Spy ware, pop-ups and other forms of mal-ware have made the Internet an unfun place to be. Believe it or not, you can take back the web and make it yours again, and it will only cost you a few minutes of your time.

It has been exactly 70 days since I dumped Internet Explorer in favour of Firefox, and despite some small teething problems, I can safely say it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made for both my PC and my sanity.

After 70 days of pop-up free bliss, a spy ware scan of my entire system has revealed some expected results. Total Spy ware threats: Zero. Zip. Nada. None. Absolutely awesome. No unwanted browser objects, Trojans or other dubious programs. And of course, no pop-ups.

Firefox is now also my browser of choice with my web development work, only using 'Inferior Explorer' to test for potential design issues. I confess this has caused me to become somewhat of a browser snob, frowning at those who still insist on using Internet Explorer.

So if you are reading this right now using Internet Explorer, I ask: Why? Firefox is free, more secure, and has the same familiar interface as IE, and more. Tabbed browsing for example has been a long time coming. Potential security issues are resolved quickly and automatically via the automated update system, and did I mention no pop-ups?

Firebox's popularity has increased exponentially in a very short time, so much though that Microsoft felt it necessary to announce an update to their stagnated browser, in the form of IE7, just when we all thought the browser wars were over.

And strangely enough, IE7 will feature tabbed browsing. Obviously recognising that many people would stay with Firefox for that feature alone, Microsoft have a lot of work to do in order to persuade people back to IE, and to stop future generations making the switch to FF.

It is safe to assume that if Firefox never existed, Microsoft would not be planning a browser update so soon. This is a text book example of software stagnation. When a product holds more than 90% of market share, there is hardly any incentive for it to evolve. That is until people start take notice of a competing product, which is not only a superior browser, but has also shown that 3rd party applications do not have to bear the Microsoft logo in order to have seamless integration.

It is difficult to endorse Firefox without it sounding like an unconvincing testimonial from a PR guy, but jokes aside if you have not already made the switch, do yourself a favour and grab it now. It will change you online life forever. More power to Firefox.