Now that IE 7 and Firefox 2.0 are out in the wild, there has been a revival in the
browser wars that were fought so vehemently in the past. Microsoft has learnt lots
of lessons from Firefox and Safari and is trying really hard to catch up. It now has
tabbed browsing, anti-phishing and a host of new features, but Firefox 2.0 has upped
the stakes by introducing yet newer functionality in it’s latest incarnation. My favorite
feature is the inbuilt spelling checker (I would have said “favourite” in the past,
but Firefox corrected me.
One area where IE is playing catchup is in the add-on space. Firefox now has thousands
of add-ons. IE has just entered this arena. Add-ons are great because they enhance
your online experience and improve the functionality of your browser. Add-on manufacturers
need to take account of both markets, like in the case of Trailfire, who produces
both a Firefox Extension
and Internet Explorer 7 add-on.
Trailfire is a plug-on that lets you track your experience across the web, as well
as annotate websites as you go by. Others (and yourself of course) can then follow
the trail you’ve left and relive the same experience. You can get both Trailfire
for IE 7 or for Firefox.
The importance of this lies in the fact that you are using a service that transcends
your browser. It doesn’t matter which platform you use, you can still use their service
This is TrailFire in IE:
This is TrailFire in FireFox
>
As you can see, the experience is pretty similar. I think I’ll sign up for this and
give it a try. As to which browser I’ll be using it in; I think I’ll stick with FireFox
for now …
