Firefox 4 Beta vs. IE9 Beta? I'll Take IE.

Oh Firefox, what happened to you?

I remember the early days, you were the dwarfed cousin of the Mozilla suite,
focusing in on one function, running sleeker, faster, better, but today?

Today you've become the has-been browser, falling into the traps of bloat,
performance issues, and overall stagnation. Chrome beat you on speed, even if it lacks the quality of add-ons I grew to love about you. Internet Explorer
9 even beats you on speed, even if it lacks add-ons period, plus spell check.
I tried you again, I seriously did, but I just found myself with the same frustrations that lead me into Chrome in the first place.

You've simply become bloated. Why should I use a browser that takes a couple seconds to load, plus stalls out on my computers, taking a few more seconds to then begin to respond, even with only one add-on installed? Chrome starts the second you think about it. IE9 is similar.

Yes, you have the add-on I love (Yes, I'm an AdBlock user, mainly due to the worst sites, not the better ones), but that isn't enough anymore. I do miss that functionality, I truthfully do, when I hit a page that's polluted beyond belief in ads, but that isn't worth lock-ups and slow starts.

But still, why am I jumping back to Internet Explorer 9? First off, it starts on the snap of the fingers, alike to Chrome. Second, the hardware acceleration makes the fonts look better, which yes, I do notice (I'm an art student, I notice things :) ). Third, the ability to pin web apps, i.e. Hotmail. Facebook, and all the rest, right on my taskbar for use at an instant.

Yes, I wish IE9 had the ability to have real add-ons, though I only use one these days. Yes, there are websites that don't work properly, like Posterous even. Yes, it lacks spell check, which is just idiotic when everything has that these days. But it works, IT works!

You've lost your way Firefox, version 4 should be your salvation, but yet, it seems you've become exactly what you replaced.