Round 12: The rest
The major additions for Firefox that haven’t been covered yet can be perused at your convenience in the list below.
Automated update
Better support for screen readers & Braille displays
Better support for web standards including SVG, CSS 2, CSS 3 and Javascript 1.6
Safe mode (runs Firefox without plug-ins, this is planed for IE7 but not there yet)
Likewise the IE7 team has made a few tweaks that didn’t get involved in rounds one through twelve.
Printing improvements (it can now resize pages)
Better support for web standards including transparent PNG files, CSS2 and International Domain Names
Verdict
Microsoft got overconfident (more overconfident, that is). Once they had killed off Netscape, they let their guard down. IE has been left to stagnate for years. This allowed the open source community the time to develop a product that has the potential to beat IE. Microsoft realized this a little late into the game and, given the delays to Vista, decided to take some action. Will it be enough? If the beta is any indication, IE7 should be a solid upgrade from 6; bringing Microsoft back into the game anyway. Will I switch back (I was a heavy IE5 user)? No. Simple as that, unless they make some huge and non-Microsoft changes it isn’t going to be as compelling a product as Firefox.
Now, for all those people who are not legal users of Windows XP service pack 2, the choice is even simpler. Firefox is the premier cross-platform browser today for a very good reason. If you haven’t tried it you should.