What is Firefox doing !

What is Firefox doing?

Many believed that Firefox will be like a fading star, like a short spring rain, or like a politician's promises. Others even hoped that Firefox will be drawn in its own community, and Internet Explorer will continue to swim in its incapability of a better and safer version. All of them were wrong. Firefox has survived and has become stronger than Internet Explorer ever was, even at its beginning, now it's been almost 3 years from Firefox first release in November 9th, 2004 and I don't see why it would stop growing in the future.

The studies show that Firefox, even though it is very new on the market, takes second place. According W3 Counter (probably the most reliable source) on July 10, 2007, If we were to take a look at web browsers on a world wide scale we would find the following: Internet Explorer - 66.48%, Firefox - 24.93%, Safari - 1.79% si Opera - 0.66%. This almost 25% is a lot, considering the fact that Internet Explorer stole the market, a browser that everybody has in any Windows OS (operating system), whether you want it or not, even if you want to use it or not.

It's a well-known fact that Firefox is loved more in Europe than in United States of America.

Firefox users are divided in two categories. On one hand, are those who know what to expect from a web browser, those who use the advanced features of the application and the plug-ins to build a browser according to their needs, preferences and pleasures. Generally speaking, it is not always true though, these are the advanced users, with high software knowledge.

On the other hand, the second category of Firefox users, are those who were told to use Firefox. Some good friends, trusted teachers, or some known sites convinced them that Firefox is what they should use. These people, even though they are not advanced users, and don't know to use Firefox to its full potential, are still able to see the difference between two applications and the advantages of using each one of them.

Internet users are divided in two, as well. The bigger mass is those with less computer knowledge, people who are satisfied with what the OS gives them.

The second category is the advanced users, who give credit to Internet Explorer from who knows what motives.

Another category, not included in any of the above are those who realize the differences between two browsers, but they prefer the easiest and the most convenient one. Why not use Internet Explorer, it is already included in the OS?

The future of Firefox seems to be a good one. I said "seems to be" only because the 3.0 version it's far away yet, and the testing versions we have now are just a drop in the ocean of what the final release will give. A new feature this final release will have is one called "Places". It is a unique system of managing bookmarks, history and tags. Some other interesting features will be added, like search engines based on shortcuts, and the possibility of saving the preferences for each site!

Mozilla did not give the public the official release date of the final version, but everybody is hoping that Firefox 3.0 will be out at the end of this year. Also, it will be interesting to see what will be the reaction of Microsoft, who I am sure is working to another version of Internet Explorer.

So, what group are you in? Are you one of those people who are happy with the norm, or are you the kind of person that wants to have something a little different from those around you?

It is worth having an efficient tool and if the good can become better and the better best, why not use the best?

The time you spend to determine the best tool for your work will definitely pay off in time .Efficiency is an important asset these days and it is not the same thing if you can finish your work in an hour or in a half an hour! If you can have the best, why settle for less?