Firefox 2: Making a Better Browser Even Better Than Before

Who says you can't make a good browser better? Mozilla did just that not too long ago by streamlining the old Netscape code to remove obsolete junk and bring the browser back to the basics, resulting in the increasingly popular Firefox. And now they've done it again, as the second generation of this cross-platform Internet browser engine brings even more to the table. But whereas the original Firefox brought tabbed browsing and popup ad control to the mainstream, Firefox 2 adds even more, such as the ability to spellcheck email and blogs, get suggestions for searches and even pick up your last session where it left off, even if something goes horribly wrong. But the question is, how does it hold up? To find out, I recently put the new browser through its paces to see what makes this updated Internet Explorer alternative tick.

Installing Firefox 2 is straightforward - you just download the software from Mozilla.com, and the appropriate version for your operating system is automatically selected by the server (you'll be notified as to which one). For this test, I reviewed the Windows version, which upon installation can be comared to or even replace Windows Internet Explorer (Microsoft's ubiquitous default). After installation, Firefox 2 lets you choose whether to use its default, Google-branded start page or that of your previous browser, and also imports your bookmarked sites (or Favorites, if you use IE) so that you don't lose them if you switch browser defaults. After that, you're good to go!

After completing the installation, I immediately tried out the new search field in the navigation bar. After deciding on a topic, I typed an N in the field (which brought up a list of typical searches that start with that letter. Having been tracking airline news lately, I chose Northwest Airlines from the list that appeared, which immediately brought up a Google search for the airline. I then was able to navigate to Northwest's web site (on the web: http://www.nwa.com/) quickly and easily. How convenient! Unfortunately, it only works for Google, Yahoo and Answers.com searches - but since most people prefer Google anyway this should only be a minor detail.

After that part of the testing, I navigated to MSN Games (an IE-centric game site) and was surprised that no non-IE browser warning appeared; however, rather than attempt to play a game anyway I navigated to the site's gaming news page, which in IE opens a new window but in Firefox opens a new tab instead! This was to test that function, of course, and it held up well - so IE ditchers should not have to worry about multiple browser windows, although IE lovers still get smart decisions about tabs vs. windows upon upgrading to IE7 if they prefer that over Firefox. But although Firefox doesn't match IE7 here, it does have one thing the Vole's browser lacks to make up for it: a list of recently closed tabs that can be used to literally undo the closing of a browser tab if you screw up (which can be found under the History menu).

Another useful feature in Firefox 2 is the ability to spellcheck your emails, blog postings, website comments and other online correspondence right from the browser! But instead of a dedicated spellcheck button or menu command, there's the familliar Microsoft Office inline spellcheck style, using the classic red underline trick to highlight spelling errors as they occur, and a simple right-click on these suggests corrections just as you would expect. And the dictionary is updatable as necessary (also as expected), just in case you know you spelled something right and still got caught (for example, if you need to add people's names that are not as common as others, or if you frequently use terminology or slang that is common only within certain fields of work). Imagine never having to use a word processor as an intermediary to blogging ever again! Plus, unlike ieSpell (a similar solution for IE users) the functionality is built right in so there's no need to mess with add-ons to do any of this proofreading!

All in all, Firefox 2 is a remarkable improvement over the original for these three features, but then again I'm only scrating the surface! Other improvements not tested include Live Titles (a web page summarizer), session restore (which picks up where you left off the last time you used Firefox - even after a crash), phishing alarms (which warn you about potential scammers trying to spook you out of your personal identification or online banking information), privacy cleaners (which clear your history, cookies and cache) and a search engine manager (which lets you add search engines to the navigation bar's search field engine selection list, as well as reorder and/or delete its search engine entries). Some of these are only minor improvements if you use both IE7 and Firefox, however - but if you're a true Firefox convert, you'll probably cherish them even more, especially since some of the improvements mentioned in this article are unique to Firefox 2. So if you haven't made the switch yet and have been planing to for awhile, now may be the best time.

After all, it can only get better. Right?