by Ruth Floresca

Created on: May 22, 2009   Last Updated: May 23, 2009

It was my brother who gave me the tip that changed my online surfing experiences for the better. "Download Mozilla Firefox and use that. It's faster than Internet Explorer!" he suggested after I mentioned my frustration of slow loading pages when I needed to finish researching topics for my print and online articles. At the time, I only had dial-up connection so you can imagine how s-l-o-w is slow.

I followed his advice and began using Firefox. It has been more than a year ago and I have not looked back since. I now have a DSL connection and I can say my surfing experiences are better than ever.

I prefer Firefox to Explorer for the following reasons:

1. Page loading is really fast. I no longer have to impatiently tap my
toes while I wait for a webpage to appear.

2. More and more websites are indicating that their pages are " best
viewed" with Mozilla Firefox.

3. I love the tabs features. I only need to click "file" then "new tab"
and I instantly get to open a new webpage in the already opened
Firefox window. This eliminates the need to open new browser
windows, which I did before with IE, and which eventually crowds the
bottom part of my screen.

4. I also enjoy using the feature where I can drag down the URLs of my
most frequently visited websites to the bookmarks toolbar. Now, I no longer
have to type the addresses but simply click on each site's
symbol to go there.

5. Another option to bookmark a page is to simply click the star at
the right side of the URL to do so.

6. The password manager moreover gives Firefox users the option to
"remember" site passwords without the pop-ups. It just appears as a
long toolbar at the top of the site page. I use this to prevent me
from checking my notes frequently when I need to enter password-
protected websites that I don't consider high risk. Of course when it
comes to online banking, payment processors and important email
accounts, I prefer to type in my passwords instead of having Firefox
remember it.

7. Firefox also enables users to block pop-ups once and for all. But
there is still the option to view blocked pop-ups by creating an "allow"
list so you can see certain website pop-ups you would like to check
out.

8. Because I often have to visit various websites to do my web
content work, I often witness firsthand how the Firefox anti-malware
feature helps protect my computer. Instead of letting me enter a
website that has been reported to contain Trojans, viruses, worms
and spyware, I get a full-sized browser message to warn me that I'm
trying to access an attack size. Needless to say, I don't continue
opening those sites anymore.

There are other Firefox features that have served me well as a computer user. So far, I haven't found another browser that would rival the advantages I believe that Firefox has over its counterparts.

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