Firefox 2.0 rules the school

With the release of Firefox 2.0 yesterday, we now have brand new versions of the two most popular browsers on the market. So here's the question that everyone wants answered: which browser is best, Firefox 2 or IE7? While Internet Explorer had a lot of catching up to do, the changes in Firefox have been more subtle--essentially, the browsers are now on pretty equal footing in terms of features. However, buzz around the net overwhelmingly points to Firefox as the clear winner. CNET chose Mozilla's browser as it beats "Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 on security, features, and overall cool factor". "The Mozilla Foundation has effectively integrated many significant new features in Firefox 2.0 while making the browser easier to use," says eWeek. "eWEEK Labs found Firefox 2.0...to have the greatest out-of-the-box usability of any Web browser that we have tested (and that's a lot of Web browsers)." Meanwhile, the folks at ComputerWorld say that Firefox 2.0 is, quite simply, "the best browser around".

What do I think? Well, I thought you'd never ask! From my experience, Firefox 2 is a bit snappier than IE7, though they both seem pretty adept at rendering sites accurately. Firefox's UI has a definite edge though, with all of the tools that web surfers commonly use being easily accessible, plus it has a cleaner overall look. Meanwhile, IE7's built-in anti-aliasing makes text hard to read on certain sites. The real dealbreaker for me though, is Firefox 2's built-in spell-check, a feature that I've been using in Safari for a while now and that I've long wanted on the PC. No more fooling around with messy plug-ins that stop working every time you upgrade your browser; Firefox's spell-check looks over everything that you type into a web field and points out errors using the same interface that most of us are used to. Looks like Microsoft still has some catching up to do.

For more on Firefox 2.0:
- check out the CNET review
- the eWeek review
- and the ComputerWorld review

ALSO: It 'aint over until the fat lady sings: Opera 9 is also on the way.