Firefox 2.0 builds for G4, G5 and Intel

While going to the Firefox site just gives you a generic OS X version of the new Firefox, Beatnikpad.com has links to optimized versions for the various Mac processors, namely G4, G5 and Intel.

For each processor, there's also the choice of "Firefoxy form widgets," or "aqua form widgets." I have no idea what that means.

I don't think I've downloaded the new Firefox for our iBook G4, but this theoretically means a better browsing experience, given that I can get a version somewhat tuned to what is now an obsolete processor.

Not that I use Firefox all that much. This is where Josh Kleinbaum and I differ. At the office, I prefer Internet Explorer because a) some Web applications for the Daily News require it, and b) I'm just used to the way it works and c) it's lighter on system resources and starts much quicker.

And at home, on the Mac, I reluctantly gave up IE long ago and have gotten comfortable with Safari. Again, Safari is quicker and lighter on the system than Firefox.

But especially for Mac, I find myself being required to use Firefox more and more. Blogger only works with Firefox on the Mac. It works with other browsers, but you can't do automatic links or even upload photos. And Google Docs doesn't work with Safari (or IE 5.2, for that matter), so I need Firefox for that, too.

What's wrong with Microsoft? After "winning" the browser war by killing Netscape, they abandon an entire, growing platform (the Mac)? Idiocy. IE for Mac, especially in its final version, was a sweet, sweet product, in my opinion. Read this appreciation (and expression of frustration) from a guy who worked on it.

In my observation, Microsoft applications, though regarded as bloated, really aren't so much. I've found that most Microsoft applications (Word, Outlook, IE, Windows Media Player, Win2K) run fairly quickly and get the basics done very, very well). Part of this might be that MS is slow to update and tune their products to the latest processors and memory configurations (i.e. faster and more).

That's good news for people who aren't upgrading hardware every two years -- and that's way more people and businesses than you'd think. Still, get ready for a major MS upgrading of just about everything for Windows Vista, which the computer industry as a whole hopes will get everybody and their mother to buy new, Vista-compatible hardware.

It's a gamble that could work. Or not.

Back to browsers: For the PC, a Web developer would be crazy to have an application or page that didn't work on IE and required Firefox. I wish the same were true for the Mac and Safari, which I've grown to enjoy working with.