Labs

For a time, it appeared that Internet Explorer would achieve total dominance in the web browser arena, but Firefox has done more than most to put paid to that notion. Over the past few years, it's taken chunks out of Internet Explorer's market share, and conservative estimates suggest around 15% of web users now prefer the sly young upstart.

When first experiencing Firefox, it wasn't hard to see why so many rapidly came under its spell: it offered features and speed that Internet Explorer could only dream of. These days, many of Firefox's unique aspects have become commonplace, adopted by the competition; but Firefox still appeals, because it never lost sight of what made it great in the first place.

First and foremost, Firefox is a fast, standards-compliant web browser. The interface is clean, efficient and free of bloat, perhaps even surpassing Opera in this respect. Internet Explorer 7, despite its attempts at streamlining, has rather

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bulky styling that looks positively childlike when compared to Firefox's simplicity. Out of the box, Firefox is already extremely usable, and few will feel the need to make changes. The browser's incremental search is one of the best around: accessed via the slash key ( / ), it enables you to find content on the current web page just by typing, but the feature can be made even quicker to access by checking Search for text when I start typing within the Advanced section of Options on the Tools menu. Then, as long a form field isn't currently being used, you simply start typing to find content within a page. Keyword searches are also simple to set up: right-click a search field and select Add a Keyword for this Search. And the integrated spellchecker is a useful addition for anyone who posts regularly on forums or blogs.

Despite Firefox's strong feature set, its greatest asset is perhaps the community that's grown around it. While Internet Explorer and Opera both offer add-ons, Firefox's wealth of extras is astonishing. Dozens of themes are available, as are dictionaries and search engines. Extensions provide bookmark integration with del.icio.us, tab thumbnail viewing, extra content blocking options, information feeds, and much more. One of the best is Web Developer Toolbar, which provides essential tools for web designers. In fact, Firefox's market share, combined with this toolbar and strong web standards support, make it a top choice for web designers. For everyone else, Opera pips it at the post - but it's a close-run thing.