Firefox Impressions From An Internet Explorer User : 5 Things Microsoft Can Learn From Mozilla To Build A Better Browser

The latest release of Firefox 3 should give Microsoft something to worry about. I wasn’t an avid Firefox user until the pre-release days of Firefox 3. And by the time I made the switch, it dawned on me how Firefox 3 was light years ahead of Internet Explorer 7, and the lackluster Internet Explorer 8 beta. I won’t go on and on about the virtues of Firefox, rather what pointers Microsoft can take from Mozilla to build a better Internet Explorer and hopefully regain their dwindling market share.

1. Conform to better web standards

Internet Explorer (IE) is anything but a fully compliant web standard browser. Every other browser, including Opera and Safari is standards compliant. What this means is that IE users can’t “see” the page exactly how the web designer wanted it to be viewed. But due to the widespread, albeit declining, popularity of IE, more sites are designed for IE users which means that the site appears broken in other browsers. A newer version of IE, with stricter regard to web standards will save viewers, as well as web developers, countless headaches. Nowadays, a website appears broken in Firefox once in a blue moon, ie. never.

Nowadays, more and more websites are being developed within the guidelines of web standards, so IE users risk having a “broken browser” while other users are happily browsing. Microsoft should concentrate on adhering to stricter web guidelines. Their IE 8 Beta is a step in the right direction.

2. Let’s see some innovation in Internet Explorer

Graphical updates aren’t innovative, Microsoft. Let’s be honest. What new features have we seen lately and those that are actually useful? While Microsoft is scratching their heads, Mozilla has come up with the “awesome bar” in Firefox 3. You can search your entire browsing history just by typing a word in the address bar, and Firefox displays the most relevant results. It has saved me the trouble of having to type in common web addresses that I regularly visit.

Then there is the crash recovery feature in Firefox, which automatically restores your previous browsing session in case of a power out or if Windows crashes(which it does often). And the best thing that Microsoft has come up with in IE 8, is Activities and Safari-like Webslices.

3. Build a robust and more secure browser

Face it. If the underlying code is flawed, hackers will continually find ways to exploit holes, no matter how many patches you push out to frustrated customers. Although noting is perfect and even though a security hole surfaced in Firefox 3, but having a robust and reliable base from the ground up will go a long way in terms of security and reliability, and less development time spent on fixing and patches.

But is Microsoft alone to blame? It appears that hackers deliberately target IE because of it’s widespread popularity. That way, if they can successfully exploit a hole, they have greater chances of infecting a wide array of PCs. But that trend is soon to change, with Firefox’s increasing popularity.

4. Open source and a plethora of plug-ins

While IE may never go open source, but Microsoft can at least work to have a wide range of plug-ins for their users. Another reason for Firefox’s growing market share is that is is highly customizable with the tons of plug-ins available. With a simple download, Firefox can be anything you want it to be. A full-fledged and much better RSS feed reader or even a blog editor, which I use :-). And even the look of Firefox can be changed with themes.

It is impossible for a single company to meet the needs of millions of users and that’s where open source comes in. With the combined resources of hundreds of developers, Microsoft can ensure that its browser will appeal to everyone’s needs.

5. Have a faster and more efficient rendering engine

According to a PCWorld.com test report in May 2008, Firefox took a mere 3.61 seconds to load a page from the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark site. IE 8 (Beta) isn’t much far behind, at 10.2 seconds, compared to the dismal 50 seconds it took IE 7 to complete the benchmark. Even I feel a new sense of speed after switching to Firefox 3. Pages load much faster on my turtle-speed net connection than IE 7. Kudos to Mozilla for building a great and free browser.

I use Firefox 3, do you?

The best thing I did was moving to Firefox 3. To read a complete review of Firefox 3, I recommend heading to the Winsupersite. And if you’ve made up your mind, you can
. Yes, I get a commission every time someone downloads. 🙂