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The Mozilla Foundations Firefox browser was designed to compete directly with Microsoft Corp.s Internet Explorer. eWEEK Labs tests show that Firefox handily wins the competition on features, capabilities and adherence to standards, although IE still has an edge in the enterprise because of inertia and the availability of robust deployment and customization tools. We recommend, however, that all IT administrators at least test the Firefox browser and consider it as an option for replacing the trouble target also known as IE.
Click here to read the full review of Firefox 1.0.
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The Mozilla Foundations Firefox browser was designed to compete directly with Microsoft Corp.s Internet Explorer. eWEEK Labs tests show that Firefox handily wins the competition on features, capabilities and adherence to standards, although IE still has an edge in the enterprise because of inertia and the availability of robust deployment and customization tools. We recommend, however, that all IT administrators at least test the Firefox browser and consider it as an option for replacing the trouble target also known as IE.
Ten years ago, businesses turned to a new company called Netscape Communications Corp. to help them get access to the then-fledgling World Wide Web. People who used the Netscape browser at work began using it at home, and the popularity of the Web exploded. Microsoft was notoriously late to this arena, but it ended up winning what became known as the browser war.
It turns out, though, that the war isnt over.
During tests, eWEEK Labs found the free, open-source Firefox 1.0 to be extremely user-friendly and intuitive, with probably the most minimal learning curve imaginable. In addition, the Linux and Mac OS X versions of Firefox are functionally identical to those on Windows, making Firefox an excellent cross-platform solution. (Firefox can be downloaded from www.mozilla.org.)
With its streamlined interface and wealth of navigational aids, Firefox makes IE look every inch the old, static artifact it has become.
In fact, as we see it, IE has only two advantages over Firefox: It comes preinstalled on Windows systems, so most users are familiar with it, and many Web sites and enterprise applications are coded specifically for IE as opposed to Web standards.
However, for many companies, these are not trivial differences. IT managers will need to decide whether Firefoxs features and security capabilities offset possible deployment and compatibility problems.
And the Mozilla Foundation could be doing more to help companies deploy Firefox. Given the small size and simple design of Firefox, IT managers should find it fairly easy to deploy the browser using standard application management tools.
Still, to be truly corporate-friendly, Firefox will need to include features that will help companies customize and deploy the browser—something along the lines of Microsofts Internet Explorer Administration Kit.
When launching the Firefox browser, users will instantly notice its clean, uncluttered interface and familiar Web navigation icons. Digging deeper, users will find that Firefox includes such useful features as the tabbed browsing capabilities also found in Opera Software ASAs Opera; Apple Computer Inc.s Safari; and Firefoxs cousin browser, Mozilla.
Firefoxs pop-up-blocking features worked well in tests, providing feedback in a small status bar when a pop-up was blocked and making it possible to quickly unblock a site from which we might actually wish to get pop-ups. We also really liked Firefoxs find-in-page features, which are the best weve seen in any browser. Rather than launching a separate window for the Find command, as most browsers do, a small tab bar is launched at the bottom of Firefox—a much more user-friendly method.
Firefox also does a pretty good job of integrating RSS news feeds—in a way that makes sense for a browser rather than the standard e-mail client metaphor that most programs use. Whenever we loaded a Web page that had RSS feeds available, Firefox would show a small feed icon in the bottom right-hand corner. By clicking this icon, we could choose to add the feed and then access it from our Bookmark menu. We also liked that the address bar provided obvious, color-coded feedback when we accessed a secure Web page.
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When it comes to features, Firefoxs closest rival is probably the Mozilla browser suite. Mozilla has some browser features not found in Firefox, such as FTP uploads and page translations, not to mention built-in mail and editor features.
In the past, there have been complaints that Mozilla made it difficult for novice users to find and load necessary plug-ins. Firefox addresses this with the new Plug-in Finder service. When we went to a Web site that required a plug-in we didnt have, a bar appeared at the top of the browser stating that additional plug-ins were required. When we clicked the Install Missing Plugins button, Firefox found the needed plug-in and walked us through installation.
This approach is sound, but it didnt always work for us. In addition, wed like to see an upfront installation option that would scan other browsers installed on a users machine and find the same plug-ins those browsers use.
Firefox does a good job of easing the transition from IE, including a For Internet Explorer Users choice in the help menu that breaks down the differences between the two browsers and helps with migration.
Still, this wont help with one problem—sites that work only with IE.
During tests of Version 1.0 and prerelease versions of Firefox, we ran into very few sites that didnt work well with the browser. We mostly saw issues with financial management sites and internal enterprise applications, whose developers often use IE-specific features to provide rich application behavior rather than using standards-based methods to achieve the same behaviors. The problem is also common in Web-based administration tools for enterprise hardware.
We dont consider this a criticism of Firefox, since the browser has excellent Web standards support. We believe that sites should be tested by their developers for conformance with Web standards, rather than being tested against IE and letting other browsers take their chances.
Unfortunately, its also necessary for prudent users to keep their IE installations up-to-date with security patches until they no longer find themselves forced to use IE for full-featured access to sites on which they depend.
Indeed, much of IEs lost market share can be attributed to the security problems that have constantly plagued the browser.
Firefox is not immune to viruses and security problems and, in fact, has had some of its own (although they were quickly identified and fixed). All browsers will have some kind of security vulnerabilities, but eWEEK Labs believes that until Microsoft stops tying IE so tightly into Windows, alternative browsers will provide better security.
Labs Director Jim Rapoza can be reached at [email protected].