Its rated to be one of the most secure Internet browsing sites. IE is oklike the but firefox has alot more security. I also findlike wildwood says the tabs and history facilities are very easy to understand. Best thing ive ever done!!!
I had problems with my old pc using ie, and downloaded Firefox. whenever the pc played up, it had always automatically saved the pages I was looking at and offered to go back to them. I have a laptop now but much prefer Firefox. try it. you don't have to get rid of ie, and you can always remove it if you don't like it.
Highly customisable (is that a word?) - I have the add-ons I want.
Of my favourite add-ons Adblock Plus is one the best - I can't see any adverts on this page.
It is faster than IE (mostly - some add-ons have a slowing effect)
I also have Scrapbook add-on which I couldn't live without.
It is fun - there is a huge range of themes for those that like their browser to look different.
The bookmarks toolbar has already been mentioned - I currently have 23 bookmark icons on my toolbar - one click and the site is opened.
It is free. If you don't want to use Microsoft at all on your pc, you can use a free operating system such as Linux with Firefox. Legally.
Have at look at if for yourself - it is free to download and you can spend some happy hours playing.