When Google Chrome came out, I was inspired. I read the comic and thought to myself, “This is awesome. This is what a web browser is meant to be.” So I switched. I’ve been using Chrome as my default browser since it came out, and I’ve only been using Firefox for FireFTP and a couple of finicky sites that don’t work perfectly under Chrome.

Chrome is slick and fast. It made me feel cool to be using it, because it’s Google and it’s a geeky thing to do. It also made me feel good about myself to be using it, because I was supporting design principles I believe in.

Today I switched back to Firefox. Here’s why.

1. Add-ons. Tab Mix Plus (Duplicate Tab!), Greasemonkey, Adblock Plus, DownThemAll, All-in-one Gestures (Right-drag to go back a page!), Googlepedia, Word Count Plus, the Remember the Milk extension, FireFTP, and many more.

Each one of these add-ons makes my life a little simpler and a little more pleasant. I’ve been getting by without them. But I’m breathing a sigh of relief now that I’m using Firefox again. I’ve been choosing the browser that was better in principle instead of the browser that’s better in practice. Today, I don’t need the browser that best supports good web development standards. Today, I need the browser that best supports me getting my work done efficiently and happily.

2. Compatibility. There are a few sites that don’t work perfectly with Chrome, like the registration for AmazonConnect, Neilsen BookData, and the pop-up window at the Kitchen Table. I sometimes ended up having both browsers open when I visited one of those problematic sites. But I’ve encountered zero sites that work with Chrome but not Firefox, so I won’t ever be using Chrome again, unless I really can’t remember a password I created during the last few months. (;

Chrome made me feel cool.
Firefox makes me feel happy and productive.

It’s like I’m dumping my glamorous, glitzy, Gucci-wearing girlfriend for a woman who wears overalls and has some dirt on her knees, but knows how to wrestle a pig to the ground, solve differential equations, paints watercolors in her spare time, can kick you in the face with her mad Krav Maga skills, and does a little sysadmin work on the side.

That woman is hot.

I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting you, baby. I’m back.