There is a growing movement out there asking people to drop Internet Explorer as their browser.

The latest salvo came, ironically, in Microsoft-owned Slate. Paul Boutin suggests today that you download, and switch to, Mozilla's Firefox, which is nearing final release.

So I tried it.

There's a lot to like, especially the way Firefox directly imports all your old bookmarks and settings. Boutin's article specifically cites several recent articles on nasty exploits aimed at Explorer, including Download.Ject, which lets hackers insert a keylogger into your online banking sessions that sits in front of the encryption.

There's still no such thing as perfection, however. Google has yet to make a Toolbar for Firefox, so you'll have to access its main pages manually and you'll be without its Pop-Up Blocker. (I was amazed, on upgrading and losing my blocker for a while, how popular they remain.)

Still, it's a very nice browser, and I won't go banking without it.

Which still leaves a mystery. Why has Microsoft stopped supporting a product it feared a decade ago would define the future?

If you know, share the wisdom.