Firefox 3.6

Firefox is one of the most popular web browsers for every platform. It is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, and it is as full-featured on each of those platforms.

Firefox was among the first to use a tabbed environment to allow users to browse several pages in a single window. Tabs still are the norm and they work great. Firefox on the Mac has not been the fastest web browser to tell you the truth. I made the switch to Chrome after getting annoyed by long cold start times. Recent versions, however, helped Firefox to become one of the fastest browsers yet again.

Firefox is arguably the most complete web browser out there. It has support for a variety of plug-ins and tools. It is widely accepted online and it always includes the latest in terms of Javascript and, nowadays, HTML5. It is fast in loading websites and it is among the most secure browsers. Many third-party apps still don't support Chrome, so I have to use Firefox here and there. The new updates in speed (especially the cold start times) make Firefox my second favorite and I might make the switch back to it when they get rid of the search box and use the address search feature present in Chrome and, more recently, in Safari.

In the last version of Firefox, the developers have changed the time that a plug-in is given to recover from a crash before it is terminated. This used to cause several crashes, not only to plug-ins, but to the browser as well. I like that efforts are being made to make Firefox a more stable browser.

In short, Firefox is a great browser that has everything that you need. Choosing a web browser is a very personal decision, and you should definitely give it a try before making up your mind.