Today marks the 8th birthday of Mozilla’s Firefox. I have to admit that I am and have been a Firefox user for a few years now. At this point in time, it does seem like Internet Explorer (and Google Chrome) have caught up to Firefox when it comes to security and usability.

I personally think that Firefox is a better browser. However, at this point in time, it comes down to personal preferences. There are a few reasons why I like Firefox better. One, I still do a lot of web development and I really like the Firefox developer tools better than IE’s or Chrome’s. Second, I am used to and I like the way that Firefox does bookmarks better. Last, the performance of Firefox is better than the performance of IE. This is according to tests done by PCMag and CNet.

Firefox Changed the Browser Market

Before Firefox, IE was THE browser to use. Yeah, some people would use Opera and Safari was used by Apple users. However, most of the world used IE. With the lack of competition, Microsoft didn’t really have much reason to improve IE drastically. Back in the early to mid 2000s, Internet Explorer had a ton of security issues. It was easy enough to use, but there were definitely ways that the usability could be improved.

Then came Firefox. When Firefox was first released, it was a superior browser when compared to IE. It was more secure, it was faster, it was easier to use, and it had a ton of cool features.

As Firefox became popular, it forced Microsoft to drastically improve Internet Explorer. This competition made for a much faster and more secure web. You could also argue that the success of Firefox instilled confidence in other companies, like Google, to enter the browser market. Google Chrome, in its own way, made the web a better place as well. So, happy birthday Firefox and thanks for making our web browsing experience more pleasant.