Microsoft Internet Explorer - really?

I happened to notice on my stats page today that 37% of my readers are still using Microsoft's Internet Explorer as a web browser.  Given that there are several browsers out there with far greater capabilities, less resource use, and better web 2.0 support, I was somewhat disappointed to see a percentage that high.. though I guess it speaks well of my audience that the percentage wasn't higher.

For those of you still using IE, I recommend wholeheartedly that you switch browsers - and present to you my chosen alternatives in order of my personal preference:

1. Google Chrome - Google's browser is fast, very fast.   Almost universally compatible with every website I ever visit.. and did I mention fast?  It also uses far less RAM and processor resources than competitor's browsers - allowing your computer to run faster overall.  The one drawback - printing.  It prints just fine but I have, as yet, failed to find a way to remove the headers from the printed page... there is no 'page layout' in the preferences.

2. Firefox - Used to be my browser of choice.. but in the last few years has become more RAM intensive and slightly slower than it used to be.  Still - a very powerful and fast browser - with great theming and plug-in capabilities.  Best of all , it lets you remove the headers during the print process and is thus my back-up browser and the one I use when printing packing slips.

3. Opera - Fun and a little bit different - Opera was the first browser to support tabbed browsing and remote caching - a great boon to dial-up users.

4. Apple's Safari - Better on a Mac than windows systems.. and still not as compatible as it should be with all web standards.