October 30th, 2006
QuickLooks: Internet Explorer 7 vs. Firefox 2 After a Week (or so)
By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
Internet Explorer 7’s been out nearly two weeks, while Firefox 2 has been out just one. I’ve been using both (in my normal obsessive habit of upgrading to the latest of everything) and although this isn’t a full review, I have some observations based on my usage. This is a good time for me to publish this, as tomorrow Microsoft will push out IE7 as a high-priority (but still optional) update via WindowsUpdate.
In terms of installation … I had no problems with either install. Of course, with Firefox, there is the usual problem of some extensions not working with the upgrade, including Tab Mix Plus (my favorite behind Roboform). Fortunately there’s a RC2 build of TMP that allows it to be used, and Roboform’s new version was available the day of FF2 release.
Nope, it wasn’t installation that was the problem. It was usage. And let me be frank … with only one of the two next-gen browsers.
I mentioned this in my prior post about the IE7 download … Maxthon (latest … and it keeps moving so I won’t put a specific version) crashes silently to the desktop — and sometimes within seconds of launch. This didn’t happen with IE6 and I’ve used Maxthon as my default tabbed browser because I didn’t like switching back and forth between FF and an ActiveX-supporting browser (more later). More investigation at the forum at Maxthon’s website showed the silent crash happens to some people even with IE6 installed. But on my PCs (and I have a ton of ‘em), none of them crashed with IE6 and Maxthon.
More investigation … tried Avant Browser. This one would give me say 1-2 hours of browsing … then crash … at least it would not be silent and would give me the opportunity to report to Microsoft.
Still more investigation. Tried Firefox 1.5.0.7 with IETab. Crashed again. So, the commonality between all these is that all these were using the IE7 engine. Of course, IE7 itself didn’t crash.
So, I thought … let’s try a different PC … on that one, no problems with Maxthon … HOWEVER, IE7 itself had issues rendering some pages. Such as News.com. 
You can see how the 3rd column is actually shifted over to the left. I also saw this on ABC News, but in that case it overlapped with a 2nd column of text … making the site unusable. Strangely, Maxthon rendered the same page correctly (and I checked different display drivers, too, before you ask). Naturally the PC that had issues with Maxthon crashing had no problems with rendering these pages. (I’m wondering if the fact that the PC with the rendering problems is a widescreen laptop has anything to do with it.)
What about Firefox 2? I haven’t mentioned it at all. Why is that? Because I have had absolutely no issues with it at all, that’s why. I also discovered, both with Firefox 2 and Tab Mix Plus, and Avant Browser, that I really liked multi-line tab bars rather than scrolling left and right (IE7 and FF2 without TMP) and just making the tabs smaller and smaller (Maxthon).
I have to add that after my initial post that included my issues with Maxthon, Microsoft contacted me and has been working with me. Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to determine anything, either with the rendering issue or with Maxthon or Avant Browser. I also haven’t heard from them in about a week. They did tell me the crash report from Avant Browser indicated a PC or configuration issue (meaning it’s just me, right), however, based on the number of reports of issues I see around the Web, I don’t think it’s just me.
Part of this exercise is to eliminate (or reduce) the chance of hearing screams of anguish from my wife when IE7 is installed on her laptop. It’s also because I still want to use just one browser, and not have to think about which one I’m using on a specific PC. Right now, I’d have to recommend Firefox 2, because I haven’t seen stability issues at this point … and if you really need to use a site that requires IE, you can use IETab. I’ll post new information if (for example) tomorrow’s download is different from the 7.0.5730.11 download from two week’s ago, or if a future update fixes my IE7 issues, but for now, it’s Firefox 2 for me, and that’s what I would recommend as well.
David Johnston says:
Firefox 2.0 with IETab is a killer combination. I have noticed, however, that IETab doesn’t work properly on some websites such as AOL’s In2TV. It does seem to work fine for Windows Update however.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:22 pm
John Tidball says:
I still haven’t been able to get IE7 to download or install. Tried it on 2 diff. PC’s. I’m interested to see if the auto-install via upadate will work. I’d like to play with it, but am using FF 2.0 sucessfully now.
October 30th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
Douglas Roland says:
I have been running the Maxthon browser Version 1.5.8 (Build 116) Unicode and also IE 7 (starting with Beta 1 to the now released version and have had absolutely no problems with either one of them. My computer is an HP dv8000 with an AMD Turion 64 cpu and running XP Windows Media Edition with full updates. I have visited hundreds of web sites and almost all (at least 99%) have seemed to render correctly. Both of these browsers get a complete thumbs up from me.
October 30th, 2006 at 4:00 pm
Mart says:
John Tidball, I found the IE 7 download to be very slow. Just walk away from the PC after it starts and go have dinner.
There is nothing very exciting about IE 7. I find some of the changes annoying. Their command bar containing the Home button is now far to the right. Favorites is on the tabs bar off to the left. I’m still looking for a way to get it to look and work the way I want it to. I guess I’m spoiled by the customization ability of Firefox.
October 30th, 2006 at 9:49 pm
build a website » Blog Archive » Build a website - Saudi group intends to form joint venture with Brazilian company says:
[…] QuickLooks: Internet Explorer 7 vs. Firefox 2 After a Week (or so)RealTechNews, CA - 11 hours ago… Fortunately there sa RC2 build of TMP that allows it to be … it keeps moving so I won t put a specific version … at the forum at Maxthon s website showed the … […]
October 30th, 2006 at 10:02 pm
teqjack says:
Haven’t done anything with IE7 yet. Some time ago found a method of keeping both 6 and 7 available; for a pre-release version, but I may try it.
Maxthon… I haven’t needed it, but the newest version I just downloaded allows up to 100 tabs and multiple lines of tabs. Check Options.
October 30th, 2006 at 11:04 pm
John Corliss says:
I tried IE7 then removed it. Its GUI is far too unconfigurable and poorly thought out. In fact, even though IE6 doesn’t do tabbed browsing, I prefer its UI immensely over IE7. Perhaps the best plan is to wait and see if MS listens to all the complaints about IE7 (and there are many) and actually does something about them.
October 31st, 2006 at 4:46 am
DBob says:
I’d like to do either a complete uninstall of my existing FF 1.5.0.7 installation, or a completely separate install of FF 2 unaffected by existing settings and profile.
I’d like to maintain my existing extensions, though.
Can anyone offer some suggestions and links?
Thanks
October 31st, 2006 at 5:44 am
Kent Bunn says:
I’ve installed IE7 but I haven’t done squat with it yet.
On the flip side, FF seems to have some issues w/ my home PC. If I had to guess I would say it’s possibly a result of me being dual screen at home, but I’m not sure.
It seems to have some issues determining where the right edge of the window should be, etc. On eBay the stuff along the right edge is clipped some. And my ISP uses squirrelmail for webmail access, and the buttons that are along the right edge of the window just weren’t there at all last nite.
October 31st, 2006 at 10:00 am
Bill says:
I use IE a lot more now that it has tabbed browsing. It took them long enough to add that feature.
December 20th, 2006 at 10:57 pm
Best Extensions for Firefox 2? | Etixet Tag Cloud Archive 10.000 Web Site Feed says:
[…] If you’ve been reading my escapades with IE7 and Firefox 2 at RealTechNews (here and here), you know I’ve pretty much made the switch to Firefox. Didn’t have much choice, really, if I wanted to keep using the same browser at work and home. […]
January 7th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Stats on Microsoft Insecurity in 2006 | Etixet Tag Cloud Archive 10.000 Web Site Feed says:
[…] Hmm, this makes me feel waaay better since I changed to Firefox as my primary browser. Although that was mostly driven by my issues with IE7, I’ve been happy with my switch, and especially with the wide number of extensions available for it. Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
January 7th, 2008 at 1:27 pm