i just read that the US government has recommended that people just fucking stop using IE.
more info here:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=16922
i've been using Firefox/Firebird/Phoenix as my primary web browser now for over a year, and have never looked back. it does everything IE does, plus a metric fuck ton more - through built in features, extensions, and themes.
the current version of Firefox is 0.9.1, and you can get more info and download it from here:
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/