Firefox has been making big waves in the Internet for the past few years, crossing its billionth-download threshold last Friday. A big congratulations to all of the guys working on Firefox – you guys truly made a difference in the browser arena.

I started using Firefox a couple of years ago and haven’t stopped using it since then. The only time I open Internet Explorer nowadays is to do cross-browser compatibility checks.. something I hate doing. IE is so antiquated, slow, and at times you may even say its downright dangerous with so many security holes that expose users to virus, spyware, and other online threats!

Let me summarize what I love most about Firefox…

1. It’s FREE.
At this day and age, its amazing how you can get an amazing product for free. Firefox costs NOTHING and you can download it at any time, from anywhere.

2. Auto-restore.
This feature is something I absolutely LOVE. If your Firefox closes abnormally, or your system needs to reboot, you can return to the same sites automatically. No need to copy URLs or bookmark unnecessarily – If FF needs to close, you can open it with the same sites the next time you use the browser. A simple feature that nobody else thought about until recently… a very very very useful feature that I absolutely love.

3. Fast.
Developers claim that FF Javascript performance is 9.3 times faster than IE. On a user perspective (read: non techie/developer), I’d have to say that its so fast as compared to IE that I can’t imagine going back to it for any reason at all – I’m surprised people still use IE. When I open FF, it loads instantly as compared to IE which loads after a couple of seconds.

Firefox has definitely led the pack for the past couple of years but Google Chrome’s entrance into the browser competition is fast becoming a threat – it appears that Google Chrome is faster than FF so I hope the FF team looks into optimizing the performance even more.

4. Safe. Or at least a whole lot safer than IE.
I’ve been using FF since version 1.5 and haven’t had a single infestation of malware since I switched from IE. I’ve had horrific security issues when I was still using IE and the difference is staggering – why would I want to go back?

5. Loads of cool Add-ons
What I loved about Firefox before was its simplicity. However, you can also choose to add cool and useful extensions and plug-ins whenever you like. I absolutely love Fireshot, Web-developer tools, and Foxmarks (or Xmarks). Drop by their Plug-in page and I’m sure you’ll find all these cool stuff you’d love to have.

Sure, IE seems to be getting better but it seems to be riding on stuff that FF already has. IE needs to have a major overhaul and shape up.. though I’m not even sure if they can catch up. IE is still the last on my list especially with Google Chrome and Safari around. I’d use 1) Firefox 2) Google Chrome 3) Safari and god forbid 4) IE 8. I sure hope FF keeps the lead though… Chrome is something I’m getting used to as well. Now if only Google will release the mac version soon…

Crossing the billionth-download threshold indicates that Mozilla is doing something right. I hope Firefox continuous its amazing upgrades to keep us all happy.

Congratulations to the Firefox team!

About Mozilla
The Mozilla project is a global community of people who believe that openness, innovation, and opportunity are key to the continued health of the Internet. Since 1998, they’ve worked to ensure that the Internet is developed in a way that benefits everyone. Their products include the FireFox browser and Thunderbird email client.