Why should you use Mozilla products
Not your old browser
If you currently use Microsoft Internet Explorer and are reluctant to convert to Firefox or Mozilla because of memories of Netscape 4.7, you're in for a surprise. Today Mozilla browsers are fast, feature rich and always improving. With the superior extension architecture, you'll always find a Mozilla extension that will solve any browser issue you can find; and more are being created every day.
Why is Open Source important?
All Mozilla products are put in the Open Source community for development. Open Source means that anybody who is excited about a product can contribute to the development of that product. This creates a network of volunteer engineers around the world working hard to make a better product.
When a company, like Microsoft, creates software they have a team of employees who develop the product. Most times they only have a limited number of people on the project, and the employees are not always excited and motivated to create a top quality product.
When you have a network of volunteer engineers, moderated by a central organization like Mozilla, you get a top quality product that is always improving. Only people interested in making the product a success work on it, which means you always get the best possible product in the end.
Browser security is a perfect example of the differences between open source vs. a large company like Microsoft. Recently, a huge
security hole was found in Microsoft Internet
Explorer which caused the Department of Homeland Security to suggest that people should not use that browser due to this issue.
At the time of this writing, Mircrosoft still has not said when this problem will be fixed.
A few days after the IE bug was found a similar security hole was found in Mozilla.
Within days of this report, Mozilla had a patch for this problem.
Also beware of the Internet Explorer JPEG virus problem.
Historically, properly moderated open source development projects have a faster response time to issues such as these. Big companies, unfortunately, cannot afford to change their direction so rapidly to fix these types of problems.
Viruses, Spyware and Spamware
Since Microsoft products come bundled with Windows, generally "morally challenged" people create viruses, spyware and spamware for those products. When you switch to Mozilla applications (Firefox, Mozilla, Thunderbird, Sunbird) you don't have to worry about your program being cluttered with all these things and breaching the integrity of your computer.
Wired.com Quote
"Hackers have long insisted that steering clear of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser is one of the easiest ways to protect computers from many of the security threats that lurk on the Internet."
- Mozilla Feeds on Rival's Woes
Learn More
- Mozilla.org
- Mozilla Foundation
- Mozilla Products
- CNET.com
- Why you should switch to Firefox now
- Firefox drawing fans away from Microsoft IE
- IE: Pop-up program reads keystrokes, steals passwords
