Slicing into Firefox 2.0

Mozilla unleashed Firefox 2.0, and Microsoft shipped the developers a cake.

Makes you wonder whether Microsoft ever sent the Netscape team any treats. Anyhow, the blogosphere is alive with comments about the sweet gift--"No, it was not poisoned"--as well as about the Firefox update, which followed on the heels of Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 7.

Mozilla delivered Firefox 2.0 on Tuesday. It is a more polished version of the popular open-source Web browser, with a number of added features, such as a phishing shield supplied by Google. Most professional reviewers, including those at CNET, give "two thumbs up" to the Firefox upgrade.

Internet Explorer 7 came last week.It's a major leap forward from IE 6, but just catching up with Firefox when it comes to its feature set, reviewers say. It also includes protection against phishing scams; Microsoft is touting IE 7 as its most secure Web browser to date.

Here's what some in the blogosphere have to say about Firefox 2.0, and it isn't all pretty:

"From Redmond With Love. The Microsoft Internet Explorer Team sent us a cake for the release of Firefox 2! A big thanks to Redmond, Washington! P.S.: No, it was not poisoned."
--Fred

"So the Internet Explorer team sent a cake to the Mozilla team congratulating them on their release of Firefox 2 which launched about a week after Microsoft launched IE 7. Humorous. Surprised it didn't say 'Ha, Ha We beat you!' Oh well, we all know which is the better browser."
Andy Brudtkuhl on GetaNewBrowser.com

"Firefox 2.0 (is), increasingly, a credible challenger to Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Unfortunately, some of Firefox's more trend-setting features have been delayed to a later release, and the new release suffers as a result. What's left is pretty unimpressive."
Paul Thurrott on WinInfo.

"Google data collection embedded in Firefox 2: I'm not sure which I find more offensive, the government's attempts to regulate people's morals by making online gaming illegal or Google gathering browsing history under the guise of protecting you against phishing."
Graywolf on ThreadWatch

"Firefox phishing protection offers users protection from online identity and credential scams by checking the visited sites against a local list of known bad sites. This list of bad sites is refreshed regularly by Firefox--every 30 to 60 minutes. At no time are the users' visited sites shared with any third parties (or even with Mozilla) when using this feature in its default, and quite capable, configuration."
Asa Dotzler, Mozilla staffer on Firefox and more