Can Mozilla Beat Godzilla?

I have no idea whether Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates stays up at night worrying about his empire but, if he does, he may very well be losing sleep over the Mozilla Foundation.

The non-profit group will soon release the final version of its Firefox Browser that has been stealing users away from Microsoft Internet Explorer and will later release Thunderbird -- an excellent e-mail program that competes with Microsoft Outlook. Millions of people have already downloaded stable and relatively bug-free preview editions of both programs from www.mozilla.org. They not only have versions of Windows and Macintosh but, unlike Microsoft, also support the Linux operating system.

The Mozilla Foundation was founded in 2003 with financial support from America Online. Its original task was to develop the Mozilla Browser as "open source" software. Mozilla used some of the source code of the Netscape Browser (now owned by AOL) that was once the dominant tool for surfing the web until Microsoft started bundling free copies of Internet Explorer with Windows.

Unlike proprietary software, developers of open source programs make no effort to hide the underlying computer code that makes up the software. By keeping the source code open, it makes it easier for others to improve or enhance the application. Proprietary software developers, like Microsoft, go to great lengths to hide their code so as to protect trade secrets and help thwart piracy and plagiarism as well as to keep competitors are bay.

An increasing number of individuals, businesses and governments are beginning to see the advantage of open source software. For one thing, it means that a community of programmers can peer into the software to better understand its strengths and weaknesses. For another, it means that the users are not as beholden to the software developer should they want to make modifications or fix bugs. That's why a number of governments including the United Kingdom, China and even some U.S. and state government agencies, are increasingly interested in using open source software instead of proprietary software.

What's more, all of the Mozilla program support "extensions" that allow programmers to enhance their features. So what each program can do is not limited to whatever the initial developers decided to do. Extensions are mini-programs that run inside the software to enhance its functionality. There are already numerous extensions for all of Mozilla's products.

Open source software can still be copyrighted and companies have the right to charge for the software. However, the Mozilla Foundation has decided not to charge end-users and businesses for the right to use its programs.

Right now there are three programs available. Mozilla 1.7 is a combination web browser, email program and newsgroup reader. It can also be used for chat web developers can use it to edit (HTML) web pages.

Firefox is a web browser that's beginning to get a lot of attention as an alternative to Microsoft Internet Explorer. The free program has been in development for more than two years and millions of people are already using preview versions of the program. The current version is called a "release candidate" which means that it's stable and very close the final version which is slated to be released this month. One of Firefox's claims to fame is that it is not subject to many of the hacker vulnerabilities of Microsoft's browser. It also has a very nice tabbed browsing feature that lets you easily switch from one web site to another without having to clutter your screen with lots of windows. Plus, it has a pop-up blocker and other security features.

Another program worth downloading is Thunderbird -- a full featured e-mail program that is an excellent alternative to Microsoft Outlook. Thunderbird is still in development but the Foundation recently released version 0.9 which means it's getting close to the final 1.0 release. The program has built-in anti-spam filters that, over time, learns what you consider to be spam versus mail you want to look at. It also has a good search feature and a good address book. An optional calendar "extension" can be added. Like other good email programs it has "filters" that can highlight or segregate mail based on the sender, subject line or content. I have it configured to highlight mail from companies and people I work with in red so I'm sure not to miss their messages.

I was a Microsoft Outlook user for years but finally got tired of bugs, security flaws and performance problems. Last year I switched over to Bloomba, a very nice commercial e-mail program from Stata Labs, but decided to stop using Bloomba last month after it was announced that Stata Labs was acquired by Yahoo and that the new owner would not develop new versions of Bloomba and stop providing support after a year. When it comes to something as important as my e-mail, I don't want to be hostage to a company that has obviously lost interest in maintaining the product.

I have no such worries when it comes to Thunderbird. The Mozilla Foundation has a large following not only of users but of programmers who will continue to bug-test, enhance and improve Thunderbird and all of its other programs.

By Larry Magid