I’d say Firefox is better than IE6, but I haven’t managed to get my hands on IE7. Firefox had many of the new features of IE7 well before IE7, such as tabs which in my view are a browsing revolution on Windows . Firefox seems to be faster than IE, and more well thought out. I think all Windows users should definately give it a try keeping in mind that it may take a while to get used to not using IE.

It’s my opinion that Firefox for macs is not currently better than Safari even though it does have some simple features I miss when using Safari such as the notification popup when you’re about to close a windows with more than one tab open. Generally Firefox for macs feels chunky, bloated, and slow, but it’s definitely worth installing as an alternative browser for trying to view pages that don’t display properly in Safari.

rating: ****
usefulness: 10
ease of use: 10
minimum user level: novice
download: Firefox

Most people think that Internet Explorer is the best web browser, but it has many bugs and breaks many of the accepted standards for displaying web pages. Due to IE’s “domination” of the market this leads to many web pages being developed with hacks and fixes for IE in an attempt of the web designers to have their pages displayed properly, also rendering the pages usually ugly and at the most completely broken in alternative browsers and even other versions of IE such as IE for macs.

That said, IE7 comes bundled with quite a few bells and whistles and some of the bugs/blatent disregard for accepted web standards have been fixed. While I’ve listed it under Free Programs, IE7 is only available to people who have purchased a Genuine Windows licence and the validity of your windows licence has to be verified before IE7 can be installed on your machine. This invasion of privacy and abundance of individuals/criminals running illegal installations of Windows will undoubtedly push more people towards Firefox and other web browsers, which can only be a good thing in that it will force web designers to consider the other browsers.

rating: ***
usefulness: 10
ease of use: 10
minimum user level: novice
download: Internet Explorer

For those that don’t know, instant messaging is a way of sending text messages over the internet – a bit like a chat room but only with people you know. Windows Live Messenger also has the ability to have video and voice calls between Windows users with webcams and microphones.

Windows Live Messenger is certainly more pretty than it’s predecessor but it still has it’s annoyances such as the advertising flashing in your face and it’s lack of ability to sign on with multiple accounts. The quick access it provides to your Windows Live Mail or hotmail is handy, but the drawback is that the program does not respect your default browser settings and you are forced to read your mail in Internet Explorer.

rating: ***
usefulness: 10
ease of use: 10
minimum user level: novice
download:MSN Messenger

(unrated)
usefulness: ?
ease of use: ?
minimum user level: novice
download: Bonjour for Windows

rating: ***** (recommended)
usefulness: 10
ease of use: 10
minimum user level: novice
download:

rating: *****
usefulness: 10
ease of use: 10
minimum user level: novice
Download: AVG Free Edition

rating: *****
usefulness: 10
ease of use: 10
minimum user level: novice
cost: FREE
download: iTunes