Mozilla Firefox vs. Windows Internet Explorer
14th Mar 2009 @ 15:31
Almost everyone that uses the Internet has a preference: Mozilla Firefox or Windows Internet Explorer. Join us as we cast our view over the infamous debate and ultimately pick our favourite browser.
What Are We Testing?
Web browsers are used by many, many types of people: developers, shoppers, gamers, businessmen and women, students and complete technophobes - just to name a few. For this reason we are going to try to test the two browsers in ways that apply to everyone. We will be covering the following areas in our tests:
- Popularity
- Ease of Use
- Overall Looks
- System Performance
- Extendibility
The Contenders
In the blue corner make some noise for... Windows Internet Explorer v7.0.6
And in the orange corner let's hear it for... Mozilla Firefox v3.0.7
The Venue... Compaq Presario C700, upgraded to 2GB RAM
Round 1: Popularity
Ding ding, let battle commence! Since a young age, society has taught us that popularity is important, so let's start there. It has long been the case that Internet Explorer was more popular than Firefox, however the gap between them has been shrinking for a long time until finally, in January 2009, Firefox took the lead.
The above graph[1] shows an obvious trend that has lasted more than a year, but will it continue? We don't know, so for now we're going to have to award this round to Mozilla Firefox.
Round 2: Ease of Use
When it came to testing ease of use, we were a little stuck for ideas. Eventually we settled on an 'assault-course' style test. We managed to find someone who hasn't used either of the competing browsers (we know what you're thinking, but these kind of people do exist) and gave them a list of tasks to complete. Fastest time wins. Simple.
The tasks included, amongst other things:
- Searching for websites with Google
- Locating a specific video on YouTube
- Saving a page into bookmarks
- Locating and subscribing to an RSS feed
- Changing various browser preferences (homepage, default font, cookie settings, etc.)
Our test guinea pig was able to complete the task list with both browsers, but which was faster?
Internet Explorer: 4 mins 57 secs
Firefox: 4 mins 13 secs
Although it was a close call, this is another round that must be awarded to Mozilla Firefox.
Round 3: Overall Looks
Beauty is only skin-deep - however beneath the skin of a web browser is lots of code, and that isn't pretty at all, so lets focus on exterior looks.
When positioned side by side, Firefox and Internet Explorer look very much the same, however we have been able to identify a few pros and cons of each browser.
Internet Explorer... We like the fact that the tabs are nice and big and can display the full title without cutting it short, and how the options for a new tab is much more clearly visible than that in Firefox. However, we don't like the fact that they have split up the forward/back buttons, the home button and the refresh and stop buttons. Maybe it's just us, but we don't like the way that the main toolbar is forcibly placed below the address bar and cannot be moved above it.
Firefox... We like that the five main buttons have been kept together by the address bar, and that the browser has displayed our favicon, which Internet Explorer has decided not to. Another high-ranker is the compactness: even with the added Google search bar, the Firefox layout takes up only a few more pixels than Internet Explorer. However, all is not good. We do not like the way that the tab is cutting off the end of the title, even when there is ample room to expand. Another downside is that there is no obvious button for a new tab; users must either double click empty space on the tab bar or right click an existing tab.
It's a very close call, but with a slightly better look to it, Mozilla Firefox has been victorious in yet another round.
Round 4: System Performance
Web browsers can take a reasonable portion of the RAM (Random Access Memory) on your computer, so obviously this is an important factor when choosing between them. In our tests, Internet Explorer was eating up 4MB of RAM, whilst Firefox was consuming a massive 43MB! What more can we say other than that Windows Internet Explorer has won this round with less than a tenth of the RAM Firefox commands.
Round 5: Extendibility
Both Internet Explorer and Firefox have online libraries of add-ons that add extra functionality to the browser. Common add-ons include improved password managers, spell checkers, advert blockers, real-time examiners, improved subscribers, ad infinitum. However, the add-on library for Internet Explorer is a new development (at the time of writing it was still in it's Beta stage). Many people have accused Internet Explorer of "copying" Firefox's add-on feature, as the Firefox add-on library has been running since Firefox v2.0 was launched in October 2006[2]. This inevitably means that there are many, many more add-ons available for Mozilla Firefox, the winner of yet another round.
Summary
Our evaluation has crowned Mozilla Firefox our browser of choice with an outstanding 4-1 victory over Windows Internet Explorer. We will revisit this debate in times to come and see how the browsers have progressed.
Tags: debate / firefox / internet explorer
Notes & References
1 - Source: W3Schools Browser Usage Statistics
2 - Source: Wikipedia Firefox Release History
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