The other reasons are that FF is just better, like Opera (my preferred browser), it is the tabs I can't live without. Not to mention, pop up blockers, ad blockers etc." />

That is an understatement

The other reasons are that FF is just better, like Opera (my preferred browser), it is the tabs I can't live without. Not to mention, pop up blockers, ad blockers etc.

And now that Dell England is pre-installing Firefox on all of their systems I expect the market share to increase further. About time too.

Yeah, I noticed this just last week, when setting up my bro's new Dell laptop - nice new Firefox on the desktop. Unfortunately, the blue e was still there as well, and still set as the default browser. Progress in part, I guess, but to the large number of Folks who've never tried anything other than IE, I can't seem them really exploring (excuse pun) another browser, even if presented in front of them

Well, I have to ask: how long has it been since a major retail computer manufacturer included a competing browser in their default install? I call it major progress that a company like Dell is starting to include Firefox on their systems. That says "main stream" approval and recognition to me.... It also has to be a major tweak of Microsoft's nose.

No doubts there, Freddy. It's great that there is an alternative now - I'm just saddened to think how many folks will just deleted the shortcut and that will be the end of it.

Interestingly (and disregard this if it appears to hijack the thread), this reminds me of about 2 years ago setting up my wife's friend's brand new Dell. There was the option to use AOL or another pre-loaded ISP's dial-up software. I chose to use the alternative, as it was the same ISP I used then (and now). However, although you appeared to have the option, it was somehow disabled, as there was no earthly way that the bundled connection was going to let you use it. Unsurprisingly, when clicking on AOL, it fired up straight away. Been a tad suspicious about that ever since.

I'm curious. What do the numbers say on this site? How much of the market share do IE and Firefox hold here? I know this type of data is pretty easily available, so how about publishing it here?

It will be interesting to see the numbers on an IT site. It would be interesting to see the numbers on the different OS's too.

To be honest I use IE as compatibility with some websites stops me from using Firefox and Opera.

Shouldn't be a prob to pull that info for you Freddy - leave it with me

Opera appears to have less of these issues than FF. If a page doesn't render properly I just copy and paste the URL into IE for that session. If I trust the site.

use IE at your own risk, I have just spent the last two days removing over 1000 incidences of malware from a PC belonging to an IE browsing customer. Had he been using one of the alternatives his PC wouldn't have been sick at all.

I just converted to FF this year after ie became unusable when it got hit by some malware, never looked back. If any of you foxy users out there haven't tried the All-in -one gestures extension do so, soon! It wouldn't be an understatement to say it has revolutionised my browsing experience. In the few times i have to use ie i find myself constantly trying to gesture to navigate. Oh and Adblock is a godsend too

Sorry Phil to be lazy, but why is it so important to you. What does it do?

Bluerinse, I see the point that IE is unstable and prone to hacking and malware etc but IMHO it defeats the point in having two Internet Browsers if FF isn't 100% compatible.

Am I also correct in thinking Firefox and Opera are by the same company if so why do they have 2 Internet Browsers in production wouldn't it be better to concentrate on just the one?

I have to use IE as my main browser because firefox tends to have problems with our cisco firewall admin page! <<bit strange never did get to the bottom of this!

On practically everything else though you can use firefox and either way you can get a plug in that will allow you to open pages in IE from within firefox if they aren't displaying correctly. Tabbed browsing, you can't beat it! I run a few websites and can have them open in seperate tabs all at once - in IE you have to keep opening multiple windows, my point is it's so much easier in FF.

Hmmmm.... So is what I'm hearing what you're really saying? I hear you saying that since IE uses gaping security holes such as ActiveX to render web site pages and Firefox doesn't you're not happy with Firefox, and the problem is with Firefox?

The only way to make Firefox 100% compatible is introduce the same gaping security hole into Firefox. Don't you think it would be a much better idea for web developers to stop using something that is a very well-known security problem in their web pages? That way even IE could be made more secure by disabling ActiveX extensions.

Oh, btw, did you know that even MS advises that IE be run with ActiveX extensions disabled for security reasons? If you do that lots of pages don't work correctly in IE either. MS codes their own web pages using the very thing that they acknowledge is a huge hole in their own browser, thus forcing those who surf their pages to violate MS's own security recommendations concerning ActiveX if they want to see the MS web pages displayed correctly.

Hmmm.... Think MS cares if you get hacked because you are using ActiveX? Sure doesn't appear that way to me. If they did they would stop using ActiveX components on their own web pages.

I guess I really have to ask, is it really worth all the time and effort you put into fighting malware and spyware just to see a few pages displayed correctly? I use Firefox on a Debian system for all my browsing--I have done this for about a year--and I have to say there are only few pages that won't display correctly. Most of them are MS's own pages too. Coincidence? I think not.

Do I blame Firefox for not displaying pages correctly? Not even. I blame the developers for deliberately using components on their web pages that are known to be insecure and for not making their web pages W3C standards compliant.

No probs, to put it simply the extension enables you to navigate by holding down a mouse button and gesturing. For instance, if you want to move back a page just hold down the right mouse button and drag the mouse left, move left one tab is up then left, right tab is up and right, open a new tab is up and refresh is up and down.

So you aren't constantly changing your focus away from the content of web pages to find buttons. It seems like a minor change but i find my browsing experience degraded without it now.

Ffreeloader, I see your point but I live in reality. At work I don't have the option of saying to a director you can't load that page up as it uses this or that. Activex can be used for malicious things but as you point out web designers use it so it's here to stay until they change that policy. As an end user yeah FF is no good if I want/need to view those websites so I am stuck with IE. End users have to take responsibility for protecting their system as well. If I was a betting man I would put money on it that as FF and other websites get more popular they will be more attacked. I would say that FF probably has just as many loopholes as IE but people attack IE as it's Microsoft.

LOL. You do have the option of telling him his. You can explain why IE is insecure, why ActiveX is a problem, and how computers being compromised through its usage affects the company's bottom line. Then you can ask him if having that page displayed correctly is worth the possibility of having the company network compromised through the usage of something that is blatantly insecure.

Get him to understand that it's a risk vs reward issue. Is the reward of having a few pages not display correctly worth the risk of having the company network compromised? Ask him the question and see what he says.

Ffreeloader, the simple fact is that I work with non-IT people. ActiveX sounds more like a porn channel to them than a security hole. I have to deal with this on a daily basis. It's just not worth the hassle of having a high level director on my back cause he can't access a site.

LOL before you know it you'll have directors sidling up to you asking in hushed tones how they get on this activex thing