Use an Awesome Web Browser

Unless you have a compelling reason (you work for Microsoft or you depend on websites that only work in IE), you should not be using Internet Explorer.

I recommend Firefox. Why switch?

  • It’s free and “clean”–no spyware or ads or catches. It’s one of the finest examples of open-source software ever.
  • It blocks popups.
  • Built-in spell-checker.
  • It displays the blogs better!
  • You know how you type a whole thing in a form and then accidentally click a link away from that form and lose everything? That doesn’t happen in Firefox. You just go back and your text is sitting there waiting.
  • It supports really helpful plugins adding even cooler features.
  • It’s free and you can still keep IE installed in case you want to change back.

So what do you do? Click that link (here it is again). When it finishes downloading, double-click on the download to install it. It’ll ask you a couple simple questions and even let you import your plugins and all from Internet Explorer.

Poke around a bit and get comfortable. And once you get over how much you were missing, download some extensions, which are add-ons that make Firefox even better. Some of my favorites:

Note: To install them, just click “Install Now.” N.B. that there’s a 3-second delay before you can click “Install” on the window that pops up–this is a safety feature. How many times have you been typing and accidentally said “OK” to something? This ensures that you can’t accidentally install any extensions you don’t mean to.

  • AdBlock Plus: Firefox blocks obnoxious popups. This lets you block nearly all ads.
  • All-in-One Gestures: Kind of a niche, but I’ve come to expect that any browser I touch supports this. A rapid right-then-left click (roll your hand across the mouse buttons from right to left) goes back, and vice versa. I don’t claim to speak for everyone, but for me, this is incredibly intuitive and is incredibly convenient.

There are plenty more, but this is a good starting point. A lot of them fill niche needs, so feel free to poke around.

You can also change the way Firefox looks. The default is pretty good, but some other options:

  • Vista-aero: Great for Windows Vista users, or those who want to pretend.
  • iFox Graphite: A nice Mac OS X-ish look.
  • Extero: Just came across this one. It’s kind of spiffy.