Put aside browser rivalry; use both of them

As Microsoft's marketing mavens gear up to blitz the world Jan. 29 with the debut of the new Vista operating system, a lot of folks are getting a glimpse of things to come by downloading — and sometimes hating — the new Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 Web browser.

Ironically the release of IE 7, which I consider first-rate, seems to be prompting a significant number of people to take a look at the competing free browser from Mozilla.org called Firefox that is offering its 2.0.1 version.

For IE folks, Microsoft's significant new feature allows "tabbed" browsing, which lets you keep a string of Web pages, each available by clicking on its tab at the top of the display.

Tabs have been in Firefox for years.

This has generated a bit of contention among users of Microsoft Windows. Firefox fans put down IE, and users of IE 7 say they don't want to bother with changing anything on their computers that is working.

I'm an unlikely Solomon, but I do know what I would order if I were in charge: Use both.

There's a lot to be gained by going through the refreshingly simple download and installation of Firefox 2 and running it alongside IE, which comes installed as part of Windows.

Double the stuff

You'll get two advantages with dual browsers. You'll be amazed about the great number of add-ons and extensions to Firefox that can let you do near-miraculous stuff Microsoft either doesn't want you to do or doesn't seem to know how to do in its own right.

Dual browsers are better in many ways than just a line of tabs for the sake of sanity.

I use one of the browsers for serious research and study while using the other browser when I get involved in stuff that seems at the leading edge and that might mess up the current session.

Anybody who's grazed their way through a herd of wildly different blogs with strange graphics, nasty sounds and weird text will appreciate the peace of mind of knowing that if that browser crashes it probably will leave the other one intact.

I made the Firefox display strikingly different than the IE screen by installing a skin add-on that changes the colors from Microsoft aqua to Darth Vader black.

Foxfire's promoters at Mozilla.org are touting a set of additional software that captures the actual video from those movies streaming from YouTube, et al., as large computer files stored on your hard drive and available for playing when and where you choose.

Download help

This video add-on is called Download Helper (www.downloadhelper.net).

When you install Firefox, you'll be shown how to score additional feature tools for the browser. Or you can find them at https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox.

It's a lot easier to find and play those small and grainy movies for yourself and others when they're just a click away on the hard drive rather than at a Web site that one must call up every time from Google's massive server farm.

This video gem of add-on amounts to a small part of what can be expected after the agreement between Mozilla and Adobe Systems that lets amateur programmers build programs that will play files in Adobe's proprietary Flash Video (FLV) format.

This makes it possible to download Web video clips, then incorporate them in PowerPoint presentations or as offerings on one's own blog or Web site.

I'm sure the copyright attorneys are busily sharpening their pencils for the coming fight, but hey, I report the news on Firefox. You decide.