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 A Word About Browsers: Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox

Two years ago I declared that the "browser wars" were for all intents and purposes over and Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) had won. IE still commands more than 90 percent of the world's browser market, and AOL abandoned Netscape's Navigator/Communicator in mid-2003. However, during 2004, Mozilla browsers experienced a resurrection thanks largely to user frustration.

Because of Internet Explorer's continued dominance of the browser market and, more importantly, because it is the standard browser for many Untangling the Web readers, I will focus my attention on Internet Explorer.

Nonetheless, all browsers have advantages and drawbacks. I still recommend you configure two browsers, both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Both types of browsers allow you to make a number of decisions that affect your privacy and security while browsing. Also, both browsers have become much more customizable with each new release, allowing every user to select and save his own preferences for everything from fonts to what will appear on the toolbar. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the many evolving features of your browser(s). The Microsoft and Mozilla websites have extensive information and documentation about their browsers. At the Mozilla site you can download and install the highly regarded Firefox browser as well as other free software, such as the Thunderbird email program.

In October 2006, both Microsoft and Mozilla introduced new versions of their browsers: Internet Explorer ? (IE?) and Firefox 2. Microsoft, which had owned upwards of 90 percent of the browser market until Firefox took off a couple of years ago, recognized it has a genuine competitor on its hands and made significant changes and improvements to its browser to try to bring some Firefox users back 22