now 2.0 daily and can say I agree with the verdict.
You'd have to be really Pro Microsoft/biased to come to any other conclusion. IE7 is maybe comparible to Firefox 1.0 - then we might have a fight on. But Firefox 2.0 has raised the bar again and with the tweaks and extentions available from the community should stay ahead indefinitely.
I recently discovered FireFox add-ons and extensions, and promptly lost about half my waking life to StumbleUpon, which puts a button in your toolbar that directs you to a random but brilliant website when pushed.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/
Given the internet's primary function - to enable one to waste time on amusing fripperies when one should be engaged in proper work - i think it's fair to say that StumbleUpon is the ultimate internet invention.
As to the debate about which browser is best - it's clearly FireFox. It's not an important debate by any means, but the answer is obvious.
Thanks for the link Chris, i can waste away a few more hours a week.
I have to admit that, being a Mac user, I haven't had to use IE for quite some time since Microsoft stopped supporting it on a Mac. Safari has been a better browser for ages anyway so I wasn't that bothered.
But Firefox 2.0, which they have done a Mac version of too, has made me think twice about it. Some great new additions, and yes it is now my default browser.
Although looking forward to new safari browser in Leopard.
What are you basing you biased verdict on? There are some innovations in IE, but to be fair, it isn't much and it's very late.
One thing that the article doesn't mention is standard compliance. IE has done something to improve this, but is so far behind Firefox/Opera/Safari. My advice to the IE team would be to put Gecko or KHTML inside IE 7.1 and forget about the broken browser they have now.
When IE6 was released, it was in my opnion the best browser available. So much has happened since then and now the only browser IE can beat is Netscape 4 and IE < 7. My personal favorite Opera is leading both Firefox and IE accessibility and usability, but are lacking extensions.
Where is the section comparing support for various open standards? HTML, CSS, XHTML, PNG, MNG, SVG: Open standards and specifications are the cornerstone of the Internet as they allowed it to grow into what it has become today. Furthermore, it is these standards which will enable developers to provide the flexible and platform neutral Internet of tomorrow. When browsers pervert standards or hold back on implementing them, the entire Internet community feels the effect because web developers then have less incentive to utilize these technologies to deliver a rich web experience.
It is no surprise to me that Firefox beats IE 7. But all the items that your commentators said were missing in Firefox are available in Opera. Also Opera is even smaller and faster than Firefox, with even more features like saving as many session histories as you like, restoring closed windows (Trash can), easy 1-2 key tab browsing, tab thumbnails, excellent RSS feeds, and even a Jabber chat client.
It is just they way that the article is written. It just comes across as they wanted FF to win right from the start. Maybe it is just because it isn't MS, maybe it's because it is genuinely a better product, I don't know. But it does come across that IE never had a look in and the article isn't impartial, but I suppose there is no reason why it should be.
Hmm...it appears that the reply system is a little buggy as I didn't reply to this comment!
Tab surfing is clearly the way forward. However, more things work in IE 6 than IE 7 or FireFox (in my experience anyway). This simple fact is why I use IE 6.
IE 7 Minimum Requirements
* 233MHz processor min (Pentium recommended) -- Got Duron 800
* Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) or
* Windows XP Professional x64 Edition or
* Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
IE 7 requires XP or Server 2003! -- Not even close!
It looks like I need a new OS to run IE 7.
ie 7 = 0
Firefox 2 Minimum Requirements
* 233 Mhz processor -- Got Duron 800
* 64 MB of RAM -- Got 128MB
* 50 MB of free disk space -- Got Gigs
* Microsoft Windows 98 -- Got W98se through last update
Firefox 2 = 5
IE 7 v Firefox 2? IE 7 did not even answer the first bell. Too bad. I have been expierencing some glitches with Firefox 1.5 that $20 worth of memory might help. I am not ready to part with the $100 that XP would require.
I've been using Opera for 3 months now and I can't understand why anyone would use anything else. It's simply amazing!
I regret allowing IE to upgrade itself to version 7. Where were my links? I couldn't gain access to three out of five of the toolbars. They showed on a dropdown in grey text only.
I'm just an ordinary surfer, not a damn technician!
Personally I'll never use IE again. If I have to learn something all over again, I'm off to the Linux camp!!!!!!!!!
Pete G ! :-(