I remember a time when internet explorer WAS the internet. Everyone used it, there just weren’t any alternatives (aside Netscape navigator which was more of a weaker, mentally incapable little cousin of IE).

Of course IE’s popularity is almost certainly to do with Microsoft’s tyrannical dictatorship in the playful land of operating systems. Not only did they stick IE on every windows edition, but they also put in some dodgy bugs that would ‘do over ‘ rival software (allegedly).

If someone ever suggested you tried another browser you’d look strangely at them as if they were wearing a lycra batman costume. What weird individuals! You mean you DON’T use IE?

“That’s interesting, sure, I’ll download it later”, you’d say humouring them. But then you’d skip back to your wonderful, pre-installed version of Internet explorer and sit there in a moderately happy trance.

I remember a few of my friends mentioning Mozilla Firefox for the first time. “Huh, Firefox, what’s that do then? I’d enquire. “Really a browser, that’s interesting”. At this point I had no idea of the wonders the little orangey coloured desktop icon would provide.

But in all fairness Firefox wasn’t that brilliant when it first came out, it was just another browser, another alternative to IE. But then the ground shifted. Firefox began to grow. Tabbed windows started appearing, new browser plugins popped up and for the first time there was a genuine reason to defect from IE.....it was simply better!

As a web designer I have to say the Firefox web developer toolbar is an absolute godsend. It’s one of those applications that you wonder how you ever did without. Having the chance to edit CSS in the browser is not only much easier, but it’s also a hell of a lot quicker. Combine this to being able to isolate and view all the different elements of the design, makes Firefox an essential piece of software for any web designer.

But it’s only when you’re designing for Firefox that you realise the putrid evil that is IE. I’ve had my sites looking gorgeous in Firefox, working ‘like a dream’, then after a quick test in IE, I’ve been left horrified and in need of medical attention.

What was once a beautiful, elegant website, destined for fame, fortune, a career as an A list Hollywood actress, has at some point been horribly mangled by a 10 tonne mobile home. All that lies there now is a hollowed out carcass of debauched CSS code, div boxes lay strewn across the wasteland, text lies bent out of shape, twitching , dying and the once gorgeous PNG’s are left in a desperate need of transparency.

Fixing all the problems in IE can take a long time and very often it’s a bug in the software rather than a CSS coding error. At this point I’m usually shouting profanities and attacking a life size Bill Gates stress ball. But then I think why can’t IE handle ‘the box model’? why can’t it handle transparent PNG’s? why is it such a pain in the arse to work with? It’s not as if Microsoft is a couple of thirty year old amateur geeks running the company out of their mothers basement. They have entire buildings full of people to test and develop this stuff, so where’s it all going wrong?

Microsoft seems to have become a lazy and complacent giant. Their dominance of the browser market has inspired others to achieve success through creativity and innovation. It’s not just web developers jumping on the Firefox band wagon. Through my own web statistics I’ve noticed a growing trend toward Firefox, tools like screen grab, twitterfox and integration with social networking sites has certainly given it the competitive edge. IE will have to think very carefully about its future and how to get a firm grip on its ever dwindling users.

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