Browsers… Anything but IE!
According to the webstats, almost 80% of the people who visit the sites I’ve built, are viewing them IE or “Internet Explorer” the default browser on Windows computers. Thankfully this number is going down. Most of the professional web surfers, computer nerds, or website building people I know already absolutely despise Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser.
Why do people dream of stabbing IE repeatedly?
Well, there are a lot of reasons… mine is because of the hacks required to make websites look uniform in IE when they look perfect in all the other browsers out there. Unfortunately, because the IE percentage above is so high, I’m forced to spend huge amounts of time trying to make the websites look correctly in IE. This is Microsoft costing you money people! Just kidding. I eat the time! It’s all part of bettering myself as a designer/coder, and another reason you should pick me for your project… I’m not charging you time for stuff I don’t know 
I’m writing this with the hope that I may convince even one person (maybe you?) to download and use one of the browsers below. They’re all free.
#1 Mozilla’s Firefox
This is my personal favorite. Firefox is “awesomeness” with extra emphasis on the ness. Firefox has a million (or it seems like it) “plugins” or gadgets that you can add to customize, tweak, or bend for your liking. I have like twenty web design plugins to speed up my daily tasks involved with work. Firefox = Practical, and I’m a pretty practical guy.
#2 Apple’s Safari
This is the default browser on Mac computers. I’ve heard there are some security issues with Safari, but I don’t know how true that is. If you want the ultimate in web surfing beauty though, you need to download Safari. Even ugly websites look beautiful in Safari! Well maybe not, but they look better. I use Safari when I’m not doing anything work related and want to browse the web. This is why it gets my #2. Apple claims it’s the fastest out there now, but I’m pretty sure the nerds say differently.
#3 Opera
Opera is rumored to be the fastest browser out there. I don’t know… it seems a little sluggy on cold start-ups, but it does have some cool features and is gaining momentum in wireless devices these days. Have a Blackberry? You might be using Opera. I really haven’t used this browser all that much other than for testing sites, but I like it well enough. There are plugins or “widgets” available, but I haven’t tried any of them because Firefox has everything I need.
#4 Google’s Chrome
Google a name you can trust… or can you? Ha-ha. They send my check on the same day every single month, so I can trust the to pay me on time anyway! This is a new and really clean looking browser. It’s also open source. I think we can expect big things from this browser in the future, especially with a powerhouse like Google, it’s flock of geniuses, and a cult following.
I don’t care which one you try, but humor me and just try one of them! I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
~ John