Besides having a killer name, Firefox, Mozilla’s Internet Explorer killer is an awesome browser. Don’t have a copy? Well, surf over to getfirefox and get one.

I usually have a couple of browsers open at any given time, so it’s nice to not have to use IE. But Firefox has a lot of great features that have made it my browser of choice. Among them

Live Bookmarks – that means I have an RSS reader in my menu bar

Find – I use find a lot when I’m looking at websites. I like that the find function is built into the bottom bar, instead of appearing in its own window

Pop-up blocking – Firefox has a built in popup blocker that works great. It shows you when a popup has been blocked, and let’s you choose whether you want to allow a popup from a particular site

Search – OK. I love that Google was built right into Safari, but I’m not a one-search engine kind of guy. I like to have choices. Firefox allows me to set a default and add other search engines. So, I can flip between Yahoo!, Google and Teoma, any time I want. More importantly, I can add sites like Dictionary.com that I use a lot when I’m on a naming assignment.

Total customization. Not only does Firefox have themes (or skins) so that I can change the way the browser looks, I can also add in extensions that upgrade functionality. I recently added a bandwidth tester because there are days when I am really really interested in knowing why my DSL connection is so slow. Before that, I installed a weather bar and a Gmail notifier. There are many many extensions that I haven’t bothered to check out or install, but this alone is worth the price of admission.

Plus, Firefox is open source. That means developers can write extensions to the program.

In terms of branding, Firefox is doing pretty well. Wired just did a cover story on them. And I’ve seen the “Spread Firefox” icons all over the place, so that means brand loyalty must be pretty high. In fact, on the Spread Firefox page, they claim some 19 million users have downloaded this little browser. Pretty amazing.

Like I said, I love the name, and because they’re keeping it open source and users can customize it to their hearts’ content, I’m sure Mozilla is gaining increasing recognition for this little browser.

If you haven’t checked it out, give it a try.

16 February Update
I don’t use a PC (hardcore Mac user since 1984), so a lot of the issues that PC users face online don’t apply to me or the Mac user universe. However, the following Firefox features were pointed out to me and I thought they were interesting enough to add.

First, apparently, IE’s Service Pack 2 has an annoying habit of blocking PDF files – on your own hard drive. That means, IE will ask you if you are SURE you want to open the file before you open it, EVERY time you try to open it. That means you have to manually authorize opening files on your own drive. Only slightly annoying. Firefox doesn’t do that.

Second, when you use the Find feature on Firefox, it looks like a yellow highlighter and highlights the word or string on the open page. This means you can scroll down and find what you’re looking for very very quickly. Pretty cool.

Finally, if you haven’t seen the Wired article on Firefox, check out, The Firefox Explosion.