I just wanted to quickly tell everyone how excited I am about FireFox 4.0. It's the latest and greatest in Mozilla's line of earth-changing products. Faster then 3.X and extremely powerful, complete with CSS 3.0 and HTML 5.0, the future has arrived - and that means it's time for everyone to upgrade. Unlike Microsoft, who released IE9 with so many bugs I've stopped trying to help clients with display and functionality issues - if they call or email me, I tell them to load Chrome. Not surprisingly, Microsoft's internally-based rave reviews of it's own software, plus the reviews they subsidized from "unbiased" third-parties have saturated the digital headlines with their propaganda - but their software still says it all. With a track record of IE6, IE7, & IE8, I can't wait until Microsoft finally learns they can't compete with open source. It's just better.
Join The Revolution!
The Run Down
Back to FF 4.0. Most of the plug-ins already have a 4.0 compatible version, so upgrading to 4.0 was a breeze. The extra real estate is nice, definitely looking more like Chrome and Safari, but in the end it's all about the perfection of W3C standards they adhere to. For the past 10 years, FireFox has always been the standard for web development. We start with making a web design on FF, then hack it for IE - and with the advent of Safari and Chrome's adherence to W3C, they usually fall right into place.
So Why The Big Deal?
Why FireFox? Good question. In my mind there are only two web browsers: Firefox and Chrome. Firefox is the powerhouse, capable of infinite expandability through the use of plug ins, plus it's perfect W3C compliance, make it the development tool for the professional developer and the perfect browser for the serious web surfer. Chrome is the layman's browser, fast, streamlined, and ready for any and everyone! Since I despise anything with an "i" in front of it or with a "made by mac" next to the name, I'm unable to support Safari, though I do double check my designs in it.
The Passing of a Long Expired Enemy
In wrapping this up, I would just like to give my condolences to IE6. Since its immanent death is fast approaching, I just want to say how thankful I am that I will no longer be seeing its residue dirtying up my analytics report. It is a horrible piece of software that should have been laid to rest right after IE7 was released.
Anyway, that's it for me. Micah Out!
ZakGraphix - “Raising the Standard of Design, One Website at a Time.”
Micah Zak
St. Louis Web Design – ZakGraphix.com