New versions of Firefox, IE go head-to-head

On Tuesday, Microsoft released Internet Explorer 9, the latest version of the company’s venerable Web browser. Rival Mozilla just unveiled the all-but-official version of Firefox 4. Both will go up against the ever-speedy and sparse Google Chrome, which was recently updated to version 10.

IE, with about a 57% market share, according to Net Applications, and Firefox, with nearly 22%, are No. 1 and No. 2. They are the browsers I concentrated on for this review and have market shares well ahead of Chrome (about 11%), Apple Safari (6%) and Europe’s Opera (2%). But Microsoft’s once-dominant position has steadily declined through the years.

The folks behind modern browsers tout speeds; simpler navigation, add-ons and extensions; and security. They point out that IE9, Firefox 4 and Chrome 10 embrace flashy Web standards such as HTML5.

Of course, people often use what’s convenient (the default browser on their computer). But you’ll also come upon those who are überpassionate about which browser they’ll rely on.

I was mightily impressed with IE9 six months ago when I first reviewed it, even as a beta. I still am. The software is a refreshing leap forward for a browser franchise that had gone stale. IE9 is fast and streamlined. Web apps behave like apps on your PC. Indeed, the lines are blurring.

IE9 lets you “pin,” or park, icons for sites on the Windows 7 task bar (a strip of icons at the bottom of the screen). Clicking on a pinned icon launches a Web page or app without you having to separately launch the browser. If you right-click on a parked icon instead, a menu of handy shortcuts appears for certain sites through what Microsoft calls “jump lists.”

For example, right-clicking on an icon for Pandora brings up shortcuts that let you jump to a music search Web page or the Pandora blog. A jump list for USA TODAY leads to shortcuts for different sections of the paper. Another nice Windows 7 feature: You can “tear” a Web page right out of IE9 by dragging its tab. If you drag the page all the way to the left side of the screen, then drag a second torn Web page out of the browser all the way to the right, you can compare them side by side.

Now Microsoft is implementing more advances. One area of emphasis is Tracking Protection. At the core of this privacy initiative: Tracking Protection Lists, which are kind of the Web equivalents of the “do not call” lists aimed at marketers. An IE9 user can add lists compiled by privacy organizations. While intentions are in the right place, such lists are understandably imperfect.

Microsoft complements those lists with a do-not-track user preference that effectively broadcasts to a site that you, well, don’t want to be tracked. But it relies on the honesty and integrity of the site to adhere to your wishes. Mozilla with Firefox 4 and Google with Chrome are also backing do-not-track mechanisms (which the Federal Trade Commission is watching closely). Mozilla is pushing a universal do-not-track standard, which would prevent the site from tracking your visit for advertising purposes.

One key drawback for IE9 remains: It won’t work on Windows XP computers, and there are lots still out there. And though IE9 is compatible with Windows Vista, it’s really optimized for use on PCs with Windows 7.

Firefox 4 has a cleaner interface and simplified menus that aim to keep your focus on the content at hand. The Home button is all the way to the upper right side of the browser. Tabs for open websites sit on top of what Mozilla refers to as the Awesome Bar — it’s where you type in terms that might get you to a Web destination so that you don’t have to remember the Web address or URL. Still, Firefox is the only one of the three browsers to retain a separate, dedicated search box — making it appear more cluttered than its rivals.

You can also easily create App Tabs pinned to the top of the browser, each representing Web applications you frequently call upon, such as Gmail.

Mozilla also improved the Add-ons Manager in Firefox 4 to help you find and install add-ons, from a collection numbering more than 200,000.

Not all Firefox 4 changes are intuitive. I was confused by a panorama feature that’s supposed to make it easy to drag and drop related tabs into manageable groups.

You can also sync your Firefox history, bookmarks, add-ons, open tabs and passwords across multiple computers via the Firefox 4 mobile beta, but syncing for now is limited to Android smartphones and tablets and the Nokia N900 smartphone. IE9 doesn’t have sync.

Mozilla claims the new Firefox is six times faster than the previous release, and it seemed so. Browser innovation may lead to industry skirmishes. But it also leads to positive outcomes for all of us who spend time in cyberspace.

E-mail: ebaig@usatoday.com