IE 7 Vs. Firefox
A beta version of the new Internet Explorer is out dubbed IE7. The interface is clean and nice looking and it has several enhancements over the previous version released many years ago. I liked the tabbed browsing, which allows users to open multiple pages in the same browser and easily switch through them. The favorites are available from the file menu and by a handy little tab that drops down as a side bar. But many of the most important advances are under the hood. Aside from a slightly noticeable increase in speed it is significantly better when it comes to security.
This tool will be very beneficial for education for a few reasons. Obviously when our darling little students browse the net the improved security reduces the amount of spy ware that is downloaded on to our systems. It’s funny how a kid can be on a computer for 5 minutes and get more spy ware and ad ware that I get on my personal computer in a year. Second the Tabbed browsing is excellent for cyber hunts and other web activities they can quickly switch between web sites while keeping the original instruction page handy. With one click they can view thumbnails of all tabbed pages to easily navigate between pages. IE 7 also integrates an RSS reader, which I use on student computers to link to a few of my favorite news sites. Students can then click on the ling to quickly view the most recent news without having to browse through multiple sites.
Does IE 7 blow FireFox out of the water? Well No FireFox has most of the tools we have discussed in IE 7. In addition to the features mentioned it has book marks on the tool bar that are perfect for putting the most common student used sites. You also have the ability to ad fun skins to make the look a little more appealing. I began using FireFox a little more than a year ago, and have been very happy with the results. I have run into some snags with some websites that require filling out forms, they just don’t work at all. A few web pages appear funny to. But aside from the snags FireFox is a very capable browser that is well worth consideration.
Who Wins? Well recently I have been primarily using IE 7. I love the clean and easy to use interface, and I like many of the new features. I have not abandoned FireFox though. My bank will not work with IE7 because it is in beta testing at this stage. I also use FireFox on all of my student computers, primarily for the favorites tool bar. The best thing about FireFox is that it spurred the browser wars again. When there is competition it spurs innovation, and that can only benefit the users.
If you can wait for the final version of IE7 it is available from Microsoft. Please be aware that installing IE7 overwrites Internet Explorer 6.
You can download FireFox from Mozilla
This tool will be very beneficial for education for a few reasons. Obviously when our darling little students browse the net the improved security reduces the amount of spy ware that is downloaded on to our systems. It’s funny how a kid can be on a computer for 5 minutes and get more spy ware and ad ware that I get on my personal computer in a year. Second the Tabbed browsing is excellent for cyber hunts and other web activities they can quickly switch between web sites while keeping the original instruction page handy. With one click they can view thumbnails of all tabbed pages to easily navigate between pages. IE 7 also integrates an RSS reader, which I use on student computers to link to a few of my favorite news sites. Students can then click on the ling to quickly view the most recent news without having to browse through multiple sites.
Does IE 7 blow FireFox out of the water? Well No FireFox has most of the tools we have discussed in IE 7. In addition to the features mentioned it has book marks on the tool bar that are perfect for putting the most common student used sites. You also have the ability to ad fun skins to make the look a little more appealing. I began using FireFox a little more than a year ago, and have been very happy with the results. I have run into some snags with some websites that require filling out forms, they just don’t work at all. A few web pages appear funny to. But aside from the snags FireFox is a very capable browser that is well worth consideration.
Who Wins? Well recently I have been primarily using IE 7. I love the clean and easy to use interface, and I like many of the new features. I have not abandoned FireFox though. My bank will not work with IE7 because it is in beta testing at this stage. I also use FireFox on all of my student computers, primarily for the favorites tool bar. The best thing about FireFox is that it spurred the browser wars again. When there is competition it spurs innovation, and that can only benefit the users.
If you can wait for the final version of IE7 it is available from Microsoft. Please be aware that installing IE7 overwrites Internet Explorer 6.
You can download FireFox from Mozilla
posted by Mr Yardley at
7:37 AM
2 Comments:
Any person with any ammount of tech savy could not look at these two applications and consider IE7 to even be close FireFox. FireFox is better in so many ways. I could never go back to a Microsoft product.
By
Anonymous, At
February 24, 2006 4:22 PM
I agree that FireFox is a very good browser. I highly respect the Browser and the open source movement that created it. But when it comes down to actual use both a very capable browsers and it comes down to personal preference.
By
Mr Yardley, At
February 24, 2006 4:26 PM
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