When I first started using FF was when I needed to have a better browser for standard-based design testing and implementation. It soon became my default browser and over time after installing a bunch of extensions I was not able to go back to IE, IE came short to go back to. Opera was always my second choice if not IE, even that was ditched. I shifted back to using IE, well, IE7.
FF covered a need
Back when I shifted to FF, I was searching for a method to x-browser test and do that fast. The method I chose was to find the best implementor of valid CSS and XHTML rendering which FF provided, so testing on FF meant having to adjust and provide some little hacks for IE and Safari in the polishing phase.
IE’s good now
Even though this took me a bit to decide, you know how IE could get scary and ditch you, but, well, it’s(it’d be) the most used browser. Numbers and figures matter more and now that it’s close to FF rendering and does give a little value to your clean markup it’s okay to use it for x-browsing testing as well. I’d still have FF for my testing base, but as a user I’m back to IE, and I’d be using IE7, it just makes sense, I have all that I needed on FF on IE7, all the extensions/add-ons are available on IE7–del.icio.us buttons, netvibes buttons, links and bookmarklets, dev-toolbar and tabs, nothing comes short while it’s handy. Not forget the font smoothing, i’m digin’ it!
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3 Comments
1 Rami Kayyali wrote:
Ouch!
I’m speechless, but I’d like to know more about your decision. Any specific functionality tilted the scales?
2 dotone wrote:
1- Interface, hidden menu and the long addressbar + refresh and stop buttons on the right side of the addressbar, it works for me.
2- Font smoothing, fonts are smooth on all the pages.
3- Convenient for clients when doing demos. I’d use IE6 for some clients so that they see previews of interfaces as they and their users see.
It was mostly to be in the shoes of my clients more than a personal shift, but with new advancements it makes sense to move to IE7, nothin’ there in FF that I don’t find in IE7, at least to me. It was weired the first time I demoed a site to a client in IE7 which I couldn’t find the menu, that was a turn off. Plus, if you ain’t a user of a software you can’t say it’s bad. It’s looking good so far, and I’d like to hang on with it.
3 Rami Kayyali wrote:
I’m not saying it’s bad. After all, IE7 eventually did follow up with the rest of the bunch.
I hope you could do a more thorough review after you use it for a while, tell us how it worked out for you.