Whose anti-phishing is better? Let's be serious. Internet Explorer is currently the only browser that absolutely requires this technology. It's also the only one that needs protected-mode browsing (only in Vista) or any of the other "locked down" stuff that Microsoft is touting. IE is literally unsafe on the Internet without anti-malware and anti-phishing protection. That's just not the case with other browsers.

It's true that this is not because of some better design in Firefox, Opera or Safari. It's because most spyware, malware, and phishing exploits are about one thing: Making money. And the focus is on the browser with the overwhelmingly superior market share. As the browser with the next largest share, however, Mozilla (and the rest) is smart to get ahead of the game on phishing protection. I'd like to see these same companies work harder on malware protection too.

Firefox: It's the real thing

When all is said and done, Web browsers represent a very mature product category. When the hot features in IE7 are browser tabs and RSS support, you know for sure that it's not about features. That's similarly true of Firefox 2.0, where the big cool features are inline spell-checking for forums, blogs, comments and Web form posts; a session-restore feature; and an Undo Close Tab feature.

So, again, it's not about features, it's about the user experience. While Microsoft has finally deigned to give IE users tabbed browsing and RSS support, the security lockdown and possible compatibility issues represent a larger disadvantage that outweighs the improvements.

Microsoft is also further seeking to extend its market share by rolling out IE7 in Automatic Updates, along with high-priority and critical operating system updates. Microsoft calls this "opt in" because it is possible to tell Automatic Updates not to install IE7, but it should be called "opt out" because the default behavior is to install IE7. So you could say you're getting an unsolicited 14.78MB Web browser.

Mozilla's Firefox is the only browser development effort that is truly focused on the user, instead of on the needs of the company building the software. That very definitely shows in the finished product. Firefox 2, though not an ambitious upgrade, is a better browser than the 1.5 version that preceded it. In use, it provides the best overall user experience. When you come right down to it, that's the essential factor in your choice of a Web browser.

Related Links

- Download Firefox 2 (Mozilla)

- Firefox 2 release notes(Mozilla)

Also in this series:

- Internet Explorer: Top dog for good reason by Preston Gralla

- Opera: A true browser star by Dennis Fowler

- Safari: Tops for Macs by Ken Mingis