Firefox 2.0
by bryan on Oct.26, 2006, under Commentary
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When Firefox first started out, I downloaded and tried it, being an advocate for Open Sourced projects. Sadly, I was quite disappointed back then. While it was supposed to be the faster, more efficient browser, it was mostly slow and lacked a concise, intuitive. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, on the other hand, was the browser of choice because it was cleverly thought out and implemented. The problem here (despite the fact that I am a software engineer myself) is that people’s attention is gained by what is on the outside. Who cares if the rendering engine can parse and display pages 0.5 seconds faster if the interface is clunky and troublesome? I stuck with Microsoft and its Internet Explorer.
With the advent of Firefox 2.0, things have changed. Small but significant improvements to the UI have greatly improved the overall user experience in Firefox. Subtle things like individual close icons on each tab and a cleaner interface are most noticeable. This is largely thanks to the help of Google and even NASA, providing the Mozilla team with the necessary empirical data in order to improve the interface.
My feel is that the browser market is almost at its limit for now (unless new technology emerges that requires drastic changes to the way we use the web), and thus most changes are purely cosmetic. Unfortunately then, Firefox doesn’t suit my taste with its similar, yet defective user interface. For now, Microsoft has won my vote.
